The short answer? CleanStep™ is a 50/50 mix of virgin thermoplastic rubber (or TPR) and algae biomass, a material that not only helps clean and filter polluted water, but keeps CO2 from entering the atmosphere too.
Algae is one of the fastest growing plants on earth, making it the perfect resource for creating sustainable materials. To boot (or sneaker or sandal), algae doesn’t require fossil fuel or arable land to grow, which means that it helps avoid millions of pounds of waste from ever reaching landfills.
When harvested, water containing algae is filtered and safely released back into the environment, providing clean water for fish and other wildlife.
Once the algae biomass has been harvested, it is sundried, creating a firm material known as “dried algae flakes.”
When dry, the algae flakes are ground into a fine powder.
The algae powder is mixed with a substance called Thermoplastic Rubber (TPR), which is used to create a sustainable rubber-like material (go figure).