VIVOBAREFOOT LAUNCHES RECONDITIONING FOOTWEAR SERVICE

Global footwear company Vivobarefoot has launched ReVivo, a new program that revives, reconditions, and resells worn and returned footwear from the brand.

With more than 25 billion shoes made each year and 90 percent of them ending up in a landfill, often within 12 months of purchase, Vivobarefoot is aiming to keep its footwear on feet longer in a bid to reduce the volume of shoes that end up in the trash.

The new program refreshes Vivobarefoot shoes with the help of the skilled craftspeople at the UK-based Boot Repair Company, who are using the most sustainable products available to extend their lifetime for as long as possible.

“The shoe industry typically makes shoes out of complicated materials bonded together with petrochemicals that will ultimately sit in landfills for a lot longer than the lives of the wearers,” said Galahad Clark, CEO of Vivobarefoot. “At Vivobarefoot, we’re on a journey to make the most sustainable shoes in the world: regenerative for people and the planet. The launch of ReVivo is a super exciting step in that journey and one of many initiatives we are taking to make sure none of our shoes ever end up slowly decaying in landfills.”

“Transitioning to a circular economy starts with design,” added Emma Foster-Geering, head of sustainability at Vivobarefoot. “Over the past year, the Vivobarefoot team has played by the extremely strict rules of our eco-matrix to ensure every design that makes it through has an end-of-life solution, in addition to being made of the most sustainable material available on the market. This is what really makes a product recycling program like ReVivo work.”

ReVivo utilizes faulty items or returns from Vivobarefoot’s 100-day free trial. Returned shoes will undergo a full fault inspection before being given one of three grades. The shoes are then given a deep steam clean and sanitized inside and out using Micro-Fresh, which kills all known viruses and bacteria. Then, the repair process begins.

Once repaired, the shoes will be clearly marked and available to buy from www.revivo.com. ReVivo shoes are available for adults from $45 to $215 and children from $33 to $78.