Michael Jordan's "green" sneaker

When you think pollution, you think coal plants, big SUVs, maybe chemical fertilizers-not sneakers. But Nike produces about 225 million pairs of sneakers and shoes every year, and it's aiming to make them in a more sustainable way. That's the topic of today's Sustainability column.

I'm impressed every time I talk to Nike people about social or environmental issues. Maybe because they got burned, famously, in the 1990s over child labor, they take their responsibilities seriously. And they are quite sophisticated in their thinking.
Here's how the column begins:

The world's most celebrated sneaker is turning green.

Well, not literally. Nike's Air Jordan XX3 - the 23rd and perhaps final edition of the series of shoes endorsed by retired basketball star Michael Jordan, who wore No. 23 as a player - will come in black with red and gray stitching when it launches nationwide during the NBA's All-Star weekend next month.

But the Air Jordan XX3, unveiled with considerable fanfare this week, differs from its predecessors because is the first basketball shoe shaped by what Nike calls "Nike Considered," an approach to design that favors environmentally-preferable materials, reduces toxic chemicals and curbs waste.

You can read the rest here.