Scientists develop algae-based environment friendly footwear

In a bid to safeguard the environment, scientists have created a nature-friendly algae-based footwear that could work as an alternative to petroleum-based flip-flops that are produced worldwide especially in countries like India and China.

Around three billion petroleum-based slippers are produced each year that poses a serious environmental threat as it ends up in non-biodegradable trash filling landfills, rivers, and oceans around the globe.

"One of the largest pollutants in the ocean is polyurethane from flip-flops and other shoes that have been washed or thrown into rivers and flow into the ocean", said Stephen Mayfield, a professor at University of California San Diego, US.

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"Petroleum comes from algae that lived in the ancient oceans hundreds of millions of years ago, a lot of people do not know that. But what that means is that anything we can make from petroleum we can ultimately make from algae.", Mayfield added.

Talking about the idea Mayfield said that what they strive for is to create these flip-flops in such a way that they can be thrown into a compost pile and then it can be eaten by microorganisms.