Steve Nash is the All-Star guard for the Phoenix Suns whose passion for environmental awareness forged a partnership with Nike to create the Nike Trash Talk, the first performance basketball shoe made from manufacturing waste. Nash will debut the Nike Trash Talk tomorrow night in Phoenix against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Nike Trash Talk is modeled after Nash’s current shoe, the Nike Zoom BB II Low, and meets Nike’s Considered design standards (nikeresponsiblity.com) for taking a sustainable approach to performance footwear innovation.

Nike is releasing a limited number of the Nike Trash Talk in three different colorways – two Phoenix Suns colorways (home and away) and one colorway for Nash to wear this week for the All-Star Game. The All-Star colorway will be sold at the House of Hoops by Foot Locker in New York and in New Orleans this week with a suggested retail price of $100. The Phoenix Suns colorways will launch April 22, 2008 at the House of Hoops by Footlocker.

More info and the All Star Colorway below…

“Any opportunity to promote the environment and preserve our planet is a step in the right direction,” Nash said. “I’m very excited to be one of the first athletes to wear the Nike Trash Talk. I think people will love the shoe, and hopefully by wearing it I can inspire others to try it out as well.”

Nike footwear designer, Kasey Jarvis said: “I was really looking for a ‘here and now’ solution to footwear waste, and creating a performance product using waste materials felt like a very innovative solution. Using Nike’s Considered design ethos I was able to create a shoe that stands up to the stringent on-court performance requirements but is also more environmentally friendly.”

The Nike Trash Talk meets Nike’s Considered design standards because…

• The upper is pieced together from leather and synthetic leather waste from the factory floor using zig-zag stitching.
• The mid-sole uses scrap-ground foam from factory production
• The outsole uses environmentally-preferred rubber that reduces toxics and incorporates Nike Grind material from footwear outsole manufacturing waste.
• The Phoenix Suns’ colorways will have shoe laces and sockliners which use environmentally-preferred materials and will be packaged in a fully recycled cardboard shoe box.

Nike Considered “Trash Talk” Zoom BB II Low – Steve Nash will wear this colorway in the All Star Game