Ubac brings its sneakers by sailboat
Ubac is experimenting with sailing and is partnering with the Blue Schooner Company for a 0 carbon emission trip for the launch of KOTO-C, a new model in recycled cotton leather.
Koto-C set sail on September 21 aboard the sailing boat Gallant, from the port of Porto (Portugal, where the sneakers are made) for a three-week crossing.
The landing of the precious treasure will take place around October 9, 2022, in the port of Aber Wrac'h (Finistère).
A low carbon initiative that questions the ecological issues of current transportation and our relationship with time.
The transport sector is the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in France.
Today, there are very few offers for the transport of goods by sail. This logistical method requires a significant budget and takes time in a society where speed is the norm.
But this project, for the moment quite anecdotic, could become a real alternative to carbon transport.
Blue Schooner Company and Ubac are positioning themselves as pioneers in the sector with this experimentation. The shipping company has invested 8 million euros in a ship with a larger storage capacity. A partnership that is only the beginning of a great adventure!
"As we seek to return to sobriety and a slower, more environmentally friendly mode of consumption, sailing invites us to celebrate the long haul." Simon, co-founder.
On board the sailing boat GALLANT: KOTO, an innovative sneaker made of recycled cotton leather.
KOTO offers an innovative alternative to animal leather, usually very impactful, thanks to a vegetable leather based on recycled cotton.
Its upper is made of 81% recycled cotton leather and its sole of extra soft recycled rubber. The recycled cotton comes from old clothes or production scraps destined to be thrown away.
Using recycled cotton avoids the impact of growing new cotton and revalorizes clothes that are destined to be thrown away. In 2020, cotton still represents 50% of the material used by the textile industry.
Old cotton clothes are a gold mine: they are available locally in large quantities and reuse materials that were destined to be thrown away.
For all these reasons, Ubac favors recycled cotton because the advantage is threefold:
- Limit the use of water (no dyeing or washing).
- Use materials already present in Europe and destined to be thrown away.
- To create jobs with the sorting and recycling industries.
About Blue Schooner Company
Jean-François LEBLEU is the co-founder of the Blue Schooner Company. With the conviction of a necessary change in our way of life and consumption, he creates the company in 2017. It was then that he acquired the schooner Gallant, built in Vlaardingen (Netherlands) and launched in 1916 under the name Jannetje Margaretha. This boat, originally a herring fishing boat, had already had several careers.
He was not present on the day of embarkation, but we were able to talk with Lola, a sailor on board the ship.
Lola Trambouze is a professional sailor, she has been sailing on commercial and pleasure yachts for 2 years.
Over a total of 7 months on board, Lola has already had some fascinating experiences under sail. During a change of watch in the middle of the night, she was able to observe, by the light of the moon, killer whales in front of the boat. She marveled, "we are lucky to be surrounded by beauty all the time, but the orcas were truly amazing."
For this trip, the Blue Schonner Company chose to embark on Ubac sneakers. As Lola says, the vast majority of consumer goods are transported in a polluting manner. The goal of the sailboat is therefore to have "a healthy boat, with a healthy crew and that transports healthy products."