Soludos
Each Ashore Sneaker ($129) is made from four post-consumer water bottles.
- Soludos has created its most sustainable shoe to date. Each sneaker is made from four post-consumer plastic bottles, and sustainable materials - including non-toxic ink.
- The Ashore Sneaker ($129) comes in five different colors with a breathable knit top - perfect for hot summer months.
- I recently walked all over the Mile High City wearing these shoes right out of the box, and my feet and toes came out unscathed.
I'd been looking for a pair of casual white sneakers I could wear to work during muggy months when I was presented with the opportunity to test the new Soludos Ashore Sneaker ($129).
At first glance, I thought the sneakers were lightweight, cute, and white - everything I wanted. Plus, they were Soludos' most sustainable shoe, so I was excited to try them out with my spring and summer outfits.
They arrived the morning of my flight to Colorado for Memorial Day weekend. I had already packed my bag and was just about to leave my apartment but I took a chance and swapped the shoes I was wearing with the Ashore sneakers. Ideally, I would've loved to try them on and walk around a little bit, but I based my decision solely off of how comfortable my coworker Ellen Hoffman found her Soludos espadrilles. Thankfully, I wasn't misled.
Right out of the box, these shoes were extremely comfortable to wear and fit perfectly. The tops are designed with a unique knitting pattern where the stitching is more open and loose on the sides and upper, which makes for a more breathable shoe. The material is also pretty stretchy itself so I felt comfortable venturing out and exploring Denver without needing to break them in.
You could wear these without socks, but I chose to wear no-show tan socks so you wouldn't be able to see them through the loosely knit upper. If you do wear socks, try matching them to your skin color or go with a white sock, otherwise you'll probably see them through the knit.
The first day I wore the Ashore Sneakers, I walked about five miles in them. I came back from exploring Denver with blister-free feet - which never happens with any shoe, let alone something that I didn't break in. I was also surprised at how well my ankles and shins felt. As someone who's currently dealing with shin splints, excessive walking tends to make the pain flare up.
The insole doesn't necessarily have any kind of special arch or ankle support for people who might need it, and this isn't meant to be an orthopedic shoe, but in my experience, I was fine walking a decent distance in these shoes without getting sore ankles and shins.
Soludos The Ashore Sneaker comes in five summer-ready colors.
One of my favorite things about these shoes though is the material with which they're made.
The Ashore Sneaker, which comes in five summery colors, is made with approximately four post-consumer plastic bottles. The plastic is melted down, forced through very tiny holes to create fibers, and then spun into yarn. This kind of yarn is what's used to make the upper part of the shoe and the laces. It honestly surprised me how flexible a plastic-derived material could be, and made me feel good about finding a way to reuse the plastic sitting in landfills or littering our oceans and shorelines (though reducing our reliance on plastic in general is more important).
But Soludos goes another step further to create its most sustainable shoe ever. The soles of the Ashore Sneaker are made with recycled rubber, which provides good cushioning and probably alleviated the shin splits I'm prone to. The ink used in the logo is also non-toxic, making the Ashore Sneaker even more environmentally-friendly.
In an Instagram post in early June, Soludos wrote, "Since May 15 you have sponsored the removal of 98,800 pieces of plastic from our shorelines!" That's pretty impressive since the sneakers launched around a month ago.
One of the downsides to these shoes is that they can't be worn in the rain due to the loose knit pattern. I did once out of pure forgetfulness and my socks ended up getting a little wet during my walk to the train. And although I found them to be very comfortable to wear all day, they don't have arch support or anything other than a soft rubber sole so people with flat feet or too-high arches might not find these sneakers as comfortable as I did.
Regardless, I've never worn shoes made from recycled plastic, and was impressed with the fit and feel of the Ashore Sneaker. The knit upper makes for a comfortable and breathable shoe - which is exactly what I wanted - and I've worn them almost every day to work since I've gotten them. For me, Soludos hit the mark with the stylish, well crafted, and sustainable Ashore Sneaker.
Buy the Ashore Sneaker (available in five colors) from Soludos for $129
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