Allbirds has created the world’s first
net-zero-carbon shoe, the
M0.0NSHOT. Its
landmark carbon footprint, or lack thereof — 0.0 kg CO₂e, versus an industry
average of 14 kg CO₂e — was achieved without relying on offsets, after Allbirds
completely reimagined the way it makes product.
This is one small footprint for a shoe; but it could mean one giant leap for the
shoe industry — so, just as it did in 2021 with its Carbon Footprint
Calculator,
Allbirds is open-sourcing the toolkit that enabled it to eliminate the
M0.0NSHOT’s footprint and is inviting others to follow in its footsteps.
“Creating a net-zero-carbon shoe that is commercially viable and scalable is the
culmination of our entire back-catalog of work,” says Allbirds co-founder and
co-CEO Tim Brown. “M0.0NSHOT isn’t a
silver bullet for the climate crisis — it’s a proof-point that, when we take
sustainability seriously and are laser-focused on carbon reduction, we can make
incredible breakthroughs.”
M0.0NSHOT is the culmination of years of work and Allbirds’ focus on
systematically reducing carbon in its business and products since its founding.
In 2018, it created sugarcane-based
SweetFoam® — its first
carbon-negative material — which informed the new foam used in M0.0NSHOT. Then,
in 2020, Allbirds became the first fashion brand to label products with carbon
footprints. A year later, the brand announced a partnership with adidas to
collaborate on what was, at that point, the lowest-carbon shoe in the world: the
Adizero x Allbirds.
the exciting potential of cultivated, fermented and plant-based protein innovation
Join us as Aleph Farms, the Better Meat Co, the Good Food Institute and Plantible Foods discuss the latest advancements in cultivated, plant-based, and fermentation-derived proteins — and how incorporating alternative proteins can help brands significantly reduce environmental impacts, while conserving natural resources — Tuesday, Oct. 15 at SB'24 San Diego.
After this project, shooting for a net-zero-carbon shoe became the natural next
step. The Allbirds Futures Team — a cross-functional innovation team — took
on that challenge in 2022, channeling all of the brand’s learnings to design
M0.0NSHOT.
The M0.0NSHOT was made possible by:
-
Carbon-negative, regenerative merino
wool
upper: Grown on Lake Hawea Station
in New Zealand.
-
Carbon-negative, sugarcane-based foam midsole: While most industry foams
are primarily synthetic, Allbirds’ newly developed SuperLight Foam
boasts 80 percent bio content.
-
Carbon-negative bioplastic eyelets: Allbirds has teamed up with Mango
Materials to deploy a new process that
uses microorganisms to convert methane — the greenhouse gas that sheep and
cows
release
when they burp — into a form of polymer that can be molded like other
plastics, without the corresponding carbon footprint.
-
The most carbon-efficient packaging Allbirds has ever had: With reduced
space and weight required to transport — made with sugarcane-derived,
carbon-negative Green
PE.
-
Carbon-conscious transportation: A considered transportation plan with
biofuel-powered ocean shipping and electric trucking from port to warehouse.
“We believe this will revolutionize the path to net zero and act as rocket fuel
for the entire industry. We could spend decades debating the finer points of
carbon sequestration, or we can innovate today with a common-sense approach,”
says Hana Kajimura, head of
sustainability at Allbirds. “It’s about progress, not perfection. The scientists
have shown us what’s possible — now it’s time for the fashion industry to carry
the open-sourced learnings from M0.0NSHOT forward.”
In partnership with Lake Hawea Station and The New Zealand Merino
Company, Allbirds is pioneering a new method of
quantifying a product’s carbon footprint that accounts for materials and
processes that capture carbon, as well as those that emit — to provide a more
holistic view of emissions and, therefore, a more accurate picture of a
product’s climate impact. In other words, while
some elements of the shoe’s creation inevitably emit carbon, others capture it —
bringing the final product to net zero.
“Our imperative from day one at Lake Hawea Station was to demonstrate that
farming can be part of the climate emergency solution. With our native
reforestation projects and planting, we sequester almost twice what we emit. On
the other side of the ledger, we consciously reduce emissions,” says Finn
Ross, Conservation Manager at
Lake Hawea Station. “Lake Hawea Station is deeply committed to farming
regeneratively, investing significantly in enhancing our biodiversity, and have
introduced new animal wellbeing programs and hydro and solar infrastructure. It
is fantastic to work with a brand at the other end of the supply chain who
shares our regenerative philosophy and values around climate action.”
In addition to the carbon-sequestering materials, M0.0NSHOT also features
bioplastic eyelets made from captured methane — the most potent,
climate-changing greenhouse gas — courtesy of Mango Materials.
“Mango Materials is thrilled that our novel
technology
can contribute to Allbirds’ production of the world’s first zero-carbon shoe,”
says CEO Molly Morse.
Alongside On’s forthcoming Cloudprime running shoe — the first shoe made
from carbon emissions — it sounds like the climate-conscious
public
will be able to tread much more lightly in the near future.
M0.0NSHOT will launch in June when Allbirds presents the shoe for the first time
at the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen;
it will be available for purchase in Spring 2024.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Mar 27, 2023 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST