It's literally the hottest day since the 19th century. Cool off a bit with these sustainable sandals made with Planet Earth in mind.

1. SOLE

Mike Baker has a good answer for all those wine corks after the wine is dined. He founded SOLE in Calgary, Canada, which uses cork to make sandals and insoles.

How is cork sustainable? It absorbs and stores CO2 in the bark of the cork oak tree. The bark is harvested and SOLE combines leftover trimmings from wine cork making together with recycled used corks to make their final products. The cork bark grows back and the tree is never cut down!

Got a bunch of corks lying around at home? Drop them off at a collection partner near you.

2. Gumbies

From Melbourne, Florida comes Gumbies, founded by Michel Maurer. Gumbies uses recycled rubber to make their sandals, and also plants a tree or recovers ocean plastic for every pair sold!

3. Nisolo

Every Nisolo product comes with a Sustainability Facts Label.

Founded by Patrick Woodyard in Nashville, TN, they pay 100% living wages to employees and Tier 1 suppliers, and are working to do the same with Tier 2-4 suppliers. They're also committed to 0% net carbon by reducing and offsetting their carbon emissions.

It's all part of their holistic approach to sustainability, covering People, Planet, Transparency, Accountability & Collaboration in their Nisolo Sustainability Framework.

4. Rainbow Sandals

Jay “Sparky” Longley has been making and running Rainbow Sandals since 1974 in San Clemente, CA.

While they make them to last, “if they are past warranty but still have life left, please return them. The layered construction allows us to repair where needed and instead of throwing them away, we will donate these sandals to protect the feet of the homeless, orphaned, and victims of natural disasters."

They also support a long list of social causes, which in 2021 added up to 4% of their total revenue!

5. Gurus

Prem Thomas and Joe Choorapuzha started Gurus in Oldsmar, FL. In their “nothing complicated" approach to sustainability, they only use sustainably hand harvested natural rubber from family farms in India, and plant 1 tree for every pair sold!

6. Indosole

1.5 billion tires are thrown out every year. Kyle Parsons thought this was a problem, so he founded Indosole in San Francisco, CA.

At the time there wasn't an easy way to recycle rubber. After years of research, they developed their Sole Engineered Tire Technology (SETT) that turns waste tires into reusable fine powder! Every pair of sandals is now made with 40% recycled tires, 30% natural rubber, and 30% new material.

Know any more businesses like these? Suggest them to us here.