M0.0NSHOT Zero, the world’s first net zero carbon shoe, pushes the boundaries of sustainable footwear

Rhea-AI Summary

Allbirds is launching the M0.0NSHOT Zero, the world's first net zero carbon shoe, available from February 6, 2025. The edition of 500 pairs will be sold exclusively in select stores across New York, London, Dubai, Tokyo, and Seoul for $200 USD.

The innovative footwear combines minimalist design with regenerative farming practices, featuring carbon-negative materials, particularly regenerative wool sourced from New Zealand's Lake Hawea Station. The farm's sustainable practices include native plantings and protecting regenerating forests, resulting in more carbon sequestration than emissions.

The project, which began in 2022, represents a significant achievement compared to the industry average sneaker's carbon footprint of 14 kg CO₂e. Allbirds has also published an open-source toolkit detailing the innovations behind this milestone, including bio-based midsole foam and methane-capture bioplastic.

Positive

• First-to-market advantage with world's first net zero carbon footwear
• Premium pricing at $200 USD per pair
• Exclusive distribution strategy creating scarcity value with 500 pairs
• Strategic global market presence in key luxury retail locations
• Competitive advantage through proprietary sustainable technology

Negative

• Extremely production run of 500 pairs may restrict revenue potential
• Exclusive in-store availability limits accessibility and potential sales
• Higher production costs due to specialized materials and processes

Insights

Sustainability and Product Innovation Expert

The launch of M0.0NSHOT Zero marks a pivotal moment for Allbirds (BIRD), potentially reshaping its market position and competitive dynamics. The $200 price point for the 500-pair release represents a significant premium positioning that could help offset development costs while establishing a new benchmark for sustainable luxury footwear.

Several key strategic elements deserve attention:

• The exclusive distribution through select global retail locations in premium markets (New York, London, Dubai, Tokyo, Seoul) suggests a deliberate shift toward positioning Allbirds as a luxury sustainable brand, potentially expanding its addressable market.
• The open-source toolkit release is particularly shrewd - while appearing altruistic, it effectively positions Allbirds as an industry leader while creating barriers through first-mover advantage and established supplier relationships.
• The regenerative wool sourcing partnership with Lake Hawea Station represents a scalability challenge - as similar products move toward mass production, securing sufficient carbon-negative materials could become a competitive advantage.

From an investor perspective, this launch could significantly impact Allbirds' brand equity and market perception. The company is effectively positioning itself as an innovation leader in an increasingly ESG-conscious market, potentially attracting premium valuations and institutional investors focused on sustainability leaders.

However, the critical question remains whether this innovation can translate into scalable commercial success. While the edition release minimizes inventory risk, the true test will be Allbirds' ability to leverage these sustainable manufacturing innovations across its broader product line at commercially viable price points.

Available to buy for the first time, the style combines Allbirds’ minimalist design principles with regenerative farming practices to achieve a landmark footprint

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The future of footwear is here. Beginning February 6, shoppers can finally get their hands–and feet–on Allbirds’ M0.0NSHOT Zero, the highly anticipated world’s first net zero carbon shoe*. It combines cutting-edge ingenuity with age-old agricultural practices by harnessing the power of carbon-negative materials, such as regenerative wool.

With a limited edition run of 500 pairs, M0.0NSHOT Zero will be available to buy for the first time in select cities including New York, London, Dubai, Tokyo, and Seoul. A groundbreaking innovation in sustainable footwear, each pair is labeled with its unique production number–out of 500–to signify their rare nature and this historic achievement.

M0.0NSHOT Zero is a testament to the meticulous work Allbirds has done over the past decade to systematically reduce the climate impact of its products. In both sustainability and design, the product pushes beyond any of the brand’s previous creations. As much as M0.0NSHOT Zero is a feat of science and innovation, it is equally–if not more so–a story about returning to the root of creation: nature. That’s largely thanks to carbon-negative, regenerative wool. The material reversed a fundamental principle of sustainable design: instead of constantly trying to reduce, Allbirds’ design team was instead encouraged to utilize a greater share of the wool to lower the style’s carbon footprint.

“M0.0NSHOT Zero is the ultimate pursuit of product purity, stripping away everything superfluous to allow the wool to be the hero,” said Jamie McLellan, designer, Allbirds. “We needed to find ways to use more regenerative wool to help us counter other more stubborn parts of the carbon equation. As a result, we used wool to wrap the entirety of the upper and the midsole, giving the shoe a modern and monolithic look that feels fitting for footwear of the future.”

The carbon-negative, regenerative wool is exclusively sourced from New Zealand’s Lake Hawea Station (LHS), a farm that sequesters more carbon than it emits due to regenerative practices like native plantings, protecting large areas of regenerating forest, new pasture species, and more. LHS is among the leaders in the movement to return to regenerative growing techniques used for many millennia, working in harmony with nature to improve human, animal and environmental outcomes.

“As we imagine and bring to life a more sustainable future, there is an enormous creative opportunity to develop and express an entirely new design language,” said Tim Brown, Co-Founder, Allbirds. “M0.0NSHOT Zero is just the first step, and we believe we have only scratched the surface of what is possible when we tangibly commit to making things better, today.”

