We are a group of sneaker lovers and sneakerheads with a common goal to drive positive change in the sneaker industry. Join our campaign to make sneakers more sustainable by ending the use of petroleum-based materials and stopping greenwashing. 

Currently, only 5% of footwear are made sustainably. The vast majority of sneakers are made from highly polluting non-renewable materials; the production and sourcing of which emit harmful greenhouse gases and cause global warming. Recent research also linked leading sneaker brands like Nike and Adidas to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest due to way they source their leather. 

Join us by signing our open letter to the ten biggest sneaker brands who jointly control over 80% of the global sneakers' market share. We are calling for radical change from a distinct group of companies who have the power to enact real change.

Open Letter

Dear Nike, Adidas, Puma, New Balance, Sketchers, Vans, Asics, Converse, Reebok, and Under Armour, etc.

We love your sneakers! They LOOK super cool. What we don’t love is the way you MAKE them.

You’ve been making some of the best-performing running shoes for decades, but you are running out of time to act on the climate and social emergency. 

You are one of the leading sneaker brands – we want you to lead in sustainability too, by:

-        Respecting human and labour rights

Treat the people involved in making our sneakers fairly by paying workers a living wage, providing them with safe working conditions, allowing them to voice their concerns - and actually listen.

-        Stop greenwashing and wokewashing

We trust the quality of your sneakers, but we would also like to trust that you don’t mislead us by sneaky greenwashing and wokewashing. Please back up advertising claims with facts and data, available to anyone who wants to check.

-        Saying no to oil

Stop using highly polluting petroleum-based materials and harsh chemicals in our sneakers. Use safe low-carbon alternatives instead. Only 5% of sneakers are made using sustainable materials - this is not enough. Moving forward, let’s make it 100%.

-        Minimising Waste 

Provide widely available services to tackle the problem of shoe waste such as repairs at an affordable price and takeback schemes in ALL your stores. Also maximize materials recovery from sneakers that are beyond repair through remanufacturing or recycling. 

-        Protecting our rainforests

Protect our rainforests by ensuring that the leather in our sneakers isn’t sourced from cattle farms that cause deforestation.

-        Being fully transparent

Set a good example by disclosing all your social and environmental policies, practices and impacts across your supply chain. Share with us the journey and make it easy for us to see the origin and the materials of the sneakers we buy. We’d love to see where they are made and by whom.

Looking forward to you Sneaking Ahead and making our sneakers even cooler!

DO THE RIGHT THING.

If you’re interested in reading the in-depth version of our open letter, click here