What Are Coffee Shoes and How Are They Made?

You already know that coffee can support your wakefulness, but did you know it can also support … your feet?

Ccilu has created the first sole made from upcycled coffee grounds. Dubbed XpreSole, the material is vegan, light, flexible, and water repellent. Every pair of XpreSole coffee shoes upcycles five cups of spent coffee grounds from businesses in Taiwan, where the shoes are made.

Coffee Shoes Liberate

Many shoes are made from parts of animals’ bodies, including skin torn from cows and bulls and wool violently cut from sheep. Imagine being kept alive, imprisoned in tight quarters and denied your natural needs for sociability and exploration—only to be executed for your skin. Or imagine being kicked and punched by an overworked shearer who puts you in a headlock and roughly slices the wool from your body, leaving you bruised, bleeding, and afraid.

Now imagine wearing shoes without any of that.

Ccilu is pronounced “Chee-Loo” and means Liberate in Japanese. The company is dedicated to reducing waste and plastic going into landfills and the ocean.

For their coffee shoes, Ccilu collects spent coffee grounds from cafes, restaurants, offices, and factories. Not only does this save landfill space, but it also prevents the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane as the grounds break down. They dry, grind, and sift the grounds, then pelletize them and, through patented technology, create upcycled fabric.

Ccilu also gathers raw materials in ways that support the community around them. The company collects plastic bottles by hosting beach clean-up events throughout Taiwan. It also has a plastic bottle collection program and relationships with local semiconductor manufacturers to upcycle their waste into award-winning sandals.

And to close the loop, the company encourages people to send their shoes back when they are done with them so they can be upcycled again into oil to create clean energy.

We love the XpreSole Cody, slip-on sneakers festooned with cute illustrations of coffee flowers. They’re vegan and PETA-approved, and they’re ideal for standing in line waiting for your oatmilk latte.

Cody Coffee Shoes Features Include:

• Super Light
• Waterproof
• Odor Control
• Grippy Outsole
• Durable Insole
• Grounds from 5 Cups of Coffee

If your walk to the café is more rugged, go for the award-winning XpresSole Panto High Top. Also completely vegan, the shoe is waterproof, lightweight, flexible, and machine washable.

Panto Coffee Shoes Features Include:

• Super Light
• Waterproof
• Dirtproof
• Antislip
• Quick Dry
• Breathable
• Machine Washable
• Grounds from 15 Cups of Coffee

Thanks to materials like XpreSole, Ccilu shoes have half the carbon, um, footprint of most. And as part of their commitment to holistic sustainability, Ccilu XpreSole has carried the PETA-approved logo since 2017.

Every shoe made with these innovations spares animals from lives of hellish suffering. Cows and bulls have complex social lives in their herds and maintain lifelong friendships. Sheep can recognize photos of dozens of other sheep, and seeing a picture of a friend can help them relax. None of them wants to be shoes.

Becoming vegan is a massive step towards sustainable living. It’s inspiring when companies create a different way to do things without harm and suffering. You can, too.

Send Me a Vegan Starter Kit

© iStock.com/anopdesignstock

Order Your FREE Vegan Starter Kit

Send Me a Vegan Starter Kit