// sustainability intelligence for footwear

Know What Your
Sneakers Cost
the Planet

We score athletic footwear brands and individual shoe models on environmental impact, materials, and recyclability — so you can buy with a conscience.

// what happens to your shoes?
Your shoes are worn out.
The average runner replaces their shoes every 300–500 miles. What do you do with the old pair?
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// all brands - click to see individual models
// individual shoe models scored
// select two brands to compare
Your Sneaker Carbon Footprint
Find out how much CO2 your shoe buying habits produce each year - and what switching to sustainable alternatives could save.
Pairs bought per year
Primary brand you buy
// how we calculate this
The average athletic shoe produces approximately 13.6 kg CO2e during manufacturing (MIT study, most cited industry figure). Sustainable brands using recycled and bio-based materials average 6-9 kg CO2e. Carbon-neutral certified brands offset the remainder. We use each brand's publicly reported or estimated emissions per pair.
// powered by claude ai
✦ Ask ShoeGreenScore
Ask anything about shoe sustainability. Get recommendations, score explanations, brand comparisons, and more — all grounded in our database.
Most sustainable daily trainer?
Why does Nike score lower than Veja?
Best trail shoe above score 65?
Which brand improved most recently?
What makes a shoe hard to recycle?
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Hi! I'm the ShoeGreenScore AI. I know every brand and shoe model in this database — ask me anything about sustainability scores, what brands are doing right or wrong, or which shoe you should buy. What would you like to know?
Responses are grounded in ShoeGreenScore data. For major purchases, cross-reference brand sustainability reports.
// the problem with sneakers
The Athletic Shoe Industry
Has a Waste Problem
Over 24 billion pairs of shoes are produced globally each year. The vast majority end up in landfills - taking up to 1,000 years to decompose. Athletic shoes are among the hardest to recycle due to their complex multi-material construction. We built ShoeGreenScore to make sustainable choices visible and accessible.
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Carbon Cost of a Shoe
The average pair of running shoes generates 13.6 kg of CO2 - equivalent to driving a car 35 miles. Most of that comes from the midsole foam manufacturing process, which requires energy-intensive chemical reactions at high heat. A sustainable alternative cuts that footprint by up to 50%.
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Why Recycling is Hard
Most athletic shoes are made from 30+ different materials bonded together - foam, rubber, mesh, plastic, glue. Separating these at end-of-life is nearly impossible at scale. This is why brands like Salomon and On Running are pioneering mono-material shoe designs that can be fully recycled as a single unit.
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The Power of Shoe Reuse
Refurbishing and reusing shoes is one of the most impactful things you can do. A refurbished shoe uses a fraction of the energy of a new one, and keeps toxic materials out of landfills. Organizations around the world are building systems to collect, repair, and redistribute used footwear to communities that need it most.
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The Relay Project
The Relay Project runs school chapters across the country focused on sustainable shoe reuse and recycling. Chapters collect used sneakers at local races and community events, then donate or recycle them through partner organizations - keeping thousands of shoes out of landfills every year.
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Brands Scored
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Models Scored
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Avg Brand Score
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Top Brand
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Rishaan Gorde
Creator of ShoeGreenScore
"I'm a competitive runner — I run through 4–6 pairs of shoes a year, and I started thinking about what that actually costs environmentally. I couldn't find a single resource that gave me clear, honest sustainability scores for the brands I was already buying — so I built one."
✉ rishaangorde@gmail.com ♻ Relay Project ↗