#20 Natural rubber: Interview with product designer Ruth Firsching

Along with organic cotton, natural rubber is MELAWEAR's most important raw material and is used for the soles of the sneakers and the padding of the backpacks. Product manager Ruth Firsching reports on her experiences, trips to rubber plantations in Sri Lanka and developments in production: How is natural rubber produced, what are the difficulties in growing it and how is it made into a shoe sole, for example? She also gives initial insights into the new research project in which MELAWEAR and its local project partners are trying to make the cultivation and processing of rubber more sustainable and promote organic farming.