Seriously. One of my pet peeves is shoes made with no outsole. Around 10 or 12 years ago a bunch of shoe brands decided they could save money if they stopped making shoes with a hard rubber outsole. Instead they just mold the tread into the soft midsole material. They spent a bunch of money convincing people it was fashionable. Probably a lot cheaper to produce for them. But the shoes wear out insanely fast.

[–] QuarterSwede@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago

I hate to say it but I’ve never had a pair where the new foam midsole was the reason I replaced the shoes. It was always near the toe or fabric separating. That happened before with harder soles too. If anything they don’t wear out as quickly. I’ve no idea why but they don’t.

[–] kerr@aussie.zone 6 points 11 months ago

That’s why my shoes all wear out so soon now!

[–] Zippy@lemmy.world -2 points 11 months ago

I have never worn out a pair of shoes that way. Not against what you suggest but if they takes say 20 percent more energy but only 5 percent of people will take any advantage of it, that is a fifteen percent hit to the environment.

I just took those numbers out of my ass but there is a good chance that if you force companies to build say a product like this more durable, it could end up costing the consumer and the environment more than less. It is near impossible to legislate.