Bared Footwear

Foundation Member | Tracking Since January 2022

Bared Footwear Sustainability Actions

FDRA Waste Management Program

We are proud to have joined the FDRA Waste Management Program in 2022, a program that aims to minimise waste during the footwear production and manufacturing process. Our main factories in China, which produce more than 85% of our shoes, undertook their first year of this program between April 2022 and May 2023. This program is overseen by a partnership between the Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America (FDRA), the only business and trade association solely dedicated to the footwear industry, and ELEVATE, a global leader in sustainability and supply chain services. The Waste Management Program equips our factories with the tools to recycle and dispose of waste in ways that do not harm the environment. In our first year of the program, our factories’ grades improved from D to B. 78% of all waste produced over the program year was diverted. Our factories were able to improve this rate early in the program, with 90.3% of waste produced in the 2023 calendar year diverted, a rate we intend to continue to improve on. We have successfully diverted 70.26 metric tons of carbon emissions through waste reuse and recycling. We are capturing and recycling over seven types of waste, and our reuse and recycling rates have increased every quarter. In 2025, we proudly rolled out the Waste Management Program across all our tier 1 suppliers, ensuring that every factory we work with is aligned in reducing waste and driving measurable improvements across our entire supply chain.

3 8 9 10 11 12

Green Team

Our company's Green Team initiative launched in 2022 and has brought together passionate employees dedicated to sustainability and social causes. Regular meetings are held at the warehouse with remote participation available, to exchange ideas and develop initiatives that promote these important values. Our diverse team, representing a range of departments including planning, product, marketing, stores, and customer service, contributes fresh concepts and supports ongoing company efforts to make a positive impact on society.

3 4 9 10 11 12 13 15

Partnering with Clean Agency to utilise the Life-Cycle Assessment Tool

The impact of our products and services on the environment is incredibly important to us. That’s where Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) comes in – a scientific approach analysing a product's entire lifecycle, including energy use, toxins and resources. This method helps us gauge each product's carbon footprint and make improvements to reduce emissions. Our team have worked with the experts at Clean Agency to generate an LCA tool that allows us to track our carbon footprint to make better design and development decisions. By utilising the LCA tool, we can ensure we're efficient with our resources and doing our part to take care of the environment. While the art of carbon calculation is not currently 100% exact, we are aiming to improve our understanding of the carbon going into our shoes, and our knowledge of where our components have come from. This tool provides information that is as accurate as possible at this point in time.

3 4 9 11 12

Save Our Soles

Since 2019, you've helped us recycle (a whopping!) 31,200 shoes. Each year, millions of shoes end up in Australian landfills. Due to the construction of shoes and the varying materials used, footwear is difficult to dispose of responsibly. It’s important to us that we found an end-of-life option for footwear that would be accessible to customers. That’s why in 2019, we teamed up with John Elliott from Save Our Soles, a Melbourne-based company that turns tyres and shoes into rubber mats. The rubber mats are leased out, and once they’re used, they make their way back to John to be recycled and repurposed again.

3 4 9 10 12 13 17

Responsible Stock Handling

At Bared, it is our goal to keep as many shoes out of landfill as possible. Our internal "No Destruction Policy" is a commitment we have made to always seek sustainable solutions for Bared stock in our possession that is unsold, damaged, or unwearable. These shoes will always be repaired, donated, or recycled. While we cannot control what happens to our shoes once they leave the store, we want to make it as easy as possible for our community to participate in our mission by recycling their well-loved footwear. Every Bared store is home to a drop off box, where customers can bring in their shoes to be recycled by one of our recycling partners.

8 9 10 12

Introducing PLIANT™ - USDA-certified 100% Biobased Outsoles

We're on a mission to remove plastic components from our footwear. As part of that journey, we're rolling out PLIANT™ outsoles across our women's range.You may not realise that 70% of the outsoles marketed as "rubber" are actually synthetic. Even where natural rubber is used in outsoles, it typically must be strengthened with petrochemical based curatives. Developed by fibre innovators Natural Fiber Welding, PLIANT™ is a completely plastic free, 100% biobased outsole and can safely and naturally return to the earth at end-of-life. PLIANT™ outsoles truly stand apart. We're continuing to expand our PLIANT™ offering in 2024.

12 13

How We Do Business

We’re taking action internally to reduce our footprint. - Solar Panel: Our Melbourne warehouse has been equipped with solar panels. - Water: We have installed water tanks at our Melbourne warehouse. Additionally, our Melbourne warehouse is fitted with water saving faucets. - Waste: We implemented a policy that Bared would pay for our team members to have a coffee a day if they used a reusable cup. Six years on, we still continue this. - Waste Removal and Recycling: In 2020, we moved our waste removal and recycling to Cleanaway.Cleanaway is an Australian waste management company that adheres to the highest regulatory and environmental standards. Cleanaway offers an unrivalled capacity to collect, process, treat, recycle or safely dispose of any type of waste. They see waste as a resource and are finding better ways to make a sustainable future.

