Published

2 years ago

April 30, 2024

Alice Rush

Last Updated on April 30, 2024

Are you on the hunt for the perfect vegan shoes? There are many brands that are starting to create vegan footwear, but not all of them are created equal.

For example, brands that use virgin plastic in their footwear can technically claim it’s “vegan.” The same goes for most faux leather that claims to be vegan – it’s typically just virgin plastic.

The Best Vegan Shoes: 8 Brands Making Cruelty-Free Footwear

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Virgin plastic may not be derived from animals, per say, but its manufacturing is directly linked to the climate crisis.

To make virgin plastic, crude oil must be extracted from the earth via fracking. Then through an energy intensive process, usually done in a fossil fuel powered factory, it is transformed into virgin plastic. All of this emits carbon (CO2), which is a greenhouse gas that exacerbates climate change.

So, what’s the solution? Looking into vegan shoes that have a low carbon footprint. That can mean they’re made with sustainable and recycled materials, built to last, and/or are designed in a low waste manner.

Thankfully, many brands are starting to embrace ethical and sustainable shoemaking practices that also include vegan options. Here are the best brands making vegan shoes with a small carbon footprint.

what is a vegan shoe?

A vegan shoe is footwear that’s made without any animal-derived materials, like silk, leather, wool or suede. Essentially, no animals were harmed in the making of the shoe.

Instead, vegan shoes can be made from:

Bio-based materials like corn, bamboo, mushroom, apple or pineapple fibers
Synthetic materials like recycled plastics, rubber, canvas, microfibers

Just be mindful that many companies will also use vegan leather, which is most often made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyurethane. Both materials are made from fossil fuels and take many centuries to break down.

However, there are many companies coming out with innovative vegan leather options made from pineapple, cactus, mushroom and apple skins too. These plant-based leathers are made from juice industry waste or waste from farming. Several of the brands listed below utilize these materials.

You’ll also want to avoid brands trying to greenwash you by using the label “vegan” as a marketing tactic. This label alone does not make it sustainable.

Is the brand being transparent about their materials and production practices? Look into their eco-friendly initiatives and see what they’re pursuing, such as offering a take-back program or planting trees with every purchase.

Here’s a general overview of what to look for in vegan shoes to ensure they’re kind to planet + people:

Made from sustainable, innovative materials (aka, not virgin plastic)
Ethical manufacturing: Brands paying fair wages + providing safe working environments
Thoughtful packaging that’s not excessively wasteful
Timeless designs that can be paired with any of your wardrobe pieces
Repairability + durability – can it easily be repaired by a shoe cobbler?
Thoughtful craftsmanship: Every component of the shoe was carefully considered

are vegan shoes better?

It’s important to remember that “vegan shoes” are not more environmentally friendly by default, simply because they’re vegan. Rather, what matters is looking at the entire shoe as a whole.

There is some debate on the environmental impact of synthetic leathers (like PVCs) versus leather production. Both have an impact on our environment.

For example, the impact of real leather is driven by land use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with animal agriculture. This impacts biodiversity, water usage and climate change.

But the plastic industry also has a heavy carbon footprint. Plastic takes hundreds of years to biodegrade and during that time, they shed microplastics which have been found in human feces, blood and even placentas.

So, which is better? Well, neither is ideal. Because vegan leather made from plants (like apples, cactus, and pineapple) certainly outranks both plastic leather and real leather combined. This kind of leather is made from a waste product, which lowers its impact even further.

However, remember this: The shoe you already have is the most sustainable option, be it vegan or not. The materials and resources needed to make that shoe have already been expended, so you might as well put it to use.

Another great option is to find vegan shoes secondhand at a local thrift store or vintage store. Here are the best online marketplaces for thrifted and vintage finds. You’ll give shoes a second chance at life and avoid sending them to the landfill.

how to tell if a shoe is vegan?

You can tell if a shoe is vegan by looking at their materials, which are usually listed on their website or on the shoebox.

