Have you ever wondered where to get sustainable sneakers from? Me too. In fact, I’ve been researching sustainable sneakers annually for more than four years now! This guide started off as a comparison of 19 different shoe brands, and today, covers reviews of my favourite every day sneakers, and my best running shoes, from brands whose values align with my own. I’m happy to say there are sustainable shoe brands operating in the UK, and with great shoes too! If you’re wondering where the best place is to find new shoes that are good for people, planet, and your feet, scroll down…
We Need To Shop Buying So Many Shoes
I want to start this guide by highlighting just how big the footwear industry is. Tansy Hoskins explores this in her book Foot Work*: “Every single day in 2018, 66.3 million pairs of shoes were manufactured across the world. That adds up to a total of 24.4 billion pairs.”
24.4 billion is A LOT of shoes. Right now, the world’s population is just over 8 billion. That means there are more than three pairs of brand new shoes being made each year for every person on Earth.
If we zoom in on the U.K., things get worse. According to a Dispatches documentary from 2022, the average Brit has seven pairs of shoes in their wardrobe. We have to slow down!
To tackle overproduction, I usually advocate second-hand shopping and encourage circular solutions. However, with shoes, and especially training shoes, this isn’t always the best answer. Shoes can be fine if lightly worn, or new with tags, but from experience, shoes need to be supportive and mould to a wearer’s foot. Heavily-worn shoes often lose that support, and can be a bad investment.
To guarantee real wearability, I’m only covering new shoes in this guide, but I will be looking for shoes that can be remade or recycled, which helps with circularity.
What To Look For In Sustainable Sneakers
If this is the first Curiously Conscious guide you’re reading, start here. As with all of my sustainable shopping guides, I like to better define what ‘sustainable’ truly means. While there are efforts to crack down on greenwashing, the term ‘sustainable’ can be a little misleading.
To me, sustainable sneakers should encompass the following traits:
- Social sustainability: providing clear, accessible knowledge of who makes the shoes, and how these people are being treated ethically, with safe working conditions and fair pay.
- Environmental sustainability: shoe brands should transparently listed out the natural and regenerated materials they use, as well as practices to lower their impact (e.g. reducing energy and water use, avoiding harmful chemicals).
- Slow production: I expect sustainable fashion brands – including shoe brands – to drop four or less collections per year, or at the very least, make an attempt to reduce the amount of items they produce.
- Circular practices: circularity encompasses a lot, from designing products that are long-lasting, resellable, and recyclable, through to inviting customers to repair or return products.
Now, a word of warning. In my guide to ethical shoes, I highlighted how the intricacy of shoemaking makes it far harder to make shoes sustainable. It’s why there are hundreds of sustainable t-shirt brands on the market, but only a handful of shoe brands. A simple t-shirt may have just two pieces of fabric, whereas a pair of shoes has soles, insoles, outers, fastenings, and more.
That said, I’ve been seeing more and more footwear brands touting sustainable sneaker collections, and over the last few years I’ve worn a good few pairs myself.
My Sustainable Sneakers Collection
Purified Plastic-Free Sneakers
Purified is an independent sneaker brand hailing from London, U.K., with a focus on creating shoes that are plastic-free and made with natural materials. They launched in 2024, and I was gifted a pair of their Walden Sneakers to review.
First, it’s pretty impressive how normal this shoe looks, despite its entirely different composition to a regular sneaker. The upper is made from mirum, a plant-based, plastic-free vegan leather, while the bouncy soles are made from pliant natural latex. Everything in-between is made from plant-based materials: tencel, organic cotton, etc.
The shoes are very comfy, and compare well to my past sneakers from Veja. Read my full review →
Hylo Athletics Running Shoes
Hylo Atheltics is a sustainable sneakers brand I’ve been quite excited about. Their designs consider sustainable materials, circularity, and impact, while also innovating new solutions like their corn spring soles, algae bloom insoles, and corn fibre uppers.
Hylo gifted me this pair Womens Runners in White a few years ago, and I burned through that pair, and immediately replaced them with another pair! They’re light and supportive, and with the additional heel lock holes, fit my relatively narrow feet well.
Hylo is now onto a whole new range of shoes, but their overall sustainable principles and use of innovative, circular materials makes them a leader in sustainable running shoes.
Adidas Parley Trainers
For contrast, I wanted to give an example of a not-so-great sustainable shoe.
The Adidas Parley Collection is one of the longest-standing “sustainable sneaker” styles. Parley is a global collaboration network tasked with taking action to protect the world’s oceans. Their successful collaboration with Adidas started over seven years ago, and has led to numerous new product lines, as well as Adidas committing to phasing out single-use plastics and microbeads. Great work, but this only really tackles one area: materials.
