Excellent
In 2018, Keen became one of the first major outdoor brands to eliminate PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) from its footwear, and it continues to lead the way toward more responsible chemistry. Keen has also made impressive progress toward integrating low-impact materials into its shoes, including recycled materials, Leather Working Group-certified leather, and repurposed agricultural waste. Still, the brand has room to grow when it comes to circularity initiatives like repair and recycling services. Want to learn more? We’ll walk you through the details of Keen’s sustainability below.
This sustainability analysis evaluates both product- and brand-level initiatives to capture the full scope of Keen's efforts to reduce its environmental impact. Our research draws from Keen's published sustainability data, third-party certifications (a cornerstone of our process), and correspondence with brand representatives. We have independently researched eight Keen products to date, giving us a broad understanding of the brand’s use of low-impact materials, chemistry, and manufacturing practices.
You can also explore our analyses of other outdoor brands, or use our advanced search to find products that align with your sustainability values
Keen’s transparency around its sustainability initiatives earns our top rating, “Excellent.” Keen publishes valuable consumer-facing information through a variety of blog posts explaining different parts of its sustainability program. Its annual impact report is adequate, with in-depth coverage of some of the brand’s sustainability programs, but it misses some components of our criteria. At the product level, sustainability features are adequately labeled but could be better organized for readability. Keen also responded promptly to Better Trail’s inquiries.
Although Keen doesn’t report a statistic about its use of recycled materials, the brand uses low-impact materials in many of its products. Recycled materials have a significantly smaller carbon footprint than their virgin alternatives, help divert waste away from landfills, and reduce the need to extract fossil fuels. Keen’s recycled and repurposed materials include ones we haven’t seen many brands using, such as recycled foam, insulation, rubber, canvas, and industrial waste. Keen has also made efforts to recycle automobile airbags into backpacks, denim waste into shoes, and coffee bean sacks into bags. Like many brands, it also uses recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in many of its styles. Notably, the vast majority of Keen shoes we’ve researched incorporate recycled content.
Very few footwear brands incorporate Bluesign-approved materials into their products, and Keen is no exception. The Bluesign System ensures that textiles and products meet high standards for chemical safety, emissions, and environmental responsibility. As of 2025, shoes cannot be certified as Bluesign Products because there aren’t enough Bluesign-approved shoe materials on the market to meet product standards. (To be certified, a product must contain at least 90% Bluesign-approved materials.) Still, some footwear brands, like Icebug, include Bluesign-approved materials in select components of their footwear. We have yet to identify any footwear brands that have signed on as Bluesign System Partners.
While we haven’t found Bluesign-approved materials in Keen footwear, the brand has made respectable progress toward decreasing the chemical impacts of its shoes. The brand’s restricted substance list is updated annually in accordance with AFIRM guidelines, and Keen has made a strong effort to remove harmful chemicals from its shoes. The brand stopped using antimicrobials in 2018, which are known to cause outsized harm for their limited benefits. In 2024, Keen reported that its shoes have been 98% free of bisphenols and phthalates since 2018, but that bisphenol A (BPA) is occasionally found in the feedstock for recycled polyester. All of Keen’s shoes are fully flame-retardant-free, and the brand is making efforts to phase out industrial solvents, which are persistent chemicals that are toxic to humans and contribute to ground-level ozone, or smog. In 2024, Keen reported that 13% of products were solvent free.
Compared to other brands in the outdoor industry, Keen was one of the first to eliminate PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, from its products. PFAS were historically used in outdoor gear for their water- and oil-repellent properties, but unfortunately, this group of chemicals has been associated with a wide range of health impacts, including cancer and developmental delays in children. They’re also environmentally persistent, meaning that they don’t break down—which is why they’re often referred to as forever chemicals. Keen identified PFAS as an issue in 2014 and began the process of phasing out forever chemicals. By 2018, it had eliminated PFAS from all of its products, placing it seven years ahead of the rest of the outdoor industry. Now, Keen is an industry leader in PFAS reduction—it invests in remediation efforts for contaminated areas, engages in advocacy work, and publishes resources for other brands to help eliminate PFAS from their products.
