Eco-friendly transport – by train instead of container ship
Part of the GENESIS sneakers are
made in Spain, another part in Asia. All
GENESIS sneakers from Asia are taken
by train to Duisburg harbor, which
is five kilometers away. The harbor of
Duisburg is the end of a 11,000-kilometer
railway line that leads from the
Chinese city of Chengdu via Kazakhstan,
Russia, Poland to Germany.
On the way back the trains bring German
cars and goods to the People‘s
Republic in the Far East. The route is
part of the new Silk Road, a network
of trade routes connecting the Republic
of China with Asia, Africa and
Europe. The Silk Road has existed for
more than 2000 years. At that time,
it was the most important trade route
between Asia and Europe. Because
silk was mainly transported from east
to west, it got the name Silk Road.
We made this decision consciously,
because transport by container ship
pollutes the environment much more.
The fifteen largest seagoing ships in
the world emit more harmful sulfur
oxides every year than all 760 million
cars worldwide. Seagoing vessels
usually sail on the open ocean with
heavy oil, a filthy pulp left on the refinery
floor and containing up to 3.5%
sulfur. This is 3500 times more than
allowed on land in gasoline and diesel.
The impact on the climate is devastating.
The black soot particles are
blown into the Arctic, where they are
deposited on the ice. The dark ice
surfaces melt much faster due to the
sun‘s rays. In addition, the particulate
matter is a danger to health.