Walk A Mile In These Climate-Neutral Sneakers Made From Used Coffee Grounds

I have a hard time keeping up with sneaker culture. There are too many weird new shapes, too many limited-edition colorways. The world simply moves too fast! Lucky for me, one brand is taking a bit of a slower approach, and it involves coffee. Rens Original, a Finnish startup, just launched a Kickstarter campaign to create what the brand calls "the world's first crowdfunded climate neutral sneaker"—made largely from used coffee grounds.

Per a press release sent to The Takeout, the Helsinki-based "eco-startup" debuted another coffee sneaker back in 2019. Each original sneaker was made from 21 cups of coffee waste and six bottles of recycled plastic. The original shoe was also funded via Kickstarter, ultimately raising more than half a million bucks.

This time, the label aims to raise $1 million to manufacture a new sneaker, which the brand bills as completely climate neutral. Per the press release, the sneaker, dubbed NOMAD, will be the first climate-neutral sneaker born of a crowdfunding platform. Rens plans to work with an unnamed "climate partner" to offset carbon emissions at each stage of the sneaker production process, honing in on raw materials, packaging, production, transport, and waste.

The shoes may be created from largely "waste-based" materials—coffee grounds included—but they're apparently durable enough for high-impact activities. Per the press release, the NOMAD line features a fully-recycled waterproof layer and a novel ventilation system to keep your tootsies nice and dry. "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," says Rens co-founder Son Chu. If that sounds like your ideal shoe, you can back the Kickstarter campaign and score your own pair of NOMADs at the early bird price of $109.