Merrell wants its customers to live “off the grid” with the “Gridway,” the footwear manufacturer’s most sustainable offering yet.
Available in both men’s and women’s styles, the shoe comprises a 100 percent recycled yarn-knit upper, a removable 50 percent recycled EVA footbed and a 40 percent recycled midsole derived from regenerated EVA and polyurethane. Rounding out each one is a Vibram EcoDura outsole made with 30 percent recycled post-manufacturing waste to “ensure you’re treading lightly,” Merrell notes on its website.
The low-top version of the sneaker, which retails at $130, includes 100 percent recycled laces. There’s also a $120 slip-on moccasin for women and a $140 mid-top for men. Colors include black, brindle and glacier gray.
Merrell is making moves in other ways, too. On Monday, the company announced the One Trail Project, a campaign that sent 50 photographers out on the trail in 50 states to capture an “unscripted portrait of America” on a single day and celebrate the country’s diversity.
“The outdoors are enjoyed by everyone,” Strick Walker, chief marketing officer at Merrell, said in a statement. “Hopefully the project will become an inspirational reflection of that reality.”
The gallery, which includes individuals who are “not paid models, athletes or social-media influencers,” can be found online at www.merrell.com/onetrail. Merrell is also exhibiting the pictures, gallery style, at the Outdoor Retailer show in Denver, Colo., this week.
“Our goal is to document the trail like this repeatedly—and in different parts of the world,” Walker said. “The trail is a great unifier. It doesn’t care who you are.”