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The New Sperry BIONIC Collection Is Partly Made from Recycled Plastic Trash

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March 22 is World Water Day, a holiday designated by the United Nations to spotlight the importance of clean freshwater around the world and to support advocacy efforts for sustainable water management. In keeping with this vital issue, heritage brand Sperry is launching a new sustainability platform. The campaign Look Good, Do Good pairs a sustainability education program with classic Sperry styles that are created from sustainable materials.

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Since the brand is best known for creating the original boat shoe, it’s only fitting that its new collection should draw attention to the preservation of clean water. That’s why the launch kicks off with a collection of men’s, women’s, and kids’ shoes fabricated in partnership with BIONIC Yarn, a material engineering company that creates yarn from plastic waste and trash recovered from marine and coastal environments.

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The new Sperry BIONIC Collection features Sperry’s most iconic designs — the Classic Boat Shoe, the Captain’s CVO, and the Captain’s Slip-On — all built in part from this innovative and sustainable fabric.

Sperry Men’s Authentic Original BIONIC Boat Shoe
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Sperry Men’s Captain’s CVO BIONIC Sneaker
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Sperry Mens’ Captain’s Slip On BIONIC Sneaker
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Even the packaging of the BIONIC collection is eco-friendly by design. Shoe boxes are made from post-consumer recycled material, are printed with water or soy-based inks, and have no added adhesives.

Sperry’s hope with this new collection is to motivate its worldwide following to help reduce the eight million tons of plastic that enters the world’s oceans each year. In the words of CMO Kate Minner, “We are a brand born of the sea. It is our duty to get involved and protect the waterways that stretch across the globe and connect us all.”

Sperry’s BIONIC Collection ranges in price from $70 to $100 and will be available this month from Nordstrom, Macy’s, Zappos, as well as the Sperry website.

For a look at other brands doing their part to make a difference, check out seven eco-friendly companies cleaning up the world’s oceans.

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