The shoe brand announced this week it’s going 100% vegan by the end of the year in order to help fight the climate crisis, and achieve its goal of becoming a net zero company by 2030. In order to accomplish this, Crocs is embracing more sustainable, bio-based materials and packaging.
The company’s CEO, Andrew Rees, said “Taking action to reduce our environmental footprint by implementing more sustainable practices across our entire business is the right thing to do for Crocs”.
Crocs still uses leather in some styles, even though its signature material, Croslite, is animal-free. The Classic Clogs model already has a low carbon footprint, but Crocs plans to further reduce these emissions by transitioning to a more sustainable Croslite material. An assessment made by MIT found that about 66% of the shoes’ carbon footprint come from the manufacturing process. The remaining emissions occurred during the extraction of raw materials for the shoes.
The company says it plans to explore more eco-friendly packaging alternatives as it’s also working to reduce the environmental impact of packaging. In 2020, 85% of all Crocs shoes were sold without boxes.
“The company is also working to keep its shoes out of landfills through recycling and re-commerce programs and by donating unsold pairs.”
More brands are embracing vegan materials. In June, skateboarding shoe brand Vans launched the Eco Theory collection of sustainable and revamped styles of its classic shoes made with eco-friendly materials, like organic cotton, cork, hemp, and natural rubber.
Vans has committed to using 100% renewable energy in its facilities by 2025. It also plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.
In 2020, Adidas also also began making vegan versions of its classic leather styles, and released new versions of two of its iconic shoes: the Samba and Continental 80.
