Cocolette

Awarded the German Sustainability Award and the Green Product Award 2020: In December 2020, the German Sustainability Award honored the best ideas and concepts on the topic of sustainability for the 13th time. With five competitions and over 800 applicants, it is the largest award of its kind in Europe. The winner of this prestigious award at the national level in the "Future Visions" category is graduate Laura Ullmann from the Communication Design department. 
Plastic waste in the seas is a serious global problem, with veritable continents of garbage floating in the oceans. This includes many articles made of plastic, for example, tons of worn-out plastic slippers end up as waste in the sea every year. Their materials pollute the environment and health not only during production and use, but also during disposal, because they take hundreds of years to degrade.
The "Cocolettes" are made of pure, natural and at the same time innovative materials and are completely compostable at the end of their product life. The soles made of coconut fibers - durable, moisture-regulating, antibacterial - are produced in Germany's only mechanical coconut weaving mill in the Eifel village of Eisenschmitt. The straps are made of Pinatex®, an innovative natural textile made from the fibers of pineapple leaves. The leather of the inner sole is tanned with vegetable, renewable tanning agents from tree bark and fruits. Each piece is a unique handmade item that can be returned 100% to nature at the end of the shoe's life. 
More than ever, role models are needed to drive change in the climate crisis. As in many other areas and institutions, the topics of sustainability and resource conservation have also come increasingly into focus at the Design Campus in recent years. Time and again, student projects deal with topics such as upcycling, waste avoidance and environmental protection. For not only typical areas such as technology and research, but also design makes a valuable contribution to changing society and is in a constant process of further development.