I'd never paid much attention to Brooks footwear until I started shooting running shoes as part of my job. Once I got my hands on some of the running shoes to photograph them, I was immediately impressed by the elevated value of the materials and craftsmanship. Along with ASICS, Brooks running shoes seemed to be of the highest quality. (One thing really turns me off about Brooks, though. It's really trivial, and has nothing to do with the quality or performance of their excellent running shoes. It's their logo... an obvious, thinly-veiled rip of the infamous Nike "swoosh". That said, Brooks is not alone; the swoosh is so widely-plagiarized that it is now a cliche among corporate logos to include a variation of it.) Yet I digress. The really important thing is the product itself. Brooks has a well-earned reputation for high quality running shoes and running apparel... including their massively popular nightlife line, which offers unmatched visibility to keep runners safe on the road.
Back to the running shoes, though. Brooks' newest innovation is likely to thrill environmentalists. They have developed BioMoGo, the world's first biodegradable midsole. (Viewers with ADHD lacking patience to read can watch an animated video Brooks produced on BioMoGo here. Though the production values make South Park look like Pixar, it provides a competent general overview.) Those seeking an in-depth look at the innovation will find Brooks' white paper impressive. Here's an excerpt:
"Brooks designed BioMoGo to biodegrade 50 times faster than conventional athletic shoe midsoles. BioMoGo midsoles include a non-toxic, natural additive that exponentially increases the rate of biodegradation by encouraging anaerobic microbes to break down nutrients into reusable byproducts. While traditional Ethylene Vinyl Acetate™ (EVA) midsoles can last up to 1,000 years in an enclosed landfill, extensive tests have proven that BioMoGo can biodegrade in roughly 20 years when placed in the same environment. By using BioMoGo in its shoes, Brooks will save nearly 30 million pounds of landfill waste over a 20-year period. Although the application of BioMoGo technology to footwear involves valuable intellectual property, Brooks decided at the outset that it would treat its new midsole discovery as an “open source” innovation and share it with other footwear manufacturers and interested industries.
In addition to landfill reduction, BioMoGo’s production process is derived from the same Compression Molded Preform (CMP) midsole manufacturing process used to produce Brooks’ industry-leading MoGo midsole. CMP is an efficient, more environmentally friendly production method that reduces material waste by 50 percent and increases material consistency by 200 percent. "
Coming from an esteemed running shoe brand such as Brooks, this technology has greater credibility than if it had been introduced by an upstart. Brooks' BioMoGo made its debut with the Trance 7 in Summer 2007, and has since proven its mettle with runners who are unwilling to sacrifice performance. Brooks has now integrated BioMoGo to it's flagship shoe, the Adrenaline 9, as well as the new generation of the Trance and the Glycerin.
Brooks' dedication to environmental stewardship has not stopped with BioMoGo and their new production process. They are continuing to build on their momentum, optimizing every production detail, down to integrating recycled shoelaces and 100%-recycled paperboard for their packaging. A comprehensive, up-to-the-minute statement on their efforts is publicly posted in the "Green Room" on their website. Now, if only they'd ditch the swoosh in their logo!
