Organic Sandals
The conventional footwear industry is a dirty business; it produces more than 20 billion pairs of shoes a year. About 300 million pairs of shoes end up in landfills each year, with most taking 30-40 years to decompose because they’re predominantly made up of plastic and polymers.
Conventional Sandals
Avoid conventional sandals made with toxic dyes, glues, and polluting materials. They are made with a toxic tanning process and synthetic materials or other petroleum-derived materials.
❌ Toxic leather: Conventional leather tanning may contain chromium, arsenic, and other chemicals that pollute the environment and water supplies.
❌ Petroleum-based: Conventional shoes, midsoles, and insoles are environmentally harmful and made of petroleum-based foam.
❌ Chrome Tanned Leather: 90% of leather is chrome tanned. Chrome tanning is a widely used method in the leather industry, involving the treatment of animal hides with chromium salts, primarily chromium(III) sulfate. Toxic wastewater from tanneries can contaminate local ecosystems. It can lead to toxic chromium (VI) formation, which is harmful to humans and the environment.
❌ PFAS: They contain toxic PFAS that are not only harmful to you but also to the environment. They are found especially in waterproof footwear
Greenwashing Sandals
Avoid Greenwashing sandals made by brands that pretend to be sustainable, eco-friendly, and claim to be made with safer materials when they are not. They will use misleading marketing claims to convince you to buy their products.
Many came with vegan leather alternatives, bringing more plastic to the world:
❌ PVC: Most vegan leathers today are made from PVC, made with petroleum. PVC is, for this reason, harmful to the environment.
❌ PU is another synthetic vegan or faux leather. By definition, PU stands for Polyurethane, a plastic polymer derived from petroleum. Even less than PVC, PU still requires petroleum.
❌ Toxic dyes: toxic to the workers and the environment.
Sustainable Sandals
The best organic sandals are made with natural and sustainable materials. The more I learn about shoe wear and toxicity and more I select and pick brands that do take extra steps to avoid the conventional tanning process, which is toxic to the workers, environment, and consumer! I have chemical sensitivity, and I can smell when a shoe is made with toxic glues and dyes! I have been wearing Quince shoes, and not only have I found them to be non-smelly, but they are also cute and affordable!
When looking for leather goods, check if they have LWG certification which is the world’s leading environmental certification for leather manufacturing! They check supply chain, energy and water use, worker health and safety. There is no need to buy toxic and cheaply made shoes sold by greedy fast fashion promoters often full of toxic chemicals and PFAs at expense of the workers, planet and consumers when you can get shoes like these listed on this page! As influencers keep pushing the buy more and more often lifestyle without consideration of the consequences, I invite to research before buying and support brands that are third party certified.
- ✅ 100% Italian leather
- ✅ Gold-rated Leather Working Group tannery
- ✅ Sustainable practices
- ✅ Reduced water and energy use
- ✅ Responsible waste management
- ✅ Elimination of harmful substances
- ✅ Certified factories for business social compliance initiatives
Here is the most eco-friendly vegan leather on the market, made with renewable resources and also by-products, that is made with plant-based material that would have been wasted.
- 🌿 Organic Cotton: made without toxic chemicals and pesticides. It protects the soil and 💦water (71% less water used) and energy⚡️ (62% less energy), while 👩🌾protecting farmers who work the crop! ☁️ Biodegradable, vegan, breathable, durable, and anti-mycotic.
- 🌿 Organic Hemp: Hemp has long fibers, which bring a big edge in durability when making fabrics. For that reason, hemp is in many ways the strongest natural fiber available. According to the Hemp Foundation, hemp can be even stronger than steel.
- 🌳 Cork: one of Portugal’s most treasured sustainable materials. This process is mindful of the trees with a goal of sustainable production every 9 years for a 150-year lifespan. Animal-free and plastic-free, each product is handcrafted in small batches by skilled Portuguese artisans.
- 🍍Piñatex (Pineapple leather): made with leaf fiber leather Piñatex®inatex Organic material, made from pineapple leaves that result from the waste of the pineapple harvest. The fibres that are not used in Piñatex are distributed as fertilizer.
- 🍏 Apple leather: also known as AppleSkin, is a bio-based material made using the leftover pomace and peel from the fruit juice and compote industry. The fabric is created by first taking the recovered apple waste and reducing it to a powder. The apple leather used in our products is made using 50% apple waste mixed with 50% PU, coated onto a cotton/polyester canvas. Ecological, breathable, waterproof, and durable fabric has been a game-changer in the industry. Apple Leather
- 🌵 Cactus Leather: DESSERTO USDA-certified cactus is grown in an organic farming system in the fertile and mineral-rich region of Zacatecas, Mexico. Cactus naturally regenerate the soil. It takes approximately only 3 leaves of cactus to create one linear meter of Desserto.
