MABR grad Trevor Shott wrote this at the end of Spring term—right before life got really crazy. We’ve saved it to now. Thanks Trevor!
On Twitter last week, shoe giant Adidas and sustainable footwear brand Allbirds, made an announcement that they would be working together to create a performance shoe with the lowest carbon emissions ever. By working with one another, the two competitors are hoping to “redefine the playbook on sustainability” and show that some issues, such as our growing climate crisis, are too important to try and tackle alone.
The shoe industry produces more than 24 billion pairs of shoes annually worldwide for a population of “only” 7.8 billion people. The emissions from these shoes adds up to over 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year – that’s the equivalent of powering 80,775,444 homes for an entire year. According to Allbirds, the standard shoe has a carbon footprint of 12.5 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2e) when you consider manufacturing, materials, and end of life disposal. A study by MIT shows that this number could even be closer to 30 kg. By acknowledging their industry’s large impact on our environment, Allbirds and Adidas are hoping to co-create a shoe with an output of 2 kg CO2e or less.
Currently, Allbirds has gotten their products down to an average of 7.6 kg CO2e due in large part to the innovation of their materials. They do this in part by using more sustainable and renewable resources such as merino wool, eucalyptus trees, and sugarcane. On top of their materials, Allbirds makes sure to offset any remaining carbon emissions in order to be fully carbon neutral – with the larger goal of emitting no carbon in the first place. Though Allbirds is known for their sustainability, Adidas is no stranger to earth-friendly initiatives themselves. Their Parlay collaboration turns plastic waste found in our oceans into high performance shoes. They’re also currently developing a closed-loop shoe that can be returned and remade into an entirely new shoe via their FUTURECRAFT.LOOP initiative.
Both companies are trying to do their part to reduce their impact on the environment, and James Carnes, vice president of brand strategy at Adidas, is already seeing the benefits of working together, “We’ve already realized we’re doing the right thing because we’re moving so much faster than either of us would have if we were trying to do this alone.”
While collaboration between brands is not uncommon, it’s typically done so across different markets. This unique partnership, however, will allow the two companies to combine their tools and sustainably produce shoes at scale. Allbirds cofounder Tim Brown believes this shift in perspective about competition is a necessary step for the future of our planet, “When it comes to sustainability, we don’t see ourselves competing with one another, but competing for the future.” Allbirds and Adidas are paving the way for more teamwork and collaboration between companies for the sake of our planet and should be looked at as an example for others to follow suit. We can only hope that this partnership will lead to a future that emphasizes collaboration over competition. One where companies acknowledge that a combined effort can lead to a win for not just their bottom lines, but for society as a whole.
Only time will tell how this partnership works out, but there’s no doubt that they are redefining what role businesses have in tackling social and environmental issues. On his responsibility in addressing the environmental crisis, Brown says, “Climate change is a global problem that knows no borders, will wait for no one, and will challenge everyone. It’s going to be on countries, governments, companies, and individuals to solve the problem—it’s not going to be fixed by one person. We’re all in this race together.” Seeing companies come together in this time is very encouraging, and hopefully it inspires other businesses reflect on their own practices and how they can make a difference.
For all the brands out there: Take notes. This is brand responsibility. This is the future.