Keen has made respectable progress toward sourcing certified, responsible materials. The brand is a member of the Leather Working Group, an organization that ensures leather suppliers manage chemicals, water, and energy use while limiting air and noise emissions. Keen only sources leather from suppliers earning a Silver or Gold rating, with Gold being the organization’s highest distinction. The brand exclusively sources wool from sheep that have not been mulesed, but does not specify whether its wool complies with the Responsible Wool Standard, which sets high standards for sheep welfare and the land they graze on. We also love that Keen uses industrial agricultural waste (think husks, leaves, and stems) in its midsole and outsole materials, decreasing reliance on petroleum-based materials.
Keen owns three of its finished goods (Tier 1) factories, located in Portland, Oregon; Phimai, Thailand; and Santiago, Dominican Republic. These three factories make just over 30% of Keen shoes, with the remaining 70% made at other factory suppliers across the globe (which Keen does not own). The brand requests that its Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers use the Higg Facility Environmental Module to monitor environmental impacts at its supplier factories. Additionally, a Code of Conduct governs each factory, and Keen staff and affiliates routinely audit factories to ensure compliance. In 2025, Keen began rolling out Sedex Member Ethical Trade Audits across its supply chain partners. However, because Keen does its audits internally, rather than partnering with a third-party accreditation program, it does not meet our responsible manufacturing criteria. Programs like Fair Trade USA, Fair Wear, and Amfori BSCI conduct regular audits of factories against fair labor standards, assigning ratings to describe progress and room for improvement.
Although packaging waste typically accounts for only a small fraction of a brand’s emissions, packaging is a major contributor to waste. Additionally, virgin plastic packaging materials often rely on non-renewable resources (such as petroleum), while virgin paper materials often contribute to deforestation. At Keen, all shoe boxes are made from 90% recycled content. They’re also curbside recyclable, making it simple to dispose of them responsibly. Several years ago, Keen made a significant effort to reduce the size of its shoe boxes, developing different sizes for various types of shoes. This helped the brand reduce its overall use of packaging materials; although it doesn’t report the extent of these reductions, we appreciate its efforts to use less packaging for its shoes. Still, we have not been able to confirm whether Keen uses any other recycled or certified responsible packaging materials, placing it a step behind brands that use only recycled packaging.
Unfortunately, like most footwear brands, Keen does not offer repairs for its shoes. Instead, it offers a one-year warranty that covers manufacturer defects (damage caused by wear and tear and certain components, like lace and insoles, are not covered). Although very few brands offer shoe repairs, a handful of smaller brands like Danner and Nnormal have made significant progress in this area. Shoe repairs are often more complex than clothing repairs and usually require brands to design their shoes with repairability in mind. Still, repair services help you keep your gear in use longer (and out of the landfill), serving as a key component of circular business. Because people go through shoes faster than many other types of gear, we hope to see more footwear brands offer repair services in the future. Keen does not provide replacement laces, but it does sell replacement insoles to put into your shoes if the stock ones wear out. The brand also launched a care and repair page on its website to help you keep your shoes in use for longer. All in all, this is a major growth area for the footwear industry.
In 2024, Keen launched ReKeen, a resale service for gently used, returned shoes and factory seconds (which usually have minor cosmetic damage). Returned shoes are cleaned and repaired as needed before being sold, and the brand assigns each product a condition grade, so you know what you’re buying. Although this is not a traditional resale program, in which customers send used gear back to a brand, it ensures that returns and otherwise usable products don’t go to waste. As a result of its 30-day return policy (which allows you to try your shoes outside, rendering them unsellable as new), Keen likely receives a significant number of shoes (although we were unable to confirm how many).
The brand does not yet accept used Keen shoes, but its website states that it plans to launch a trade-in program in the future. While we’re glad to see Keen helping keep lightly used, returned shoes in play, we hope that it launches a true resale program. Unfortunately, Keen’s warranty program does not cover shoes purchased on ReKeen.
