r/whatisthisthing
•
u/tsirs
•
Dec 31 '22
•
2
Bought a new pair of Nike shoes. Inside the box was this small, plastic bubble, filled with air, and what looks like tiny, colorful micro plastics. Has a loophole on the top and is about an inch long. Solved!
3.9k
u/nitro479 Dec 31 '22
Could it be a sample of the recycled material the shoes were made from?
1.3k
u/gefloible Dec 31 '22
They're calling it "Nike Grind"
608
u/ConstantSprinkle Dec 31 '22
Is that the same shit they put in the turf fields?
My HS was in Nike's backyard and they put a godawful blue turf field in, with those little plastic particles. Everything about it was terrible. Hopefully they replaced it after I graduated.
345
u/Stubbedtoe18 Dec 31 '22
I'd hope so too considering those plastic turf particles have been proven to cause cancer.
14
2.8k
u/Pineappes Dec 31 '22
I agree with those saying it’s micro plastics- to show how “green” they are - I’m also thinking they’ve given them to you in keychain form.
1.0k
u/mrw4787 Dec 31 '22 edited Jan 01 '23
How is using micro plastics to make keychains showing how green they are? Wouldn’t that be the opposite?
557
u/Coomb Dec 31 '22
If the microplastics are a byproduct rather than produced specifically for the keychain, having them confined is better for the environment.
597
u/_mister_pink_ Dec 31 '22
But eventually that bubble is going to degrade enough to break and release all the micro plastics into the environment.
145
u/Coomb Dec 31 '22
Temporary confinement isn't a bad thing. Everything is temporary.
341
u/osskid Dec 31 '22
Everything is temporary
On a long enough scale so is environment pollution, but I don't think that's a beneficial takeaway here
42
14
u/Beenoman Dec 31 '22
Good thing it takes tens of thousands of years for that package to degrade at all. Still think this idea is dumb but yeah. Your kids, kids, kids, kids, etc. would never be around to see that plastic pouch degrade.
106
u/bg-j38 Dec 31 '22
Having that rattling around in my pockets for more than a year or so would easily end up shredding the plastic container and releasing those particles right back into the environment. Ugh.
-4
-15
u/truckfullofchildren1 Dec 31 '22
I think it was supposed to be a foam shoe tag but looks like it got ruined
1.9k
u/matttii
Dec 31 '22
edited Dec 31 '22
•
Usually it's attached to one of the shoes with a chain, it's to show what material is inside the shoe. Adidas had the same ages ago with their Cloudfoam. https://di2ponv0v5otw.cloudfront.net/posts/2018/08/28/5b85e54212cd4a9fcc71c13e/m_5b85e559fb3803a42a6013ce.jpg this is the Adidas tag. If you look up the name of the Nike shoe you should be able to find something similar.
668
u/Lochlanist Dec 31 '22
I'm assuming people are right that it's just micro "recycled" plastic.
But, even if you ignore the fact that they trying to get brownie points for putting recycled plastic in more plastic and giving it to people who will throw it into a landfill.
That plastic looks very curated, with a very specific amount of green and other color to make it asthetic. What was the carbon foot print to filter micro plastics and sort it to get that asthetic effect.
358
u/cpennn Dec 31 '22
Loop it on your shoelace and wear it as decoration would be my guess
126
197
178
u/edwardothegreatest Dec 31 '22
It’s a pendant you wear to tell everyone you’ve teamed up with Nike to save the erf.
123
u/aiaor Dec 31 '22
Could it be a desiccant to keep them dry?
98
u/DrachenDad Dec 31 '22
That's what I first thought until I noticed that none of it looks like sand or glass. Also the bag is plastic.
70
u/wolfgang239 Dec 31 '22
its most likely something you hang on your key chain.
It has the logo on it and that hole will let you slip a small chain through it and hook it to your keys.
It could also be something that gets laced up on one of the shoes to show it off. I have seen kids do that a lot.
So my vote is for key chain doohickie or shoe jewelry thing-ama-bob.
59
u/tsirs Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
My title describes the thing. It is a small, plastic bubble that just came in a new pair of men’s Nike sneakers. It has the Nike logo on it. It is sealed and doesn’t open. pics
32
u/Urithiru Dec 31 '22
Seems like they are including them with all shoes. Might call Nike customer service to ask about its purpose. The numbers are easy to get on the Nike website.
30
u/beentherereddit29 Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
Its probably a hangtag key chain. Jordans I believe come with them. Some people hang them off the shoe. What nike shoe did you just buy?
26
22
11
6
7
u/nowhereiswater Dec 31 '22
I'm sure there's a factory in China that takes care of those packet inserts. Why? It's how they export their garbage and we look at and say oh how interesting "mircro plastic".
2
u/bjjcatniss Dec 31 '22
Maybe it could be used for shopping when you don’t have the shoes with you and you want to match the colors for an outfit? Of course this would only Make sense if it’s the same colors as the shoes
0
-3
u/Fuhgetabout Dec 31 '22
Could it be silica? They put little packets of that in some packages to absorb moisture.
-22
u/OleaC Dec 31 '22
Possibly silica gel which absorbs moisture, possibly condensation, if the shoes are in transit or storage. A silica gel sachet was commonly packed in the boxes of 35mm high end cameras s such as Nikon and Canon.
13.3k
u/SimilarContext Dec 31 '22
I think it is just what you said. Micro plastic particles. Probably to show how Nike helps to clean up our planet. Greenwashing at best.