Sustainable Sneakers - 8 Brands Making Eco-Friendly Kicks with Minimal Impact

Nuven - Cool, Comfy and Eco-Friendly Shoes Made with Discarded Balloons

A study conducted by MIT found that a typical pair of running shoes generates approximately 13.6 kilograms of CO₂ emissions. Yes, the worldwide footwear industry is hugely wasteful and also cruel on the planet. But don't worry, new companies are rising to bring new possibilities such as Nuven, a young sneaker brand with a powerful promise: cool comfy shoes easy on you and the planet.

A study conducted by MIT found that a typical pair of running shoes generates approximately 13.6 kilograms of CO₂ emissions. Yes, the worldwide footwear industry is hugely wasteful and also cruel on the planet. But don't worry, new companies are rising to bring new possibilities such as Nuven, a young sneaker brand with a powerful promise: cool comfy shoes easy on you and the planet.

---

Rens - Everyday Sneakers Made from Coffee

Did you know that when coffee grounds are dumped into landfills they emit methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide? As global coffee consumption increases, new uses for used coffee grounds must arise.

Meet Rens, the first everyday sneaker made from coffee waste. Each pair is made from 300 grams of coffee waste and 6 recycled plastic bottles. They're also ultralight, unisex, waterproof, super comfy, and vegan/cruelty-free. Up to now, Rens sneakers have recycled more than 250.000 plastic bottles and 750.000 cups worth of coffee.

---

Sampla - Vegan Sneakers Made from Apples and Eco-Materials

Today's clothing system puts extreme pressure on resources, pollutes the environment, and creates negative societal impacts. The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity's carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of the world's water supply. But thankfully, emerging brands in this sector are approaching the business with a different vision and set of values.

Sampla is an Irish eco-friendly sneaker brand that uses apple waste and other innovative sustainable materials. Their shoes are made with organic cotton laces, crepe rubber, recycled and handmade PU insoles, and 100% vegan apple skin, produced by repurposing leftover apple waste from the juice industry in Italy. With every pair of sneakers made, they also plant an indigenous tree in Ireland.

---

Saye - Sustainable Sneakers Inspired by the 80s

According to a recent study published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), humans are destroying over 7.4 million forest hectares every year. That's the equivalent of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg ... all together.

Based in Spain, Saye is a young brand bravely fighting deforestation since 2018. They produce retro-inspired sneakers with recycled and bio-based materials such as corn vegan leather, cactus, recycled PU foam for the insoles and outsoles, and most surprisingly: discarded mangos. Additionally, they plant two trees for every pair sold. So far, they've funded 165,550 trees; 132,994 of them in Zambia, 30,326 trees in India, 1,982 in Australia and 248 in the Amazon.

---

Veja - Premium Sneakers with a Positive Impact

VEJA is based on a very simple observation: 70% of the cost of a normal big sneaker brand is related to advertising. Radically eliminating marketing-associated costs has allowed this company to focus on what really matters: transparency, organic fabrics, sustainability, fair trade, and quality.

Classic style and sustainability for every day is Veja's promise. Each pair is produced with organic cotton made by farmer associations in Brazil and Peru, while soles are manufactured using amazonian rubber purchased directly to local families at twice the market price. Ever Since VEJA was created, their sneakers have always been made in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil.

---

Kengos - Uniquely Crafted Sneakers Made from Plants

Meet Kengos, an eco-friendly sneaker company that inspires progress on fighting against climate change through a footwear force for good. Why footwear? Well, because it is one of the most carbon-intensive elements of our daily wardrobe. That means our pair of kicks cause more harm to our planet than we think.

Kengos’ sneakers are amazingly made from plants, eliminating petrochemicals and animal materials from their ingredients. Yes, they're made by hand, bound together without glue, and assembled with only five components: cork, cotton, corn, eucalyptus, and natural rubber.

---

Allbirds - Comfortable Footwear Made with Natural Materials like Eucalyptus

The footwear industry alone is responsible for 700 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent pollution, in large part due to the petroleum-derived plastics in shoes. Concerned by this, Tim Brown, a native of New Zealand, began to wonder why materials such as merino wool, a wonderful and sustainable resource, were practically absent in shoe manufacturing.

Brown teamed up with Joey Zwillinger, an engineer with expertise in renewable energy, and together they founded Allbirds in 2016. With mother nature as their muse, they discovered uses for natural materials such as wool and eucalyptus for fabrics, sugar cane for soles, and trine for threads. The best part of the story is that all their sustainable materials are open-source, meaning the entire industry can (and should) use them in their products too.

---

Voronoi - 100% Biodegradable Sneakers Assembles without Adhesives

The footwear industry alone is generating 1.4% of global carbon emissions. Elements such as adhesives and polyurethane, which are not biodegradable, make materials hard to separate for recycling. Aware of this issue, Rik Olthuis, a native New Zealand designer and lover of sports shoes, began researching alternative materials.

Ideated by Rik, Voronoi is the first pair of sneakers made from 100% biodegradable materials, offering a solution to the waste that's polluting the planet. Voronoi runners are made with merino wool for the fabric, cotton, and linen threads and use no glues in construction so that the shoe can be entirely dissembled and composted separately at the end of its useful life.