I bought these Duramo shoes based on the above, but later found out that Adidas Group’s has a long way to go in terms of sustainability (see Remake’s Fashion Accountability Report.) I also found the shoes themselves to be disappointing – only the upper fabric is made from a “recycled material containing at least 50% Parley Ocean Plastic”. Overall, they were a soggy excuse for a running shoe, and an ugly excuse for a sneaker.
Black Tulip Classic Tennis Shoes
Black Tulip is a boutique shoemaker and sneaker brand creating a range of shoes with timeless style and high quality materials. I spent most of 2024 wearing the Cassava Classic Tennis Trainers in Vintage Off-White (gifted) and would call them the perfect everyday shoe. They’re ideal for commuting and short walks, and they look nicer than most, with the literal stylish twist in the form of the Corylus twist detail.
If you’re looking for a small, independent shoe brand making good quality shoes, Black Tulip is the place to go. However, I will say that their sustainability could be proven further – sure, their leather is certified by Leather Working Group, but there’s a lot more I’d like to see.
Veja Campo Sneakers
My first foray into the world of sustainable sneakers came via Veja. They have a strong market presence while quietly prioritising ethical production and sustainable materials. Pictured here are my limited edition cornstarch Campo sneakers – akin to the Campo – which I wore almost daily for three years. They were comfy, waterproof, and aesthetically pleasing.
Veja come across as a stylish sneakers brand first, and a sustainable sneakers brand second. The style of their shoes is both classic and contemporary, and can be seen everywhere. They’re a B Corp, but they don’t flaunt it.
When visiting their site, I am struck by the number of styles they offer – over 170 styles and counting. So be aware – Veja is not a slow fashion brand.
12 Of The Best Sustainable Sneakers Brands In The UK
If you’re looking for your own pair of eco-friendly everyday shoes, or exercise shoes, here’s a list of UK-based brands with ethical and sustainable credentials that are a cut above the rest:
Allbirds*: B-Corp certified footwear brand specialising in comfortable sneakers.
Black Tulip: Independent shoe brand making LWG-certified sneakers.
Cariuma: Eco-friendly alternatives to skate shoes, low-tops, high-tops, for all genders.
Elliot*: Classic canvas sneakers by world’s first climate positive sneaker brand.
Good News: Chunky-soled stompers that are ironically lighter on the Earth.
Helen Kirkum: Artful sneakers made from upcycled materials. A fashion statement in a shoe.
Purified: Innovative plastic-free sneakers at a surprisingly affordable price point.
Ration.L*: Spanish footwear brand specialising in gender neutral trainers made of vegan leather.
Stella McCartney*: Iconic vegetarian footwear from the luxury fashion house.
Veja: B-Corp certified shoe brand making iconic everyday sneakers and trainers.
Vivobarefoot: Barefoot shoes made with sustainable principles and circular systems.
Zeta*: Recycled and recyclable sneakers with a retro feel, especially the high-tops!
So, Is There Any Such Thing As Sustainable Sneakers?
After researching more than 20 pairs of ‘so-called’ sustainable sneakers, I find myself leaning towards the independent brands as better options when it comes to top-down sustainability. Allbirds, Hylo, Purified, and Veja rank the highest in my eyes, but still have room for improvement.
If you are looking for specialist footwear, or have a specific concern with your shoes, do prioritise this over sustainability. There seems to be a knowledge gap at smaller businesses, which I would hope to see solved by cross-brand collaborations.
We’re now getting close to seeing truly sustainable sneakers on the market – Helen Kirkum, Hylo, and Purified are especially exciting. However, it will still take some time and research to find a shoe that enables you to tread more lightly on this Earth.
P.S. Here’s What To Do With Your Old Sneakers
Finally, if you’re replacing old sneakers, you may be wondering how to recycle or throw away your old pair. According to Channel 4’s Dispatches, 90% of the 300,000 pairs of trainers thrown away in the UK each year go to landfill. And despite all this new tech, most of those soles can take up to 1000 years to degrade. So, can you recycled your sneakers? Right now, sadly, no.
Shoe recycling is still in its infancy, and despite brands like Nike promoting take-back schemes in the UK, they do not offer this service to customers in any of their stores.
Right now, my best advice would be to repair or resell them, or take them to a charity-run clothes bank. Be sure to tie them together so they can be inspected and possibly re-sold. Your old shoes will still likely go to landfill, but at least you are using the correct channels to keep them in circulation for as long as possible.
Found this guide useful? Got something to add? Drop me a comment below!
