Vivobarefoot links with Oxygen project on issue of algae blooms

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 17, 2021

Vivobarefoot, the minimalist footwear business, has linked up with the Oxygen Project to highlight the issue of destructive algae blooms in bodies of water globally.

They will lobby UNESCO to launch a global education program, as well as calling on governments to end destructive agricultural and industrial practices. 

And it has launched a shoe called Ultra Bloom that’s been made using 'bloom foam' to highlight the issue and show its positive uses. It comes as eco-focused shoemakers in particular are at the forefront of the development of alternative materials that minimise animal cruelty and the destruction of the environment.

The company said that while algae blooms can occur naturally, there’s now “mounting evidence for the blooms becoming more frequent and damaging, as a result of human activity; the compound effect of a warming planet”.

Other factors involved in the higher number of algae blooms are the flooding of the environment via fertilisers, pesticides and other toxic chemicals, including human waste, into waterways.

And it said these blooms are affecting the planet’s most beautiful and ecologically important bodies of water, from National Parks across North America, to England’s Lake District, Lake Chad in Africa, and the earth’s oldest and deepest — Russia’s Lake Baikal.

Vivobarefoot Co-Founder Asher Clark said: “We are all about making footwear ‘not shoes’ that enables people to reconnect into the natural world. We are proud to be partnering with Oxygen to launch this initiative alongside the world's first amphibious footwear made from algae bloom foam. We hope this will inspire people and industry at large to live barefoot and invest in a regenerative future of regenerative materials solutions that protect our planet and the world’s waterways.”