Earth Day

3 Industry Earth Day Initiatives for Greener Shoes

The industry is getting more environmentally conscious. Three brands are looking to make cleaner shoes, and plant more trees, for Earth Day and beyond.

Oboz Trails for Trees Challenge

Earth Day

For Earth Day and the entire month of April, Oboz is challenging walkers, hikers, runners, and people using mobility assistive devices to hike for its Trails for Trees Challenge. The brand will plant a tree for every hike completed throughout the month, and participants are up for weekly prizes.
“Since the first pair of Oboz hit the trails in 2007 we have planted over 5 million trees, and we are on a mission to plant 5 million more. Last year we challenged people to hike for 10 days and as a result we planted over 5,400 trees. With this year’s Trails for Trees Challenge we hope to plant four times as many and inspire people to get outside and enjoy the outdoors no matter where in the world they live.” —Amy Beck, Oboz President

Twisted X Looks Beyond Earth Day

Instead of a fleeting Earth Day initiative, Twisted X embodies sustainability as its brand identity. With sustainability at the core, every Twisted X active shoe has at least one “green” element.  And, over 7.5M+ plastic bottles have been upcycled into ecoTWX, a sustainable fabric for footwear.  As of 2020, Twisted X became carbon neutral and has remained since, offsetting more than 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide. Additionally, the brand has planted over 500,000 trees in partnership with One Tree Planted.

Keen Launches “World’s Cleanest Shoe”

KEEN Consciously Created Watercolor by Max Romey

More than 20 years after its founding and 10 years after starting to eliminate PFAS, Keen is recommitting to its mission to make the “world’s cleanest shoes” by investing in new partnerships and processes. One such partnership is a multi-year partnership with environmental educator and filmmaker Max Romey (who also created the watercolor image above).

As a shoemaker, Keen knows that the most meaningful thing it can do is reduce the impact of how it makes its product. In 2023, Keen rapidly advanced its climate journey through five critical steps: measuring its greenhouse gas footprint, setting a science-aligned goal to reduce its emissions, shifting to renewable energy, creating a Keen climate task force, and investing in climate-focused partners such as Protect Our Winters and The Conservation Alliance.

For more environmentally focused content, keep your eyes peeled for our April/May issue

The December 2024 Issue

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