had the opportunity to work with three other amazing humans, we did the off of a beautiful creature to create less water resistant waste. We were featured on biodesignchallenge.org and majority of our background work is on https://blogs.massart.edu/bigecoenergy/
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One of the most harmful parts of the shoe is the sole. We took the orginal ideas of creating a new sole and dissected what it was made out of. We started with examining the harmful chemicals within. Then tried to find replacements for the rubber and the pfcs used in shoe making that are causing harm to the environment. We started this process through another natural rubber with poppy seeds, but with the backlash of growing them on farmland, we decided on another route. We began the search for a glue that would mend your sole in a new biodegradable way, instead of the chemical process such as the shoe-goo. Our hunt was on for a thing that was wasted for a finish as well as a glue. We wanted a product that would be more than just one item with biodegradable and faster features without the help of man made chemicals. This is where Caddisfly come into play. Caddisflies create structures to encase themselves within rocks pebbles and stones found in freshwater. We choose to use them since their structures are made from their mucus which has a rubber like quality. The mucus has snapback features and it is made underwater. We would use a certain type from the order tricoptera. These bugs are located all over the world in freshwater streams since they can detect pollution. In this case, it is also helpful to know that the water is cleaner than most if they are living within it. We would not harm these creatures since once they are done they move out of their shell like hermit crabs. We then could grab their homes and extract the silk from these flies like silk from silkworms. From there, we could apply them on products such as clothing with biodegradable, waterproof seams or all-over waterproof fabrics. Also, it can act as the glue we mention prior for mending shoes as well as having the mucus replace important chemicals in phones that can waterproof the technology we carry around everyday. A product that can waterproof with also meeting biodegradable tendencies in the end of life is something we could use everyday without torturing the earth in the end.