彪馬擬推出可降解運動裝

德國體育用品製造商彪馬公司正在研製一系列可降解、可循環的運動裝備。一旦成功，今後廢舊的運動鞋和T恤都可以像果皮和蛋殼那樣隨地掩埋，轉化成肥料造福環境。彪馬公司老總表示，他們與合作伙伴一起研製的這一系列體育用品遵循“從搖籃到搖籃”的設計理念，具有技術和生物雙重循環性：舊鞋回收循環後可以做出新鞋或者輪胎等完全不同類的產品，從生物角度來說，廢舊的鞋和衣物可以完全降解，就地掩埋。去年，該公司曾推出一款環保鞋盒，其製作過程可節省65％的紙張，同時水、能源以及柴油的消耗也有所減少。

Your flowers love it, it's environmentally friendly and saves on rubbish collection. And soon you will be able to add your worn-out trainers and T-shirts to the carrot peels, potato skins and eggshells on the compost heap at the end of your garden, if German sportswear manufacturer Puma gets its way.

"We are confident that in the near future we will be able to bring the first shoes, T-shirts and bags, that are either compostable or recyclable, to the market," Puma boss Franz Koch told the German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche.

He explained that the company was working with partners on developing products on the principle of the "cradle-to-cradle" design. "It follows two circuits, the technical and the biological: I can use old shoes to make new ones or something completely different, such as car tyres," said Koch, who has led the sports clothing company since July.

"In the biological cycle, I can make shoes and shirts that are compostable so I can shred them and bury them in the back garden. We are working on products that meet these two criteria."

Last year the sportswear company revealed its five-year sustainability strategy with the unveiling of its Clever Little Bag, a reusable bag produced to replace shoeboxes and made from 65% less paper as well as having a reduced water, energy and diesel consumption.

The developments come at a time when there has been a trend towards the creation of green fashion in the form of ecological and sustainable clothing.

German fashion designer and microbiologist Anke Domaske has produced organic chemical-free clothing using milk to create the first manmade, industrial-strength fibre at the Hanover-based company Qmilch.

And earlier this year, Harry Potter actor Emma Watson teamed up with Italian designer Alberta Ferretti to launch a collection made entirely from environmentally friendly materials.