Keen has been tracking its greenhouse gas emissions since 2021, setting science-aligned targets to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions (from owned assets and purchased electricity) by 55% by 2033 compared to its 2021 baseline. It also plans to reduce its Scope 3 emissions (from its supply chain, materials, and transportation) by 62% per thousand pairs of shoes by 2033. Notably, Scope 3 emissions account for 99% of Keen’s total emissions, making this the most critical scope for reduction. Still, the brand set an intensity target for this scope rather than an absolute emissions target, meaning it can still meet its goal as total emissions increase and carbon intensity, or carbon emissions per thousand pairs of shoes, decreases. We consider absolute emissions targets the gold standard, as they decouple emissions from business growth. Keen’s targets are not verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative, which ensures that emissions goals are aligned with Paris Agreement warming thresholds, but it recently committed to validating its targets.
In 2024, Keen reported emitting 123,017 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), putting it on par with large brands like Black Diamond (which reported over 172,000 tCO2e that year) and Patagonia (which emitted over 178,000 tCO2e). Unfortunately, it has not reported on its absolute emissions in 2021 or 2022, so we are unsure if it has made progress toward decreasing its absolute, or total, emissions. Still, Keen reports that its emissions per thousand pairs of shoes have declined: In 2021, it reported 18.8 tCO2e per thousand pairs, and in 2023, that figure dropped to 17.1 tCO2e. The brand’s Scope 1 emissions have increased slightly, while its Scope 2 emissions have decreased slightly (accounting for almost no net change).
We appreciate that Keen publishes a relatively thorough annual impact report, covering the majority of our sustainability criteria. The brand reports on progress toward eliminating harmful chemicals, reducing emissions, donations to conservation and outdoor access organizations, and responsible leather use. It does not include statistics describing its use of recycled and bio-based materials, unfortunately. The report also excludes Keen’s absolute Scope 3 emissions data, which accounts for 99% of its total emissions. Instead, the brand reports on emissions intensity per thousand shoes. We hope to see long-term data describing its absolute emissions in its next report, as these data provide a clear picture of its progress toward reduction.
Keen is a member of the Outdoor Industry Association Climate Action Corps, a group working to reduce the outdoor industry’s carbon footprint by 50% by 2030, with the aim to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. In 2024, Keen contributed just under $1 million to over 60 partners worldwide, with top recipients including The Conservation Alliance, Protect Our Winters, and Leave No Trace. The brand also donates to organizations focused on expanding access to the outdoors, such as Outdoor Afro and Wild Diversity, as well as to direct relief for natural disasters.
![[object Object] photo](https://bettertrail.com/image/object-object-photo?hash=%2F4f8b939880f042eb9b2ddfa09a361cf0%2Feae4c7a4603e44ddbb48307fbd2ad9e7&width=1920&quality=80&format=auto&fit=scale-down)
Top Rated
Find Sustainable Gear by Brand
Our Sustainability Ratings Explained
These products are among the most sustainable on the market and earn our Better Trail Certified distinction. They often meet 80% or more of our sustainability criteria for their category.
These products are solid, middle-of-the-pack options for sustainability. In general, they meet at least half of our sustainability criteria for their category.
These products are among the least sustainable in their product category and have significant room for improvement. Most meet about 25% or less of our sustainability criteria.
Better Trail Certified Process
The world of sustainability can be murky, but Better Trail is here to help bring clarity. We’ve exhaustively researched thousands of outdoor gear products, communicated with brands, and created a detailed and rigorous ratings system to bring it all together for you. At the pinnacle is Better Trail Certified.
Better Trail Certified products score 4 out of 5 or higher in our sustainability ratings and generally meet around 80% or more of our criteria. While it’s true that no product is 100% sustainable—all take resources to create and arrive at your doorstep—these products are industry leaders and among the most sustainable on the market.
Read More Brand Analyses
Brand Article
How Sustainable is Outdoor Research?
Brand Article
How Sustainable is REI?
Brand Article
How Sustainable is Norrøna?
Brand Article
How Sustainable is The North Face?
Brand Article
How Sustainable is Cotopaxi?
Brand Article
How Sustainable is Smith?
Brand Article
How Sustainable is Fjallraven?
Brand Article
How Sustainable is Stio?
Brand Article
How Sustainable is Arc’teryx?
Brand Article
How Sustainable is Helly Hansen?Brand Article
How Sustainable is Outdoor Research?