Nat-2 Creates Shoes That Use Ethically-Harvested Wood To Replace Leather

The idea of wearing wooden shoes is not new by any stretch of the imagination. However, when most people picture wooden shoes, they tend to think of the sort of traditional clogs you see in stereotypical images of Sweden. German company Nat-2 might be changing that image, though, because they’ve found a way to create sneakers that use ethically harvested wood to make sneakers that have the same comfort level and look as leather.

A New Form of Recycled Clothing?

According to Virtual Shoe Museum, Nat-2’s wooden shoes are a product that would satisfy anyone who is concerned about where their clothes come from. The shoes are lined with natural cork, and the base material is organic cotton. The wood is applied to the cotton in such a way that it is soft and pliable, but still strong. Able to endure the daily grind, this plant fiber combination can easily be mistaken for leather at a glance. The glue in the shoes is free from any animal ingredients, which is the icing on the cake for those who want something that has a managed ecological footprint, and which can be recycled once it starts falling apart.

These shoes are part of the same trend created by companies like Adidas, which famously made an entire line of shoes out of recycled ocean trash. It does bear asking, though, if we keep finding natural, durable ways to make our clothes, then will we need to use older, dirtier, more wasteful methods anymore?