Shoes Made With Recycling in Mind
為了回收再生而做的鞋子
By Claire Martin

When people first pick up a pair of sneakers designed by Steven Weinreb, they are typically perplexed.
當人們第一次拿起史蒂芬．溫瑞布設計的運動鞋，通常都會感到有些困惑。

“They’ll say, ‘Oh my God, these are extremely lightweight and they’re so cool-looking,’ ” Mr. Weinreb says. “ ‘But they’re made out of paper.’ ” The shoes are actually made from Tyvek, a material that is light but also water-resistant and relatively sturdy . Mr. Weinreb sells the shoes online and in boutique shoe stores through his company Civic Duty, based in New Jersey.
溫瑞布說：「他們會說，『哦，我的上帝，它們真輕，外型好酷。但它們是紙做的。」這些鞋子實際上是泰維克紙做的，一種很輕，但也防水和相當堅固的材質。溫瑞布透過他設在新澤西州的公司「公民責任」，在網路上和精品鞋店賣這些鞋。

If you’ve sent a package, you’ve probably used Tyvek. Created by DuPont in 1955, it is made from high-density polyethylene fibers and was originally used for things like labels . It has also been used in hazmat suits, banners and packaging.
只要你寄過包裹，大概就用過泰維克紙。杜邦公司1955年開發出這種材質，是以高密度的聚乙烯纖維製成，最早用於做標籤之類的東西，也用於製造防護衣、旗幟和包裝。

“I call it techno-fashion with a sustainability sensibility,” Shawn Grain Carter, associate professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, says of the new designs. “You’ve now got this consciousness of not just fashion for fashion’s sake, but fashion to protect the environment,” she says. “Tyvek is a nonwoven material that meets both those qualities. It’s postindustrial. It’s futuristic. It’s postmodern.”
紐約時尚設計學院副教授夏恩．葛瑞安．卡特談到這種新設計時說：「我稱之為具有永續意識的科技時尚。」她說：「你們現在已經有這種意識，認為時尚不該只是為時尚而時尚，而是時尚要能保護環境。泰維克紙是非紡織材質，符合這兩種特質。它是後工業社會的，它是未來主義的，它是後現代的。」

Civic Duty markets its Tyvek sneakers as easy on the environment, and suitable for those who shun clothing made from animal products. It recycles customers’ shoes at centers that convert them into “a picnic table or a park bench or something else that’s made from the Tyvek itself,” Mr. Weinreb says. (For recycling, customers must send the shoes back to the company.)
「公民責任」公司促銷泰維克紙運動鞋的廣告詞是對環境友善，適合拒絕穿以動物產品製造的服裝的人。溫瑞布說，該公司在一些再製中心把顧客的運動鞋再製成「野餐桌或公園椅，或原本就是用泰維克紙製造的東西。（為了再製，顧客必須把鞋子送回公司。）

One of his competitors has taken a similar path, focusing its marketing on both environmental and cool factors. The three co-founders of Unstitched Utilities, also in New Jersey, met while working at Fila.
他的競爭者之一走類似路線，行銷鎖定環保和很酷這兩個元素。「不縫用品」公司同樣在新澤西州，三位創辦人是在Fila運動休閒用品公司工作時結識。

Several years ago, the group began experimenting with Tyvek . Now they sell sports shoes made from it . The shoes sell for $50 to $135 a pair on its website and in about 30 shoe stores in the United States.
幾年前，這個團隊開始用泰維克紙實驗。現在他們賣用泰維克紙做的運動鞋。鞋子在網路上和美國大約30家鞋店銷售，每雙50至135美元。

A third competitor in the Tyvek-sneaker market, Unbelievable Testing Laboratory, was started in China two years ago by Token Hu, who was working at the design firm Frog Design. He began experimenting with Tyvek sneakers when his wife couldn’t find shoes she liked that fit her very small feet.
泰維克紙運動鞋市場的第三個競爭者「游其實驗室」，是兩年前胡依林在中國大陸創辦的，當時他在「青蛙」設計公司工作。他的妻子找不到適合她很小的腳，又很喜歡的鞋子，他開始實驗用泰維克紙製作運動鞋。

Unbelievable Testing Laboratory is now based in both Shanghai and Las Vegas and is marketing its products to 23- to 35-yearold men who “work in the design, technology, I.T. and engineering spaces,” says Joseph Constanty, a co-founder.
共同創辦人康斯坦提說，現在「游其實驗室」在上海和拉斯維加斯都有公司，產品銷售對象鎖定23到35歲，在「設計、科技、資訊科技和工程領域工作」的男性。

But there are questions about the environmental sustainability of Tyvek. It is, after all, made of plastic fibers. The companies each estimated about a yearlong life span for their shoes.
但泰維克紙的環境永續性有疑問。它畢竟是塑膠纖維製的。這些公司都估計他們鞋子的壽命大約一年。

“It all depends on what percentage of the customers actually send them back and on how diligent the company is about recycling them properly,” according to Rachel Obbard of Dartmouth University in New Hampshire, who has researched materials in sports equipment.
新罕布夏州達特茅斯大學的瑞秋．歐巴德一直在研究運動用品的材質， 她說：「這全得看顧客實際上把鞋子送回來的比率，以及公司把鞋子善加再生有多麼勤快。」

“Tyvek is equally strong in all directions, stain resistant, and has an excellent strength-to-weight ratio,” she said in an email. But, she added, its breathability isn’t as high as that of a typical running shoe.
她在電子郵件中說：「泰維克紙各方面都同樣強，防髒汙，而且強度重量比極佳。」不過，她接著說，它的透氣度比不上一般運動鞋。

“I could see having a pair of super light casual Tyvek shoes that you could stuff into a backpack or suitcase,” she wrote. “I could not see playing sports in them.”
她寫道：「我可以理解擁有一雙超輕的休閒泰維克紙鞋，你可以塞進背包或公事包裡。但我不認為應該穿著它去運動。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/business/Shoes-made-with-Tyvek.html

2014-10-28聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS田思怡譯 原文參見紐時週報七版下