Vegan materials can include, but are not limited to:

Cotton
Hemp
Cactus, apple, pineapple + mushroom leather
Cork
Recycled plastic

Just be mindful of labels like “vegan leather” or “pleather”, as this could just mean virgin plastic. Make sure to double check and see what their vegan leather is made of before committing.

Here are some non-vegan materials:

Leather
Wool
Suede
Fur
Silk

how long do vegan shoes last?

How long vegan shoes last is variable: This depends on how high quality the shoe is, how often you wear it, and what conditions you wear it in.

For example, if you wear your favorite vegan shoes every day, rain or shine, chances are they will diminish in quality a lot faster than saving them for special occasions.

However, a good high quality pair of vegan shoes can last for several years, even with repeat use. If they are repairable, you may be able to extend their lifespan even further.

gzw approved vegan shoe options

I’ve rounded up a list of brands that create vegan shoes: All of these get the Going Zero Waste seal of approval. Some of these brands are exclusively vegan, whereas others offer a varying array of vegan options.

All the brands on this list utilize different strategies to ensure their materials are sustainable and ethical. There are several brands that also offer take-back programs, which help close the loop and ensure your shoes get recycled at the end of their life.

I’ve gone ahead and highlighted some key features of each brand, but it isn’t an exhaustive list. Be sure to check out their websites for more information.

1. cariuma

Women + men’s footwear
65% of products are 100% vegan
Sustainable materials like organic cotton, recycled PET and natural rubber
Support fair working hours + wages
Focus on biodiverse reforestation: Plant 2 trees for every pair of shoes purchased

2. rothy’s

Women + men’s footwear
Vegan + cruelty-free
Made from recycled water bottles with natural and renewable soles
Offers a recycling program

3. suavs

Women + men’s footwear
Vegan
Made from sustainable materials like 100% post-consumer recycled plastics
Compact and reusable shoe boxes that double as shipping boxes
Excess product is donated to organizations like Soles4Souls

4. alohas

Women’s footwear
Multiple vegan shoe options available
Locally produced in Spain
Carbon offset option
On-demand shopping to avoid overproduction

5. kengos

Women + men’s footwear
Various vegan options
Made from innovative materials like mushroom leather + cactus leather
Created with only 6 components
No petroleum-based adhesives used
Recycled cardboard packaging

6. nae shoes

Women, men + unisex footwear
Vegan + cruelty-free
Made from sustainable materials like Pinatex, apple skin, cork, organic cotton, etc.
Pre-loved program allows you to send back your shoes to be recycled or resold

7. clae

Women + men’s sneakers
Vegan options available
Made with cactus and apple leather, recycled materials, etc.

8. ground cover

Unisex shoes
Vegan + cruelty-free
Made with cactus + pineapple leather
Non-virgin inputs for both the insole and sole: cork + coffee ground waste
Packaged in a post-consumer cardboard shoebox

So, which of these sustainable vegan shoes would you try? Let me know in the comments!

The post The Best Vegan Shoes: 8 Brands Making Cruelty-Free Footwear appeared first on Going Zero Waste.

The Best Vegan Shoes: 8 Brands Making Cruelty-Free Footwear

Green Living

Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: Dandelion Energy CEO Dan Yates On How Geothermal Leasing Could Transform Home Heating and Cooling

Published

1 day ago

April 20, 2026

Alice Rush

Read a transcript of this episode. Subscribe to receive transcripts.

Return to one of our most compelling interviews of 2025. Amazingly, the same Congressional bill that gutted residential clean energy tax credits also led to a major breakthrough in financing home geothermal systems. Dan Yates, CEO of Dandelion Energy, explains how the Big, Beautiful Bill introduced changes that, for the first time, allow third-party leasing of residential geothermal systems. He shares why this policy change could help ground-source heat pumps grow the way leasing helped rooftop solar. Geothermal heating and cooling is four times more efficient than a furnace and twice as efficient as air-source heat pumps. Yet only about 1% of U.S. homes use it because the upfront costs for new geothermal systems have ranged from $20,000 to $31,000. The new leasing model means new homeowners can get geothermal systems for just $10 to $40 per month on a 20-year lease, which is usually far less than what they save on energy.

