Rens is serious about making quality footwear from sustainable materials, including recycled plastics and now, coffee.
Sustainability is trending in the world of athletic wear. An innovative Finnish company behind sustainable footwear has launched a crowdfunding campaign to develop a new shoe that incorporates recycled plastic bottles, coffee waste, and polyester. This new shoe design, called Nomad, is a more performance-related version of their first product, made from coffee waste.
Due to the environmental impacts of the global sneaker industry and the lack of stylish, sustainable options on the market, Rens aims to produce design-driven feature-rich products which are sustainable by default. The sneaker brand has recycled over 250,000 plastic bottles and 750,000 cups of used coffee grounds so far. Son Chu, the co-founder of Ren, said:
Shoes made from recycled coffee grounds may seem novel to some, but we wholeheartedly believe that this is just the beginning of a revolution in garment technology and manufacturing.
With the Nomad shoe campaign, the company hopes to raise $1 million – a record for any Kickstarter campaign in Finland – and more than double the amount of their first campaign for a similar shoe in the summer of 2019. In addition, the first coffee-recycled sneaker design, which is still available for purchase, is made with 21 cups of coffee waste and six recycled plastic bottles.
Ren’s sustainability efforts extend beyond design. Moreover, in terms of transportation, packaging, and production, the company claims climate neutrality. Ren believes that launching on Kickstarter kills two birds with one stone: they can curb factory overruns, production waste and transportation pollution by pledging first before production and by putting customers first. CEO and co-founder Jesse Tran said:
With the new model, we are continuing our mission to promote sustainable fashion with technology and innovation. We are particularly pleased that we were able to include the feedback from our previous customers in the development of the Nomad, who explicitly requested a performance sneaker.
While this footwear brand is pioneering the process of using recycled coffee waste in functional sneakers, sustainability efforts seem to be a growing trend in the fashion industry in general, as larger businesses strive to capitalise on grassroots movements. An analyst from Mintel reported that more brands are releasing athletic wear made from recycled materials, including French outdoor brands Salomon and Adidas, Gucci, and Stella McCartney, which have partnered with Parley for the Oceans.
The increase in sustainable production and schemes may have been caused by changing consumer behaviour patterns. Increasingly, consumers gain awareness of the importance and feasibility of sustainability to make their purchasing decisions more informed. Despite some of the myths that being truly sustainable means not producing anything at all, Ren is cutting a new path for eco-design by reusing used coffee grounds; companies like Ren will lead the way for future advancement in the industry.