Can a shoe made from sustainable materials perform as well as those traditional plastic-based shoes we’ve come to love? Watch the Allbirds Dasher review to find out.
Running isn’t the most planet-friendly pursuit. All those plastic bottles at races, more t-shirts than you know what to do with and then there’s the churn through petroleum-based plastic-heavy shoes – around 300 million of which are thrown away each year in the UK alone. Most heading to landfill. Running needs to up its game. The big running shoe brands – Adidas aside – have been fairly slow to react and that’s created a space for younger brands to seek solutions. Step up to the plate Allbirds, with its first performance running shoe actually carries it’s carbon footprint stamped into its sole.
Allbirds is better known for its sustainable fashion footwear but has produced a casual running shoe before, the Merino Wool Runners. Those weren’t quite up to the job of hard miles in all conditions. This new shoe is different, it’s designed to deliver for more demanding runners.
It’s made from materials – including a sugar-cane-based SweatFoam EVA midsole foam, a eucalyptus-tree fibre upper and merino wool lining – which Allbirds says reduces the shoe’s carbon footprint by 30% against your regular running shoes. The Dasher produces 9.0kg of CO2 per pair. It joins existing sustainable running shoes like the Adidas Futurecraft Loop 2, Veja Condor and Vivobarefoot Primus Lite 2 Bio on the eco-friendly shelves.
But the big question is: how does it perform on the run? We’ve put in the miles to find out if a planet-friendly shoe can rival some of the bigger brand shoes – like the Nike React Infinity Run – for performance. Here’s my detailed AllBirds Dasher review for The Run Testers.
Allbirds Dasher review
Allbirds Dasher details
- Allbirds Dasher price: £120.00 / $125.00
- 319g in in UK size 8.5 / 11.25oz in US 9
- 9mm drop / 40mm stack height
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