Nothing is everything.
And when we say nothing, we mean nothing. As in zero. Zilch. Nada. See, when we unveiled the Allbirds Flight Plan in 2021, that was a big part of our commitment: cutting our carbon footprint in half by the end of 2025, then reducing it to near zero by 2030.
And not for nothing, we’re on track.
With a 22% drop in our average product carbon footprint in 2023, we’re closing in on our 2025 Flight Plan goal. This is a game of inches and we’re big on near term, tangible progress. It’s just one small part—okay, big part— of our mission to reverse climate change through better business.
Reverse Climate Change
Through Better Business
But what does “better business” look like? With the sustainability bandwagon getting more and more crowded, it can be tough to know. That’s why we’re laying out our vision in plain English:
Establishing a 3 step approach to hold ourselves accountable
Outlining priorities to reduce our footprint
Committing to concrete changes by 2025
Our Beginnings
The fashion industry dumps 2.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. That’s equal to the pollution from 456,707,817 cars in the same timeframe. Why so much? Because our industry loves fossil fuels—to power factories, ship things, and make materials. In other words, most of what we wear is made from plastic, and plastic comes from oil, a fossil fuel.
It wasn’t always this way. In fact, humans really only became obsessed with plastic over the last 80 years. So we asked ourselves, “Would it be better if we went back to making things from natural materials?”
Our Approach
Climate change is a complex topic. Which is why we’re focused on what we can control: driving our emissions to zero. We do this with a data-driven approach, investing in projects, systems, and tools that maximize our potential for positive impact. Today, we have a three-part approach to address our climate impact: we measure our emissions, reduce our footprint, and work to support the removal of carbon emissions from the atmosphere.
Measure
We measure everything that contributes to our carbon footprint, from the factory floor to the lights in HQ.
Reduce
We are continuously working to reduce our climate impact, driving carbon reductions through work in regenerative agriculture, renewable materials, and responsible energy.