Allbirds

How ethical and sustainable is Allbirds? 

Allbirds is a fashion and footwear brand, owned by Allbirds Inc. We have given this brand an excellent Good Shopping Guide score in our Ethical Shoes & Trainers Ratings Table, and therefore Allbirds passes our Ethical Benchmark. Because of this good score, Allbirds can now consider applying for The Good Shopping Guide’s prestigious Ethical Accreditation, for brands and companies to verify and prove their ethical business practice.

Find out more about the ethical issues with the Shoe & Trainer industry in our editorial.

What is Allbirds?

Allbirds was officially founded in 2016, after a successful Kickstarter campaign from New Zealand athletes, and received substantial investment from several American venture capital firms.

Allbirds has launched marketing campaigns with podcasters and social media influencers, which promote the brand’s ethical endeavours, as well as the products.

Is Allbirds a sustainable brand?

This brand has received a good Ethical Score for its Environmental Report. One of the goals listed on Allbirds’ website’s sustainability page is to have 100% regenerative cotton by 2025. Regenerative cotton farming seeks to actively improve the quality of the soil and agricultural environments involved in cotton growing. Allbirds also highlight its use of wool, which is a renewable resource, and SweetFoamⓇ, a material made from sugar cane, as an alternative to plastic-based synthetics.

Allbirds Environmental Report contains a lot more information on the brand’s mission towards sustainability; you can read it here.

Are Allbirds certified-Organic?

No, unfortunately, Allbirds have gained no Organic-accreditation. This is unfortunate and should be sought as a matter of priority, as so many of Allbird’s materials come from natural and/or agricultural sources, such as wool and sugar cane.

Are Allbirds Cruelty-Free?

No, Allbird are not certified-Cruelty-Free, and neither does this brand have a substantial Animal Welfare Policy.

Additionally, Allbirds has been criticised by PETA for its use of sheep wool, instead of looking for Vegan alternatives to animal by-products. PETA is calling for greater transparency from Allbirds, and an end to the use of wool in any products.

We encourage Allbirds to continue to look for Vegan alternatives to wool, in order to improve its Ethical Score in our Ethical Shoes & Trainers Ratings Table.

So, is Allbirds an ethical brand?

Allbirds has shown great initiative in its focus on sustainability and innovation in using renewable materials to make shoes. There have been no instances found of any involvement in sweatshops or Human Rights abuses. Overall, Allbirds scores well in our research categories of the Environment, Animals and People.

However, in order to gain Ethical Accreditation from The Good Shopping Guide, Allbirds should implement an Animal Welfare Policy, in order to better safeguard the well-being of the creatures that provide us with the materials we use every day.

If your shoe or trainer brand values ethics and sustainability, why not check out The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation? Increase customer and investor confidence and stand out from the greenwash.