“Carbon emissions are bad. Carbon neutrality is less bad. End of story, right? That’s what most “sustainable” businesses want you to believe. And sure, climate pledges for the year 2050 are a nice start. But truth be told, it’s a little late to settle for that.
We think doing better means doing more than measuring and offsetting our impact. So we’re focused on strategies that’ll reduce our footprint to zero and beyond, eliminating the need for offsets altogether.”
The brand is a completely carbon neutral business, which the goal of becoming a carbon negative business. The brand is built around the use of merino wool, which is abundant in New Zealand. For this reason, merino wool uses 60% less energy to produce than the materials used to create a synthetic shoe. The brand also incorporates lycocell fabric – made from tree fibers sourced from South African forests.
Allbirds is partnered with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an organization that works to prevent deforestation, and incorporate tree harvesting that mimics the natural loss of trees in nature. They also work with non-profit organization Tree Canopy, which helps brands ensure that their supply chain is free from materials taken from endangered or ancient forests.
Each pair of shoes is made with laces made from post-consumer recycled plastic bottles and the packaging is made from 90% post-consumer recycled cardboard.
Materials used:
Merino Wool Nylon Recycled Nylon Recycled Polyester Spandex TencelThe brand doesn’t disclose any information about conditions in their factories, which are located in Peru, South Korea, China and Vietnam. The brand offers no transparency about the wages paid to workers, factory inspections or anything else that would instil confidence that the workers are treated fairly. However, the brand partners with ZQ Merino, an organization that aims to ensure fair trade practices are used, with fair wages, healthy working conditions and income stability for farmers.
Certifications:
B CorpNo products the brand carries are vegan, as merino wool is used in all of their shoes. However, the brand works with organizations such as ZQ Merino to ensure that the wool used is cruelty-free as the sheep are raised in good conditions.
Free shipping over $50 to the United States and Canada. Free shipping over $60 to Australia, over £45 to the United Kingdom, plus more country options.
The brand ships to the following locations: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and USA.
“We offer a 30-day trial period. You can return or exchange your shoes for free with no questions asked, even if you’ve worn them out in the wild.”
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