11 Sustainable Sneakers & Brands Making Ethical Strides & Eco-Kicks

Why Buy Ethical Sustainable Sneakers?

Why are sneakers sustainable?

Well, to be frank, they’re not—at least not with how we currently make and consume them.

More than 23 billion pairs of sneakers are made every year. Nike alone sells about 25 pairs per second. And because shoes have inherently limited lifespans, this leads to over 300 million pairs getting thrown out each year.

Less than 5% of trainers and tennis shoes get recycled.

This is especially sad when you consider traditional sneakers are made with materials that hardly break down, if at all. 

That’s not even considering footwear’s most common criminal: leather.

While there do seem to be some ethical leather sneaker options (like upcycled leather), traditional leather will simply never belong in a pair of sustainable sneakers.

Leather isn’t just a by-product of the meat industry; the leather industry needlessly kills over 1 billion animals per year. 

Animal rights aside, the leather industry feeds heavily on the livestock industry, one of the world’s greatest producers of greenhouse gasses.

Then there’s the tanning process, one of the most polluting in the world. Arsenic and cyanide are among 250 other chemicals used.

On the ethical side, tannery workers get exposed to these chemicals, which research shows lead to respiratory problems and cancer.

Between the rate of consumption and poor fabric choices, traditional sneakers just aren’t sustainable.

How We Found The Best Sustainable Sneakers

What are the most sustainable sneakers and how can you tell? Does Adidas have sustainability?

While the aforementioned shoe industry monolith does now offer sustainable shoes made of recycled ocean plastic, their line as a whole still bars them from being considered among these sustainable sneaker brands.

In cases like this, to determine whether a brand is demonstrating real steps toward sustainability or just a greenwashing marketing ploy, we used our sustainable and ethical fashion criteria:

Materials: 

We want recycled or biodegradable materials with as low of a carbon footprint as possible, both from the raw production side and from the product’s end-of-life. 

We’ll dive into sustainable materials specific to sneakers below.

Supply chain & labor practices: 

This means consideration for human rights across the supply chain. Companies should treat workers fairly and provide safe, meaningful employment opportunities.

Third-party certifications help to provide reassurance that those fair trade sneakers are actually fair trade, but they aren’t immune to it either. B Corp greenwashing while we’re sure is a rare occurrence it can happen.

Green business practices:

These are any additional efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.

It might include offering recycling programs if their products can’t be composted, being carbon neutral, and using recycled post consumer waste for packaging are just some of the many ways these eco-friendly sneaker brands are reducing their impact.

Community & charitable giving: 

We prioritize brands that give back and demonstrate they care about more than just their own profit. Because much of this technology is so recent, many of these startups haven’t quite found the footing to be fully charitable quite yet.

What is a sustainable material for sneakers?

The best options are natural materials that make totally organic sneakers (meaning they’ll biodegrade). 

Recycled materials (like recycled plastics such as recycled plastic bottles, Econyl made from discarded fishing nets and old sneakers themselves) may not be biodegradable, but they’re still more sustainable than virgin materials. Better still are recycled natural materials like recycled cotton.

This all gets complicated because sneakers aren’t made of only one thing. There are five main components to consider: uppers, laces, insoles, midsoles, and outsoles. The best sustainable sneakers consider ALL of these.

Uppers: Companies are not only making ethical sneakers from the usual suspects like organic cotton, bamboo fabric, hemp, and Lyocell, but out of interesting upcycled fabrics harvested from the waste of other industries.  

Take Piñatex, made from wasted leaves from pineapple farmers (which normally get burned).

Laces: Currently, organic cotton is the best option here, ideally without plastic tip covers.

Insoles: Cork fabric is the best insole alternative, providing a healthy environment for feet due to its antimicrobial properties and foot molding capabilities. This relieves joint pressure, provides cushion, and wards against foot odor.

Midsoles: This component still presents the largest problem for sustainability. Most still incorporate non-biodegradable, plastic-based materials in the midsole due to their performance properties.

EVA foam can almost always be found in even sustainable running sneakers to give them supportive, light cushioning. However, many ethical sneaker brands are using a blend of partially recycled EVA.

Outsoles: As is the case with sustainable rain boots, natural rubber is ideal. It provides the most durability while still being bio-based and biodegradable. It’s also renewable and sourced by harmlessly tapping the natural latex of the tree (just as one taps for maple syrup).