Earth Day 2022: How Sneaker Brands Are Striving to Be More Sustainable & Eco-Friendly

This Earth Day, we want to take some time to showcase and celebrate the sneaker brands who are doing their bit in becoming more sustainable and environmentally-friendly. Whether it's introducing brand new materials to their collections or completely reworking the manufacturing process from the ground up, these companies are injecting a lot of their time, money, and resources in order to create a greener future for all of us, and this definitely deserves a spot of recognition.

So, if you want to learn more on what your favourite brands like adidas and Nike are doing to reduce their carbon footprint, we've rounded up some of the industry's biggest names and examined what exact they're doing to be more eco-friendly and ethical!

To kick things off, adidas are hands down one of the most sustainable brands in the game. For the past 20 years the German giant has been listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and we're honestly not surprised. Last year, adidas created around 20 million pairs of shoes with Parley ocean plastic such as the Ultra Boost. In 2019, the brand collected the equivalent of 4.5 billion plastic bottles for its recycled apparel range.

That's not all though, as the Three Stripes aims to only use recycled polyester from 2024 onwards and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. This massive commitment is supported by the introduction of various new projects, including the Stan Smith Mylo which is crafted from mushrooms and Kanye West's ever-popular Yeezy Foam RNNR that's partially made with algae.

Converse are certainly no stranger when it comes to environmentally-friendliness. The One Star brand recently launched its Renew Collection which features a series of one-of-a-kind sustainable trainers and eco-friendly clothing. Made in collaboration with U.K.-based Beyond Retro, each piece is made from 100% polyester from plastic bottles.

As the imprint falls under the Nike umbrella, they can also take advantage of the Beaverton brand's critically acclaimed Crater Foam which uses about 12% Nike Grind rubber that's collected from factory floors. This is just a single part of their commitment to design towards a waste-less future.

New Balance has big plans for the future. While many other brands are focusing on their products, the Boston-based company plans to rework their entire business. By the year 2025, all operations owned by NB will be powered by 100% renewable energy. They also want to completely eliminate the use and discharge of hazardous chemicals and achieve zero waste to landfill in their footwear factories as well - that's a lot to do in the space of four years!

Going back to their sneakers, collaborations with Jaden Smith have resulted in the highly coveted Vision Racer which is crafted from a newly-developed Spinnex material that uses a minimum of 30% surplus textile waste. The upper is infused with scrap TPU, while the midsole features 5% reground EVA foam. This is just one of the many sustainable silhouettes that New Balance are working on for a greener future.

Without a shadow of a doubt, Nike is the biggest and most successful sneaker brand out there, and they're certainly doing their bit to become more sustainable and eco-friendly. In 2019, the Beaverton-based company introduced the Move To Zero initiative where they're aiming towards a zero carbon and zero waste future. By the year 2025, they want to operate on 100% renewable energy. Additionally, Nike plan to divert 99% of all footwear manufacturing waste from landfills and use more than 1 billion plastic bottles per year to create yarns for new jerseys and uppers for Flyknit shoes.

Many of these sustainable processes are already being implemented into their current product line. From the Air VaporMax to the Space Hippie, these are all crafted from recycled materials without compromising on design and usability. The newly-announced Cosmic Unity is also playing a major role in this, with at least 25% of the entire shoe being made from reused materals.

PUMA is as ambitious as it gets. Not only have they given themselves environmental targets to achieve by 2015, they're also got aims to get better in health and safety and human rights. Embedding human rights and compliance to ILO Core Conventions in all of their operations and suppliers, the German brand have also ensured that their products are manufactured under safe, fair, legal, and humane working conditions.

The result are products such as the Rider and the Suede being created with sustainably sourced materials that will definitely make a massive difference in the long run.

Vans has been a heavy hitter in the industry for quite some time now, and they're committed to reducing their impact on the planet through a number of steps. From completely eliminating the use of single use plastics to reimagining the life cycle of their products, the Anaheim company are taking it one step further by providing the Vans family with resources and education to be more sustainable in the choices they make each day, both personally and in the business.

A few highlights of Vans' journey to a greener future include removing all plastic shopping bags from retails spaces by the end of this year, expanding their shoe recycling program globally by 2023, operate exclusively with renewable energy by 2025, and make core materials 100% regenerative, renewable, or recycled by 2030. This decade-long road map showcases the label's commitment to become more eco-conscious.

VEJA is, hands down, one of the most sustainable footwear brands today. Rather than just looking at their final product, the French footwear company looks at the entire process from start to finish. How much are labourers paid? How much does an organic cotton producer earn? What are the chemicals used in each pair? These are all things that VEJA considers when creating their sneakers, that's why they cost five times more to produce than other brands.

Through the use of fair trade and organic raw materials, they've also teamed up with Atelier Sans Frontières to provide well-paid jobs and personalised social support to each and every worker. This results in happy shoes made by happy people.

Earth Day this year is on April 22nd, so get those sustainable sneaks on! While you're here, make sure you check out some related articles down below: