Life Cycle Analysis of Saucony Hurricane Running Shoes.

1. Kelly Kokaisel
MCAD Sp ‘10

2. The Product: Women’s
Saucony Hurricane 7
Running Shoe
The Audience: Runners
and health conscious
people looking for a
shoe that is
comfortable and
supportive. These
people have
disposable income
and will not buy until
they have found a well
fitting shoe.

3. Saucony Hurricane 7 shoes are
made in China, although
Saucony claims to be a ‘Made in
America’ company.
The aluminum for the eyelets
comes from Australia.
The oil for the polymers (plastic,
rubber, foam) comes from Saudi
Arabia.
The timber for the cardboard may
come from Burma, through an
illegal trade.
Injection molding, stamping, and
gluing are done in China.

4. LCA accounts for emissions, habitat
alteration and resource depletion
associated with all inputs into a product
throughout the entire life cycle of a
product.
The goal of this LCA is to measure the
ecological performance of the product and
use those metrics to determine our best
design options.
The scope of this LCA includes packaging.
I believe that, today, the main function of
the running shoe is comfort. I know that
shoes were originally designed for
protection from the ground and from cold,
but I do not think that is true for today’s
modern running shoe. Mainly I believe
this because no matter how protective a
shoe is, a person will not buy it if it’s not
comfortable. In the minds of today’s
consumer, the main function is comfort,
comfort during work, or walking, or
exercise, mainly. Therefore, as a designer
of a running shoe, this must be your
utmost concern.

5. The Process Tree helps This process tree shows the
explore the transformation resources and material flows of
of resources and materials our Saucony running shoe.
throughout the life of a
product.

6. LCA accounts for
emissions, habitat
alteration and
resource depletion
associated with all
inputs into a product
throughout the entire
life cycle of a product.
This table outlines the
materials and
multiplies these
inputs by the
chemical emissions,
land use, and
resource depletion
values collected for
each type of material
or process.

7. These impact
calculations show that
the largest impact of
the running shoe
comes from the
disposal of metals and
polymers into landfills;
95 eco-indicator points
out of 125 total, per
shoe. This shows us
exactly where we can
make improvements
that will dramatically
improve the impact of
this product.

8. Where do you want your shoes to end up?
The typical end-of-life
for shoes—the
landfill.
*Stitching the shoe together
instead of using glue not only
Flooring made of recycled shoe bits at a London Nike store. helps to take the shoe apart to
recycle, but also reduces the
footprint!

9. The materials of a running shoe alone travel over 8,000 miles before they even make the 7,300+ mile
journey from China to the US. Not to mention, the impacts of the illegal timber trade between Burma and
China. If these materials travel by freight train, that is equivalent to 160,000 lbs, or 80 tons, of CO2
emissions per ton of materials moved. Another 55 tons of CO2 is emitted when the shoes travel by oceanic
freighter from China to the US , for a total of 135 tons of CO2.

10. The footprint could drop 14.5 Impact 99 Factor Points just in the Production Phase (out of a total of 19.5
points) from using natural rubber and organic cotton instead of polymers, and eliminating the polymer
processing. That’s a 75% impact reduction.
=
In addition, using recyclable, natural materials would reduce the End of Life Phase 84 of 95 Points. That’s
an 85% impact reduction.
=
These changes would result in a total 26.5 Impact Factor per shoe, instead of
125 Points., or an 80% impact reduction.

11. The environmental impacts of running shoes on the planet is
needlessly high. Simple changes in the design drastically reduces
the footprint. When you purchase your next pair of running shoes,
pay particular attention to the following:
*Do the shoes have a take-back or recycling program?
*Where do the materials come from and where are they assembled?
*Do they use natural materials that are stitched together rather than
glued?
These 3 recommendations will help you make an environmentally
friendly choice, keeping the Earth healthy while you keep your
body healthy.
Thank you.
Source: Okala learning ecological design