For brands looking for help or resources to follow suit, Allbirds published an open-sourced, free for the taking toolkit that uncovers key innovations that made this milestone possible. It details leading-edge methodologies and materials like bio-based midsole foam; methane-capture bioplastic; sugarcane-derived, carbon-negative Green PE packaging; and more. The toolkit is available on the Allbirds website for anyone to download – and, hopefully, implement.

“We’re incredibly proud to bring M0.0NSHOT Zero to market, but we also recognize that hard work is still ahead for all of us to ensure this world’s first is not the world’s last,” said Aileen Lerch, Director of Sustainability, Allbirds. “We see a real opportunity for the fashion industry to be an engine for innovation and inspiration in the climate fight. Solutions exist today, many of them all around us in the natural world, if we would step boldly into the pursuit of progress over perfection at scale.”

M0.0NSHOT Zero is the result of Allbirds' unwavering commitment to making better things in a better way. The project began in 2022, when Allbirds’ teams set their sights on creating a net zero carbon shoe – a moonshot goal, especially when compared to the footprint of an industry average sneaker (14 kg CO₂e, based on Allbirds’ estimates). This landmark achievement demanded meticulous design and research across materials, manufacturing and transportation. After more than a year of detailed development and dozens of iterations, Allbirds unveiled its first prototype in 2023, and began work to bring it to market.

How to shop
M0.0NSHOT Zero will be sold exclusively in-store in five cities, beginning first with stores in New York and London. Consumers can shop M0.0NSHOT Zero in:

• New York: February 6 at Allbirds SoHo
• London: February 6 at Allbirds Covent Garden and Selfridges
• Dubai: February 7 at Allbirds Dubai Mall
• Seoul: April 1 at Allbirds Parnas Mall Store
• Tokyo: Spring 2025 at Allbirds Marunouchi
  

M0.0NSHOT Zero is available in sizes Unisex 6-11** for $200 USD.
**U6 (M6/W7.5), U7 (M7/W8.5), U8 (M8/W9.5), U9 (M9/W10.5), U10 (M10/W11.5), U11 (M11/W12.5)

To learn more about M0.0NSHOT and see the toolkit, visit: www.allbirds.com/moonshot

*About M0.0NSHOT’s product carbon footprint calculation:
Here’s how we account for net zero:

• First, we started by working with The New Zealand Merino Company’s regenerative wool program, ZQRX, to source M0.0NSHOT’s wool from Lake Hawea Station.
• Second, we calculated the specific farm-level carbon footprint of Lake Hawea Station. The organizational carbon footprint that forms the starting point for the allocation was developed independently of this project and verified by Toitū Envirocare, a New Zealand-based B Corp and carbon certification business.
• Then, we collaborated with The New Zealand Merino Company to translate this farm footprint into a product-level wool material carbon intensity for M0.0NSHOT.
• This new wool carbon intensity is used to calculate the product’s carbon footprint using the Allbirds Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Tool, with modifications. The initial Allbirds LCA Tool was third-party verified against the requirements of ISO 14067, which specifies principles, requirements and guidelines for calculating the carbon footprint of a product.
• The carbon footprint of M0.0NSHOT accounts for on-farm carbon sequestration, in addition to emissions, which is a deviation from standard industry practice. As a result, the calculated carbon footprint for M0.0NSHOT, unlike Allbirds’ standard products, is not fully aligned to ISO 14067.
• However, Allbirds believes this wool carbon intensity value captures a more comprehensive model of the total emissions fluxes happening on-farm.

About Allbirds, Inc.
Based in San Francisco, with its roots in New Zealand, Allbirds launched in 2016 with a single shoe: the now iconic Wool Runner. In the years since, Allbirds has sold millions of pairs of shoes, and has maintained its commitment to incredible comfort, versatile style and unmatched quality. This is made possible with materials like Allbirds’s sugarcane-based midsole technology, SweetFoam™, and textiles made with tree fibers and Merino wool – so consumers don't have to compromise between the best products and their impact on the earth. www.allbirds.com

Contact
press@allbirds.com

FAQ

When will Allbirds (BIRD) release the M0.0NSHOT Zero shoes?

Allbirds will release the M0.0NSHOT Zero shoes on February 6, 2025, starting in New York and London stores.

How much will the Allbirds M0.0NSHOT Zero shoes cost?

The M0.0NSHOT Zero shoes will be priced at $200 USD per pair.

How many M0.0NSHOT Zero shoes will Allbirds produce?

Allbirds will produce a edition run of 500 pairs of M0.0NSHOT Zero shoes.

Where can I buy Allbirds M0.0NSHOT Zero shoes?

The M0.0NSHOT Zero shoes will be sold exclusively in select Allbirds stores in New York, London, Dubai, Seoul, and Tokyo.

What makes Allbirds M0.0NSHOT Zero shoes carbon neutral?

The shoes use carbon-negative regenerative wool from Lake Hawea Station, bio-based midsole foam, and methane-capture bioplastic in their construction.