2 3 4 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Safe Materials Standard

We’re committed to removing harmful chemicals from our products to protect the health of our customers, makers, and the planet. We know that managing chemicals in a complex supply chain can be tricky, but we’re dedicated to the journey towards getting it right. To do this, we’ve created a detailed Restricted Substances List (RSL) as part of our strategy. In 2024, we updated our RSL to meet the highest global standards for environmental impact, health, and safety. All of our suppliers and factories must follow our RSL guidelines, so we can ensure that every step of our production process is responsible, safe, and aligned with our commitment to sustainability.

3 6 8 9 10 12 13 14 15

Plant-Based Footbed

The same support you know and love, but kinder to the planet. Our new B.plantfoam™ footbed is made from 72% plant-based materials (USDA Certified Biobased). With a carbon footprint of 3.85 kg CO2e, it reduces CO2 emissions by 70% compared to traditional petroleum-based footbeds.

9 12 13
Evidence

Our Preferred Materials

In 2024, we introduced the ‘Bared Preferred Materials Chart’, specifically tailored for the unique needs of footwear. This chart is based on publicly available research from the Global Textile Exchange and adapted by Bared to support the unique needs of the footwear industry. It encompasses all internal and external components, serving as a guide for our design team and suppliers. Our chart prioritises the use of fibres that are innovative (100% biobased or plastic-free), regenerative, recycled, or organic. To ensure the materials are what they claim to be, we require our materials to be certified by third-party, globally recognised programs such as the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) and the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). We give preference to standards that monitor further into the supply chain, covering both environmental and social compliance.

3 8 9 12

Recycling Footwear with Save Our Soles

In partnership with Melbourne-based company, Save Our Soles, we transform pre-loved shoes into rubber mats for gym and playground flooring. To date, we have recycled 31,200 shoes and counting! Drop off your old shoes (Bared or not!) at any one of our stores and we will recycle them for you - free of charge.

12 13

Reducing Our Carbon Footprint

We're working hard to reduce the emissions we cause in manufacturing and distributing the shoes you love. We have partnered with Greenfleet, committing $215,000 to plant thousands of native species across Australia. We understand that on its own, carbon offsetting doesn’t prevent global warming, but has a large part to play in the overall approach to carbon management.

13 15
Evidence

Leather Working Group (LWG) Certified

We’re an official Leather Working Group (LWG) member and purchase 100% of our leathers from LWG-certified suppliers. Our leather products support responsible manufacturing via the Leather Working Group. We partnered with LWG in 2019 to reduce the environmental impact of leather production and work with our suppliers to source leather from LWG-rated tanneries. These tanneries must adhere to a strict protocol, focusing on energy and water usage, waste management, the control of chemicals and more. OUR SOURCING COMMITMENT: In addition, we ban the use of all exotic animal skins and any endangered species which appear on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species [CITES] or the International Union for Conservation of Natures Red List of Threatened Specifies.

8 9 12
Evidence

GRS Certified Recycled Polyester

Wherever possible, we opt to use GRS Certified Recycled Polyester. GRS (Global Recycled Standard) certification focuses on tracking recycled materials through every step of production. It requires suppliers to prove that their materials contain recycled content by providing evidence, like receipts, to show the full journey of the material. This ensures that the recycled content is genuine and properly managed throughout the entire production process.

12
Evidence

Shoe Boxes

All our shoe boxes double as bags! Crafted from FSC-certified recycled materials, they're perfect for storage (Marie Kondo style) and keeping your shoes in as-new condition.

12

Micro-Pak Dri Clay® Kraft Anti-Mould Paks

Great for your shoes but even better for our planet, the Micro-Pak Dri Clay® Kraft Anti Mould Paks are 100% natural, plastic-free and biodegradable.

12 13

What do our labels mean?

Banksia Foundation Responsible Supply Award Winner Logo

Banksia Foundation Responsible Supply Award Winner
Certified B Corporation Logo

Certified B Corporation
GOTS Certified Organic Logo

GOTS Certified Organic
GRS Certified Logo

GRS Certified
ISO 14001 – Environmental Management System Logo

ISO 14001 – Environmental Management System
ISO 9001 – Quality Management System Logo

ISO 9001 – Quality Management System
Leather Working Group Certified Logo

Leather Working Group Certified
TerraCycle Participant Logo

TerraCycle Participant
USDA Certified Biobased Logo

USDA Certified Biobased

About Bared Footwear

  • Status
  • Employees
  • 100 - 500
  • Industry
  • Retail
  • Country
  • Australia
  • Founded
  • 2008

Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.