- 🥭 Mango leather: Fruit Leather created by Koen Meerkerk and Hugo de Boon, crafted from natural mangos
- 🍄 Mushroom leather: Mylo
- 🌿 Chrome-free vegetable-dyed leather: manufactured without chromium during the tanning process, and there are no harmful chemicals. It has a higher production cost.
Certifications
- ✅ USDA Certified Biobased: This certification ensures that the brands are reducing their reliance on petroleum, increasing their use of renewable agricultural resources, and contributing to reducing adverse environmental impacts.
- ✅ PETA-approved vegan. This certification ensures that we are reducing reliance on petroleum, increasing the use of renewable agricultural resources, and contributing to reducing adverse environmental impacts.
- ✅ Recycled materials: 100% of this sneaker’s lining is recycled polyester. It also has a sole made with recycled rubber.
- ✅ ReCORK: Recycled Cork replaces this foam with a totally sustainable alternative that is more comfortable, cushioning, light, durable, and, of course, way safer, sustainable, and eco-friendly.
- ✅ Certified non-toxic leather: tested to be chromium-free; naturally tanned with vegetable tanning.
- ✅ SMETA certified through Sedex, meaning the factory that produced this item meets rigorous standards for labor rights, health & safety, environmental impact, and ethical business practices. It’s part of our commitment to transparency and responsible sourcing.
- ✅ Sedex-certified factory, which aims to improve working conditions throughout the supply chain
- ✅ Certified non-toxic leather: tested to be chromium-free; naturally tanned with vegetable tanning.
- ✅ Certified by The Leather Working Group (LWG): the world’s leading environmental certification for leather manufacturing. They conduct intensive audits of leather manufacturers and assess every aspect of their operations. Transparency in the leather supply chain, saving energy, water, worker health and safety, safe chemical practices, and wastewater management. Certified by The Leather Working Group (LWG): transparency in the leather supply chain, saving energy, water, worker health and safety, safe chemical practices, and wastewater management.
The Best Organic Sandals Brands
I avoid brands that are made with toxic and controversial materials that pollute the environment, which can also include footwear! 🔎I searched for the best sustainable brands on the market, and so excited to introduce you to these approved shoe brands.
✅ On this page, you will find the best organic and sustainable sandals on the market made by responsible brands using the most natural material available.
My sustainable sandal brand recommendations are:
- 🌿 Nae Vegan Shoes 15% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL
- 🌿 Earth Runners 5% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL. For sustainable and organic grounding shoes
- 🌿 Origo 10% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL. Chrome-free, vegetable-dyed natural leather shoes. Or 100% Vegan, made with cotton canvas.
- 🌿 Biankina 10% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL
- 🌿 Nisolo
- 🌿 Rothy’s
- 🌿 Quince
Shop with my links to support my research! 💖
Nisolo Sustainable Sandals
🌿Nisolo is a newly approved sustainable brand!
It offers sustainable shoes that are certified by LWG
🌿 These sustainable sandals are made with non-toxic and sustainable leather.
Leather Working Group-certified: the world’s leading environmental certification for leather manufacturing. It audits leather manufacturers and their processes.
They feature byproduct material, 100% living wages for their workers, 0% net carbon, and transparency in their process and labels; they divert 7,052 used shoes. They embrace leather as one of the more sustainable options available when it’s made and processed responsibly. They focus on the following 5 areas:
- ✅ People: Pursuing 100% living wages that cover the basic needs of People within supply chains.
- ✅ Planet: Pursuing 0% Net Carbon through the reduction and offsetting of carbon emissions.
- ✅ Transparency: Measuring, tracking, and publicly sharing Sustainability Facts in a digestible, consumer-facing label.
- ✅ Accountability: Validating practices through public-facing self-assessment, 3rd party verification & certifications.
- ✅ Collaboration: Advocating for a more sustainable industry through interdisciplinary collaboration.
- ✅ B Corp Certified
They have collected and diverted 7,052 pairs of used shoes from landfills, averaging 2,350 pairs per year. Send yours
MATERIAL: leather byproduct of the meat industry. Made in Mexico
Quince Italian Leather Sandals
🌿 Quince Italian Leather sandals
These organic sandals are made with a 100% Italian sheep leather upper and cow leather lining.
The best organic sandals are made with natural and sustainable materials.
