LA JOLLA, Calif. — There are biodegradable bags, food containers and straws. And now, there are biodegradable shoes.

Blueview has created what it says is the world’s first biodegradable shoes. 

“They [the shoes] degrade in the ocean, they degrade in compost, they degrade in soil,” CEO, microbiologist and surfer Steve Mayfield said. “But they don’t degrade on your feet.”

Mayfield has been studying algae for decades and has created sustainable, biodegradable materials with the plant’s oils, including the foam in the shoe soles and even a surfboard.

Rather than publishing his finding in a study, he said he decided early in his career as a scientist that a product could help bring solutions to things like plastic pollution.