Ma. Akita San Andres FA Thesis: Shoe-lily: stylish, biodegradable shoes We always use shoes in our daily lives.

But most of our unfortunate brothers, cannot afford to have one. I have decided to create a cheap, Filipino-made, canvass shoe, just like those of Espadrilles, that is made out of biodegradable materialsabaca and water lily. Water hyacinth is considered the most productive plant on earth. It is a free-floating perennial aquatic plant with broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves. It may rise above the surface of the water as much as one meter in height. The leaves are 10-20 centimeters across, and float above the water surface. It has long, spongy and bulbous stalks. The feathery, freely hanging roots are purple-black and an erect stalk supports a single spike of 8-15 conspicuously attractive flowers, mostly lavender to pink in color with six petals. It was introduced into many parts of the world, including the Philippines, as an ornamental garden pond plant due to its beauty. But today, it is considered a pest as 10 plants could produce well over 650,000 offspring within eight months. Experts call them water hyacinth but to most Filipinos it is known as water lily. In Laguna de Bay, for instance, water hyacinth is considered a nuisance. These plants now cover some 20% of the lakes surface area according to Edgardo Manda, general manager of Laguna Lake

Development Authority. He added that such proliferation threatens survival of aquatic species there since these plants block sunlights penetration into the water. Water hyacinth also reduces biological diversity, impacts native submersed plants, alters immersed plant communities by pushing away and crushing them, and also alter animal communities by blocking access to the water and/or eliminating plants the animals depend on for shelter and nesting. This plant that was once considered a nuisance. And now, this plant is creating ripples in the agribusiness word because of its various economics possibilities. In the Philippines, water hyacinth is dried and used to make baskets and matting for domestic use. The key to a good product is to ensure that the stalks are properly dried before being used. If the stalks still contain moisture then this can cause the product to rot quite quickly. After getting the fibers out of lilies, my aim is then to use this to make the sole of the shoe. I will then use abaca as the cover/canvass of my shoe. Abaca is of great economic importance, being harvested for its fiber, once generally called Manila hemp, extracted from the trunk or pseudostem. On average, the plant grows about 12 feet (4 meters) tall. The fiber was originally used for making twines and ropes; now most abaca is pulped and used in a variety of specialized paper products including tea bags, filter paper and banknotes. The plant is normally grown in well-drained loamy soil, using pieces

of mature root planted at the start of the rainy season. Growers harvest abac fields every three to eight months after an initial growth period of 1225 months and a total lifespan of about 10 years. Harvest generally includes having several operations concerning the leaf sheaths. These include tuxying, separation of primary and secondary sheath, stripping, getting the fibers, and drying, usually following the tradition of sundrying. Style will be unique and just like any ordinary shoe, it consists of sole, insole, outsole, midsole, heel, and vamp (upper), which are the basic parts of a shoe that are mostly included in all types off shoes. Other parts of a shoe are lining, tongue, quarter, welt and backstay. These parts are included as per the design of the shoes.