Dan Yates, CEO of Dandelion Energy, is our guest on *Sustainability In Your Ear*.

Dandelion is working with Lennar, one of the largest homebuilders in the country, to bring geothermal to more than 1,500 homes in Colorado over the next two years. This will be one of the biggest residential geothermal projects in U.S. history. The benefits for the power grid could be even more important than the savings for homeowners. Geothermal systems use only 25% of the peak power that air-source heat pumps need, which is a big advantage as AI data centers increase electricity demand. Yates explains that the Earth works like a huge thermal battery, storing heat in the summer for use in the winter. Geothermal lets utilities reduce peak loads on the grid throughout the year, freeing homeowners from the cost of the most expensive power.

You can learn more about Dandelion Energy at dandelionenergy.com.

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Editor’s Note: This episode originally aired on December 29, 2025.

The post Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: Dandelion Energy CEO Dan Yates On How Geothermal Leasing Could Transform Home Heating and Cooling appeared first on Earth911.

https://earth911.com/podcast/sustainability-in-your-ear-dandelion-energy-ceo-dan-yates-on-how-geothermal-leasing-could-transform-home-heating-and-cooling/

Green Living

56 Environmental Innovations in the 56 Years Since Earth Day Began

Published

4 days ago

April 17, 2026

Alice Rush

The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970 — 56 years ago — and, goodness, how the world has changed since then. We’ve come a long way since the days of burning our trash and pumping our gas guzzlers with leaded gasoline. In honor of those 56 years, here are 56 important changes and milestones since the first Earth Day.

Legislation

The U.S. government has led much of the environmental charge, starting with the implementation of the EPA (1) in July 1970. Later that year, the Clean Air Act (2) targeted air pollutants, followed by the Clean Water Act (3) in 1972 and the Endangered Species Act (4) in 1973.

Some lesser-known national laws included the Safe Water Drinking Act (5) in 1974, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (6) in 1976, the Toxic Substances Control Act (7) in 1976, the National Energy Act (8) in 1978, and the Medical Waste Tracking Act (9) in 1988.

In some cases, states have led the charge. Oregon passed the first bottle bill (10) in 1971, Minnesota’s Clean Indoor Air Act (11) was the first law to restrict smoking in public places (1975), and Massachusetts required low-flush toilets (12) for construction and remodeling in 1988.

Green Innovations: The Early Years

In order to comply with all the laws from the 1970s, we needed new technology to ensure consumers could adhere to the new standards. Consider:

The “Crying Indian” PSA debuts in 1971 (13)
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) gets banned in 1972 (14)
The energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb launches in 1973 (15)
Cars begin displaying fuel economy labels in the mid-1970s (16)
In 1975, all cars are manufactured with catalytic converters to limit exhaust emissions (17)
Chlorofluorocarbons are banned from aerosol cans starting in 1978 (18)
The first curbside recycling program begins in New Jersey in 1980 (19)
In 1986, McDonald’s switches from foam to paper food containers (20)
Mercury is removed from latex paint in 1990, providing a viable alternative to banned lead paint (21)
Earth911 launches the first U.S. recycling directory in 1991 (22)
Energy Star certification debuts in 1992 for appliances and electronics (23)
The U.S. Green Building Council begins in 1993 (24)

The Political Movement

The Green Party (25) launched in 1984, which was just the beginning of green issues entering the mainstream. One Percent for the Planet (26) was founded in 2002 to challenge businesses to donate to environmental causes, and the ISO 14001 standard (27) established environmental management. Companies are now facing pressure to allow employee telecommuting (28).

Things really developed after the release of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth (29) in 2006. NBC debuted Green Week (30) in 2007. Carbon offsets (31) alleviated corporate green guilt. Bisphenol A (32) made us all question plastic purchases. Hybrid vehicles (33) generated tax credits and gas savings. Plastic bag bans gave rise to a reusable bag (34) craze. Fracking (35) and the Dakota Access Pipeline (36) were two of the most hotly contested news stories of the decade, at least until the 2016 election.