The more I learn about shoe wear and toxicity and more I select and pick brands that do take extra steps to avoid the conventional tanning process, which is toxic to the workers, environment, and consumer! I have chemical sensitivity, and I can smell when a shoe is made with toxic glues and dyes! I have been wearing Quince shoes, and not only have I found them to be non-smelly, but they are also cute and affordable!
When looking for leather goods, check if they have LWG certification, which is the world’s leading environmental certification for leather manufacturing! They check the supply chain, energy and water use, and worker health and safety.
- ✅ 100% Italian leather
- ✅ Gold-rated Leather Working Group (LWG) tannery
- ✅ Sustainable practices
- ✅ Reduced water and energy usage,
- ✅ Responsible waste management,
- ✅ Elimination of harmful substances
- ✅ BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) certified factories
- ✅ Certified factories for business social compliance initiatives
MATERIAL: 100% Italian sheep leather upper and cow leather lining
Biankina Certified Organic Espadrille Wedges
🌿Biankina makes amazing footwear! I just bought this version; stay tuned for a review!
These Organic Espadrilles are made with the most sustainable, organic, biodegradable, and recyclable materials on the market!
🌿 These organic wedge sandals are among the most sustainable around! Great for this spring or summer.
Pack them for sustainable trips!
These organic Espadrille Wedges are made from organic cotton canvas; they are comfy, sustainable, and breathable!
Featuring a 3.5-inch wedge heel, they add a touch of elegance and are environmentally friendly with a Mediterranean-inspired design!
These open shoes are sustainable, effortlessly chic, made with biodegradable, recyclable jute fiber that is carbon-positive and insulates to reduce heat conductivity.
They are handcrafted by skilled Spanish artisans
- ✅ Certified Organic Cotton canvas
- ✅ Natural Jute
- ✅ Vulcanized rubber sole
- ✅ Natural Materials
- ✅ Biodegradable, recyclable
- ✅ Handcrafted in Spain, Europe
MATERIAL: Certified Organic Cotton canvas, Natural Jute, and vulcanized rubber sole
Biankina Organic Flip Flops
🌿Biankina makes amazing shoe wear!
These Vegan Leather Cork Sandals are offered in three colors.
These organic flip-flops are crafted with sustainable materials: recycled microfiber vegan uppers and the cork midsole.
Cork is sourced sustainably from the bark layer of the cork oak.
It offers natural shock absorption and excellent cushioning.
Great for this spring or summer. Pack them for sustainable trips!
These shoes are sustainable, effortlessly chic, made with biodegradable, recyclable jute fiber that is carbon positive and insulates to reduce heat conductivity. They are handcrafted by Spanish skilled artisans
- ✅ Natural Materials
- ✅ Eco-Friendly: Animal-friendly upper made from GRS-certified recycled fibers
- ✅ Supportive: Natural cork sole for added comfort, cushioning, and insulation
- ✅ Biodegradable, recyclable
- ✅ Handcrafted in Spain, Europe
MATERIAL: GRS-certified recycled fibers and Natural cork sole
NAE Vegan Organic Cork Shoes
NAE CORA CORK Brown
🌿 These organic sandals are made with natural cork; they are one of the most sustainable on the market!
An made with Breathable and hypoallergenic microfiber Lining. Insole: Non-removable, moisture-absorbing insole.
These shoes are breathable, light, and eco-friendly.
Women's mid-heel sandals with embossed natural cork: an eco-friendly material for a chic ankle-strap design. Lined with certified microfiber in a zero-CO2 emission system.
Practical, eco-friendly, and effortlessly stylish.
- ✅ Plants & Recycled
- ✅ Ethical Production
- ✅ Handmade
- ✅ GRS (Global Recycled Standard) certified
- ✅ Made in Europe, Portugal
MATERIAL: 80% Organic Cotton, 17% Recycled Polyamide, 3% Elastane
Earth Runners Organic Sandals
Earth Runners Organic Sandals
🌿 These natural sandals are made with organic and natural ingredients, plus they are grounding!
They offer a minimalist design, organic materials, and grounded conductive laces™ that allow the feet to engage in earthing, or grounding.
🌿 Earthing has many benefits, including healthy circadian biology through its normalizing action (or 'normalizing effect') on cortisol hormone secretion and blood flow, helping lower inflammation, improve sleep, and speed recovery.
Created by an engineer, this design allows for running with great stability. These natural sandals allow us to maintain our connection to the earth while allowing us to operate and explore even in the wildest landscape this planet has to offer.
- ✅ GOTS Certified Organic Cotton
- ✅ Grounding footwear
- ✅ Made in the USA
MATERIAL: GOTS Certified Organic Cotton, Earth Grip (Moisture-wicking Canvas, GOTS Certified Organic Small Batch Dye
Origo Sustainable Sandals
🌿 Origo The Huarache Slip-On Wide. Origo makes sustainable women's shoes, sustainable men's shoes, and sustainable kids' shoes.
