by Emma Grady, New York, NY

Simple Shoes BIO-D Spring 2010 collection. Credit: Simple Shoes
This past week I popped over to Simple Shoes' showroom to preview what's in store for Spring 2010 and checked out BIO-D, their first collection of biodegradable footwear -- outsoles and midsoles break down to dirt in a landfill environment in 20 years. Like Simple's ecoSneaks, the footwear is made with sustainable materials: hemp uppers, recycled car tire bottoms, organic cotton linings, recycled plastic bottles (PET) shoe laces and foot beds, and water-based glues. Click through for photos of their biodegradable shoes.

Biodegradable Shoe: How it Works with EcoPure

EcoPure -- a pellet mixture containing millions of tiny microbes -- is added to the plastic, rubber, and EVA mixtures used for the midsoles and outsoles of the BIO-D collection -- and to all plastic shoe hangers and shoe bags. Under conditions specific to landfills and compost bins, the microbes begin to eat away at the compounds that hold these materials together until all that's left is dirt. The process takes twenty years and works in both anaerobic and aerobic conditions, so whether shoes end up at the top or the bottom of a landfill, EcoPure molecules still work. Because these microbes are only activated under conditions of moisture and warmth that are specific to landfills, there is no threat of shoes breaking down on the feet or in the closet. ::Simple Shoes