Converse have made sneakers from ocean plastic and unwanted jeans

Converse sells more than 270,000 pairs of Chuck Taylors a day, 365 days a year.

That works out to roughly 100 million pairs a year, or just over 3 pairs of Chuck Taylors a second.

That’s a lot of trainers.

Today Converse announced they are taking steps to make their Chuck Taylors more sustainable, with the launch of Converse Renew.

The Converse Renew initiative will see Converse craft its Chuck Taylor All Stars and Chuck 70s using a series of recycled and sustainable fabrics.

The first release, Converse Renew Canvas, are made from 100 per cent recycled polyester that came from used plastic bottles. Later this summer Converse will release Renew Denim, made using denim jeans that were diverted from landfills and later Renew Cotton, crafted using a proprietary process transforms cotton canvas waste from the manufacturing process to create a composite 40 percent recycled cotton with polyester to form a new yarn. 

The yarn used to make Converse Renew Canvas was developed to mimic the properties of their iconic cotton canvas and will be available this season in Moss Green, Ozone Blue, Wheat, Pale Putty, Black and Jade Stone.

Before the Converse Renew Canvas collection becomes available to shop globally, converse are celebrating the launch with a pop-up store in King Cross’s Coal Drop’s Yard.

Open for one day only on Saturday 29^th June (11am – 8pm), the pop-up has been built solely from locally-sourced recycled materials and will have the Converse Renew collection available to shop.

Converse collaborated with students from local schools to create the pop-up space, using reclaimed wood and plastic from local recycling plants.

At the end of the day-long pop-up, all waste from the concept store will be recycled and eco-friendly cleaners employed to ensure that clean up from the pop-up store is low-impact.

The Converse RENEW Canvas collection will be available to buy exclusively as an early release at the pop-up concept space on Saturday 29^th June with prices ranging from £35.00 to £75.00 GBP.

Converse Renew Canvas will officially release in the UK on July 5 from Converse.com and www.office.co.uk and www.schuh.co.uk