🌿 These natural sandals are made with natural and non-toxic leather. Woven sandals handmade in Mexico.
Sustainably sourced natural materials. Smart packaging limits excessive waste and is free from single-use plastic
Certified by The Leather Working Group (LWG): the world’s largest leather sustainability program that trains companies on best practices to reduce their environmental impact.
Natural leather: comes from local tanneries that are environmentally friendly.
Chrome-free leather: non-toxic
Vegetable-Tanned Leather (The Gold Standard for Non-Toxic): It uses natural tannins derived from plant sources like tree bark (oak, chestnut), roots, and fruits.
- ✅ Natural leather
- ✅ Chrome-free vegetable-dyed leather natural leather shoes
- ✅ Vegetable-Tanned Leather (The Gold Standard for non-toxicity)
- ✅ Each pair purchased contributes to saving the Amazon from deforestation.
- ✅ Handcrafted by skilled artisans in León, Mexico.
MATERIAL: cotton canvas, Soy protein. Made in Mexico
NAE Vegan Organic Cork Shoes
NAE TUPAI Green
🌿 These organic sandals are made with natural cork; they are one of the most sustainable on the market!
Carefully handcrafted in Spain with sustainable materials.
Cork: ecological, water-resistant, hypoallergenic, and very soft to the touch.
Piñatex: Organic material made from pineapple leaves that result from the waste of the pineapple harvest.
These are breathable, light, and eco-friendly.
- ✅ Plants & Recycled
- ✅ Cork
- ✅ Piñatex
- ✅ Ethical Production
- ✅ Handmade
- ✅ GRS (Global Recycled Standard) certified
- ✅ Handcrafted in Spain
MATERIAL: Insole: Cork with anatomical shape. Top: Piñatex with cross design (straps: 5.5 cm / 2.17 inches wide)
Outsole: Recycled tire
Rothy's Sustainable Sandals
🌿Rothy's The Twist Slide
These sustainable sandals are made with recycled materials.
They use sustainable and natural materials in their footwear:
- 🌿 Recycled plastic: they turn bottles found in the ocean and on land and transform them into their signature thread
✅ Rothy’s factory is the world’s first shoe manufacturer to receive both LEED Gold and TRUE Zero Waste Platinum certification.
✅ Rothy’s has purchased 1,356,434.34 kilograms of yarn, which is made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, as certified by the SCS Recycled Content certification.
MATERIAL: 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, as certified by the SCS Recycled Content certification. MADE IN: designed in their San Francisco design studio, made in Dongguan, China, where they own and operate their factory.
Groundz Grounding Copper Sandals
Groundz Women's Copper Sandals
🌿 These grounding sandals are made with sustainable and natural ingredients, plus they are grounding!
Using Conductive Elements: Silver stitching and solid copper rivet.
These sustainable sandals are made with simple, sustainable materials: 100% premium Chrome-free Sheepskin
The upper and footbed leather are chrome-free and tanned using water-based vegetable dyes.
These grounding sandals are designed to keep you connected to the Earth like we used to be.
🌿 Earthing supports reduced inflammation and pain, faster recovery, improved circulation, better sleep, and more balanced biological rhythms. More than just a sandal.
- ✅ Eco-friendly
- ✅ Natural Materials
- ✅ Grounding footwear
- ✅ Earthing
- ✅ Chromium-free
MATERIAL: Premium metal-free nubuck leather upper, 100% premium Chrome-free Sheepskin, 100% cotton strap lining, and natural latex padding.
Rothy's The Espadrille
🌿Rothy's espadrilles.
These sustainable sandals are made with lightweight, breathable upper made with a unique blend of hemp, organic cotton and recycled plastic bottles.
Features an ultra-cushy footbed with a soft, recycled microfiber finish and a durable, partially bio-based EVA outsole.
Unique details include a midsole wrapped in black knit and sturdy stitch-to-sole construction.
- Removable ankle tie in black for multiple ways to wear.
- Fully machine washable, so they’re like new again and again.
✅ Rothy’s factory is the world’s first shoe manufacturer to receive both LEED Gold and TRUE Zero Waste Platinum certification.
✅ Rothy’s has purchased 1,356,434.34 kilograms of yarn, which is made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, as certified by the SCS Recycled Content certification.
MATERIAL: 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, as certified by the SCS Recycled Content certification.
MADE IN: Designed in their San Francisco design studio, made in Dongguan, China, where they own and operate their factory.