Green Tech: The Next Wave

Smart house controller on tablet and happy family

In the past 10 years, emerging green tech has made eco-friendly a way of life, including:

LED light bulbs (37)
Portable solar panels on backpacks and watches (38)
Plant-based plastics (39)
Motion sensor lighting (40)
Faucets with automatic shut-off (41)
Low volatile organic compound (VOC) paint (42)
Recycled plastic clothing (43)
Ride-sharing mobile applications (44)
Natural cleaning products (45)
Biodiesel engine vehicles (46)
Food waste composting (47)
Portable air purifiers (48)
Europe’s Green Deal introduced global recyclables shipping regulations to reduce pollution in low-income nations (49)
Corporate borrowers headed toward $500 billion in bond financings for the renewables transition (50)
President Biden rejoins the Paris Climate Accord on his first day in office. (51)

The Latest Five: 2022–2026

The pace of innovation has not slowed. Five more milestones have reshaped the environmental landscape since that 51st Earth Day:

The Inflation Reduction Act (52), signed into law in August 2022, became the largest climate investment in U.S. history, directing roughly $370 billion toward clean energy tax credits, EV incentives, methane reduction, and domestic clean manufacturing. Analysts projected it will drive more than $4 trillion in cumulative capital investment over a decade and put the U.S. on track for a 40% emissions reduction by 2030. Sadly, many of its key provisions have been defunded or eliminated by the Trump Administration.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (53), adopted by 188 governments in December 2022, set the most ambitious biodiversity protection commitment in history. Its headline “30×30” target calls for conserving 30% of the planet’s land, freshwater, and ocean areas by 2030, a goal that would require doubling current protected land coverage and quadrupling marine protections.
America’s first commercial direct air capture plant (54), opened by Heirloom Carbon Technologies in Tracy, California in November 2023, marked the arrival of atmospheric carbon removal at commercial scale on U.S. soil. The plant uses limestone to absorb CO₂ directly from the air, with the captured carbon injected into concrete for permanent storage. In May 2024, Climeworks activated the world’s largest direct air capture facility, the Mammoth plant in Iceland, with a design capacity to remove 36,000 tons of CO₂ per year.
Solid-state batteries (55), a next-generation alternative to conventional lithium-ion technology, moved from laboratory promise toward commercial reality between 2022 and 2026. Unlike liquid-electrolyte batteries, solid-state versions are less flammable, achieve higher energy density, and degrade more slowly. In early 2025, Mercedes-Benz began road-testing a prototype EV powered by a lithium-metal solid-state cell that extended driving range 25% over comparable liquid-battery models. Multiple automakers and cell manufacturers now target commercial production between 2027 and 2030.
Perovskite and tandem solar cells (56), a new photovoltaic technology that pairs conventional silicon with thin perovskite layers, pushed solar efficiency into territory once considered theoretical. By 2024, tandem cells in laboratory settings exceeded 34% efficiency — well above the roughly 22% ceiling of standard silicon panels only a few years ago. manufacturers in Asia and Europe began scaling pilot production lines. Because perovskite cells can be printed on flexible substrates, they open the door to solar surfaces on buildings, vehicles, and everyday objects that conventional panels cannot reach.

The past 56 years have been huge when it comes to saving the environment. Expect more to come, including a resurgent EV industry, nuclear fusion, regenerative agriculture, restorative forestry, and more, as costs and the cool factor improve.

Editor’s Note: Originally published on April 18, 2018, this article was most recently updated in April 2026.

The post 56 Environmental Innovations in the 56 Years Since Earth Day Began appeared first on Earth911.

https://earth911.com/eco-tech/eco-friendly-innovations/

Green Living

Earth911 Inspiration: Forests Are the Lungs of Our Land

Published

4 days ago

April 17, 2026

Alice Rush

This week’s quotation is from Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president of the United States: “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.”

Earth911 inspiration posters: Post them and share your desire to help people think of the planet first, every day. Click the poster to get a larger image.