Something else we like besides right to repair here at Fight to Repair is running. Paul is a seasoned marathon runner. I’m a bit greener, since running was a habit I picked up at the start of the pandemic.
One thing that baffled me when I started running regularly was that long-distance runners are typically buying three new pairs of running shoes a year. Run for ten years, that’s thirty pairs (sixty shoes!!) that end up in a landfill somewhere. Being someone that spends time thinking about our relationship with repair and the things we own, something doesn’t sit right with me about this.
There’s a sneaker made from beans – and you’re not allowed to own it
Recently, I stumbled on a subscription running shoe service called “Cyclon” run through the Swiss shoe Company On – which brands itself as the shoe you will never own. Instead of trashing your old shoes, you send back the first pair you get to receive a new one. Through the wonders of modern science, your old stinky pair will be crunched up and used to make a brand new shoe.
The Cyclon program work like this: You sign up for the Cyclon subscription service and get a pair of shoes in the mail. You then send them back when you’ve run them into the ground and get a new pair in the mail. (Repeat ad infinitum.)
On’s model for minimizing waste and energy while manufacturing their shoes is simple: