Allbirds Co-CEO: Shoe companies should be carbon neutral ‘from farm to foot'

Allbirds (BIRD) went public on Wednesday, banking on a business built from making sneakers with a smaller carbon footprint.

According to the company's co-CEO, Joey Zwillinger, Allbirds has a pledge to go "virtually carbon neutral" and reduce 95% of its emissions by 2030.

"That's the kind of action we would encourage companies to shift to," Zwillinger said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). "And while they're making their way down to a net-neutral future of carbon emissions for their company — and that's across the whole stack, in our case, from farm to foot and beyond, into the end of life — they need to act now. And they should be bridging that with carbon offsets as well."

Allbirds will be the 29th B-Corporation to be a publicly listed company. Certified B-Corporations are defined as "businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose."

While the central focus for Allbirds is “to be a great business and try to make money for our shareholders," Zwillinger said, "we're also looking at environmental impact. And our focus is on climate change.”

Sustainable materials are 'the magic of Allbirds'

Zwillinger's message wasn't solely inward-looking. When it comes to sustainability, he delivered a message to other companies: "Act much, much more quickly than they are."

Allbirds isn't the only company to design shoes with a smaller carbon footprint. Over the summer, Brooks Running announced it had created a carbon-neutral version of its top-selling running shoe, the Ghost 14. Nike (NKE) also released a signature carbon-neutral marathon running shoe.

Allbirds intends to differentiate itself from footwear giants and other sustainable brands by catering to a broader consumer — the weekend warriors of fitness — and investing in developing renewable materials for its shoes.

The company's material innovation has been a central pillar in its sustainability strategy. Eschewing virgin oil-based plastics, Allbirds lists materials such as eucalyptus tree, sugarcane, and recycled synthetic fibers in its product descriptions.

And on that front, Zwillinger hinted at some new developments in the works that could make their way to consumers' feet in a few years.

For instance, Zwillinger highlighted a partnership with Natural Fiber Welding to develop an alternative to leather from cows, which is likely to please both vegans and those concerned about cattle's large environmental impact.

“We didn't want to use leather from animals,” Zwillinger said. “And this is a naturally derived alternative that opens up an incredible tool in our arsenal to deploy into products around a couple of different areas, but in particular, on lifestyle sneakers and have just such a cool opportunity to unlock the power of a material that works well, that feels amazing, and is a 98% carbon reduction versus bovine leather.”

“That is the magic of Allbirds when we take a naturally derived material that does good for the world and also feels different and feels better, and that unlocks product opportunity to connect with consumers,” he added. “And that's where we're going to really win.”