Prince William Wears Eco-Friendly Sneakers During The Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony In South Africa

Prince William wore biodegradable sneakers during the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa.

The ceremony was the focus of William’s four-day environment-focused trip to South Africa.

The Prince of Wales established the Earthshot Prize in 2020 through his Royal Foundation, which assists entrepreneurs in developing climate-friendly businesses. For the first time this year, he took the yearly awards ceremony to Africa—the continent where he came up with the idea.

He declared that his Earthshot Prize was made “to champion the dreamers, the thinkers and the innovators from every walk of life who share an ambition to build a better, more sustainable world.”

“We want to make this the decade in which we transform the world for good, one solution at a time, from the ground up,” William stated in a speech on stage in a giant reusable dome, which had been put up for the ceremony near Cape Town’s harbor.

The Earthshot Prize awarded five businesses $1.2 million in grants for sustainable, eco-friendly changes. 

The winners included:

• A U.S. company that created technology to use heat waste from heavy industries to generate electricity.
• A Ghanaian organization that teaches people to manage waste.
• A Kazakhstan conservation group protects grassland and saves the Saiga antelope from extinction.

The Earthshot Prize said it has raised around $110 million to support its projects.

During this year’s ceremony, William wore a pair of sneakers owned by the U.K.-based sustainable sneaker brand.

He wore the brand’s Hevea sneakers, composed of Earthshot finalist Natural Fiber Welding’s (NFW) plastic-free leather alternative upper, Mirum, and a zero-synthetic Pliant outsole made from rubber trees. The shoes have a glue-free binding system and hand-harvested materials within the earth’s natural cycle.

The appearance came as independent researcher SATRA released testing that proves Purified shoes, once buried in the soil after the final wear, improve soil standards and increase plant growth. In tests, shoes had been exposed to soil with tomato and barley plants for 90 days.

Executives at the sneaker brand had been surprised and delighted to see the prince sport their shoes on the green carpet and stage at the Earthshot Prize ceremony.

“I had no idea Prince William was going to be wearing the shoes until just before we got here,” Mary Allen, the creative director at NFW, stated in response to William wearing her brand’s sneakers. “It’s such a huge honor. I was told he sourced them himself after learning about our product, and it’s a massive boost for us.”

“We are delighted to have Prince William represent us and the U.K.’s sustainability efforts at such a prestigious event,” Purified designer and founder Will Verona said. “We only launched six months ago and are incredibly grateful we could appear among remarkable brands who share our vision for a sustainable, zero-plastic future.”

The prince is also heavily involved in the movement to end homelessness. In a new documentary, William noted how his childhood experience in a homeless shelter made him realize how privileged his upbringing was and that not everybody’s life is like his own.  

It hasn’t been all great headlines for the prince recently.

The Duchy of Cornwall’s recent Annual Report showed that William received an income of £23.6 million ($30.4 million) from the duchy in his first year overseeing the estate, leading to questions about why he benefited so handsomely from royal lands.