Brand Rating:

Cariuma

Top Choice

10/10

Score 10/10

The Shifting Gaia rating evaluates brands based on sustainable practices, ingredients and materials, and social responsibility, among others. Below are a few factors influencing this brand's score:

Certifications

B Corporation Certified

Global Recycled Standard (GRS)

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)

FSC Certified

$OEKO TEX Standard 100$

OEKO TEX Standard 100

Bluesign Approved

WRAP Certified

LEED Green Building Certified

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Rated: November 15, 2025
Category: Fashion apparel
Subcategory: Shoes

Overview:

Sustainability 7.8/10

Non-toxicity 10.0/10

Cariuma produces sneakers using organic, natural, and recycled materials with certified supply chains.

Highlights

100% recycled/recyclable paper; soy inks
Organic cotton, cork, castor-oil foam
Shipping offsets and tree planting
WRAP Gold factories; B Corp
LWG leather options alongside vegan

Sustainability

score : 7.8/10

Packaging

The packaging is made from 100% recycled and recyclable paper/cardboard, printed with soy-based inks to avoid toxic residues and to ensure recyclability. Protective fillers and packing peanuts are derived from cornstarch and other biodegradable materials, allowing them to break down naturally instead of persisting as plastic waste.

Material Sustainability

The brand uses GOTS-certified organic cotton for canvas uppers and linings, grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Outsoles are made with natural rubber tapped from hevea trees in an ethical, non-destructive manner (no trees are cut down). For its knit sneakers, Cariuma blends bamboo fibers (a rapidly regenerative plant) with recycled PET yarn, both certified by FSC and OEKO-TEX to ensure sustainable sourcing and safety. The foam components incorporate bio-based inputs like mamona oil (castor bean oil) to replace a portion of traditional petroleum EVA, and insoles often include natural cork, which is harvested by harmlessly shaving bark so the tree can regrow. Leather and suede options use hides from Leather Working Group Gold-rated tanneries that enforce strict environmental standards. Additionally, nearly all synthetic components are derived from recycled sources: the vast majority of plastics in Cariuma’s uppers, logos, threads, and laces come from recycled PET bottles (certified by the Global Recycled Standard). The brand employs recycled nylon (GRS-certified) for any performance fabrics, reducing greenhouse emissions by ~92% compared to virgin nylon.

Energy Use and Footprint

The company’s main warehouse and distribution center is powered in part by on-site solar energy and designed for efficiency. It is an ISO 14001-certified facility and LEED Gold rated for its environmental design. For manufacturing, Cariuma reports optimizing production processes to cut energy use and emissions, and while its upstream factory energy largely depends on the local grid, the brand has begun to offset and reduce these impacts where possible.

Shipping emissions are fully offset through a partnership with DHL’s GoGreen program. Also, every pair sold leads to two trees planted in the Brazilian rainforest as part of Cariuma’s own reforestation program, directly sequestering carbon dioxide and helping to counterbalance the company’s overall emissions.

Certain product lines are even produced and delivered as carbon neutral. For example, the knit sneaker line achieves 100% carbon neutrality by combining lower-carbon materials with offsets via conservation projects.

Waste Management

During production, Cariuma reports reusing some of its textile offcuts and scraps, minimizing the volume of fabric waste sent to landfills. Through its partnership with Happy Returns, Cariuma processes customer returns in bulk and recycles any damaged shoeboxes or paper, further reducing waste in the reverse logistics process. While Cariuma has not announced a formal take-back program for old sneakers or a fully closed-loop recycling system for its products yet, it is actively reducing waste at each stage via material choices, reuse, and thoughtful disposal methods.

Business Model

The company emphasizes quality over quantity, explicitly encouraging consumers to buy fewer, better shoes. Cariuma’s product releases and marketing avoid short-lived fad items; even its collaborations and seasonal offerings are relatively limited and in line with its core aesthetic, meaning the brand avoids excessive product churn and overproduction. As a Certified B Corporation, Cariuma is legally committed to balancing profit with people and planet, and it undergoes rigorous audits of its social and environmental performance.

Non-toxicity

score : 10.0/10

The brand has eliminated toxic dyes and treatments by using Bluesign®-approved chemicals for all coloring and finishing processes. This certification means the dyes and auxiliaries meet strict safety criteria, containing no azo dyes, heavy metals, or formaldehyde that could harm people or the environment. It also ensures wastewater from dyeing is properly treated, preventing pollution. The primary textiles in Cariuma shoes are inherently non-toxic: organic cotton canvas has no pesticide residues or toxic synthetic fertilizers, and their bamboo fabric is OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certified, indicating it’s been tested to contain no harmful substances in the final product. Additionally, Cariuma’s use of water-based adhesives in shoe assembly (in place of solvent-based glues) significantly reduces volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and toxic fumes.

Social Responsibility

score : 7.0/10

The company works with manufacturing partners that uphold high labor standards, and it actively monitors and improves conditions in its supply chain. All of Cariuma’s primary shoe factories are audited annually and certified to the Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) Gold standard. Cariuma discloses that workers in its partner factory earn on average 79% above the local minimum wage, with even the lowest-paid workers making 47% above minimum wage. Regular on-site visits by the Cariuma team and third-party audits help ensure these standards are maintained beyond just the final assembly stage. Indeed, Cariuma reports having 100% traceability for its Tier-1 factories and over 85% traceability for Tier-2 suppliers (materials, components).

The only significant animal-derived materials in Cariuma’s product line are leather and suede (from cowhide). For those materials, Cariuma ensures ethical sourcing to the extent possible: all leather and suede are sourced from suppliers certified by the Leather Working Group (LWG) at Gold level, which focuses on environmental best practices in tanneries. However, LWG does not cover animal treatment on the farm, and Cariuma has not published additional welfare criteria for how the animals are raised. Recognizing this, the brand offers a wide range of vegan alternatives: roughly half of Cariuma’s sneaker styles are completely vegan (made with organic cotton, bamboo, canvas, or synthetics).

For every pair of shoes sold, Cariuma plants two trees in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, and this program is carried out in partnership with NGOs and indigenous and local communities in the region. The impact of Cariuma’s engagement is tangible: over 3,000,000 trees planted across 6 Brazilian states, covering restoration of around 665 hectares of degraded land. Beyond environmental work, Cariuma also engages in social outreach: as noted earlier, the brand donates returned or unsold shoes to the Soles4Souls organization, which distributes footwear to people in need and to micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries.