Becoming eco-friendly is big business and set to become even bigger in the coming years, thanks to a huge demand for products that are also good for the planet.
What has become known as the Blue Planet effect, brands are now being forced to respond to the demand for a greener consumer culture like never before Whether it is Starbucks spearheading a £1 million initiative to boost paper cup recycling in the UK, or drinks giant Diageo’s announcement that it is removing plastic from multipacks of Guinness.
While brands finally acknowledging the havoc that is being wreaked on our planet can only be a good thing, whether their concerns are genuine or not is another question altogether.
For every Patagonia, spearheading the slow fashion movement with its Worn Wear initiative, there is an environmental campaign clanger such as Robinsons Refresh’d ad from last year, which features a woman merrily sipping on one of the drinks in its new range with an expanding straw that ends up strangling a tree shortly after!
So what steps can we take to become more eco-friendly?
The first step is to look at what we do. For example to recycle everything including the boxes that we receive with our online shopping orders, our daily food packaging waste, and the clothes we are wearing.
The next step in being eco-friendly in everything we do is to make sure we deal with suppliers and individuals who share the same mindset. This is a really important step which we can take in both our personal as well as our professional lives. Choosing to consume from ethical, sustainable and eco-friendly companies and brands is something we can all do to make a difference.
Of course, sometimes this is not easy and we find that the most important thing is not to let the feeling you have to be perfect stop you from trying! Realising that there could be some easy improvements in our behaviour, and changing our habits progressively can be an interesting and rewarding journey.
So if you are just starting to explore eco-friendly living, you’ll soon find it’s not just better for the planet but also a great way to shop. Here is a list of brands that are spear-heading eco-friendly living and sustainability:
Fashion
- TRAID: they collect second-hand clothing from people that don’t want to wear anymore. Their goal: Stop Clothes Waste.
- ASOS Recycled Denim: because jeans are extremely polluting. Did you know that a typical pair of jean takes 90 gallons of water to produce? ASOS Recycled Denim use a mix of recycled cotton and Cotton Made In Africa.
High Fashion
- Stella McCartney: inspirational designer known for her beautiful creations and engagement in ecology and sustainable fashion.
Shoes
- Veja: the coolest sustainable trainers you can find. They use natural rubber that is directly tapped from Amazonian trees (not rubber derived from petroleum), organic cotton, have a vegan shoe line and have the fair trade certification. And as a result, the trainers are splendid.
Food
- McDonalds: as one of the world’s largest food stores is taking the lead in going green by incorporating the outcomes of fast foods on people’s health while reducing their overall energy consumption. Particularly, the company uses energy-efficient appliances thereby cutting energy wastage by 25% during in their business activities. They also use considerate means to obtain their animal products so as to limit their impacts on destroying animal habitats.
- Whole Foods Markets: a wide range of sustainable and organic produce and products.
Household products
- Bio D: this brand use only ingredients that are plant-based or naturally derived, which results in household products that are natural, effective and kinder to the environment. Their packaging is entirely recyclable, and has also been made from recycled materials. You can buy detergents, household cleaners, laundry bleach and much more.
- Tangent GC: Tangent GC only use 100% natural substances and essential oils. They sell fantastic detergents for all kinds of material- such as fabric softeners and stain remover, plus top quality shoe care sets.
- Common Good: all of their product range – which includes soaps, detergents, linen water, household cleaners – are made with plant-based ingredients and scented with 100% pure essential oils. They also reduce plastic use by offering refillable bottles.
- S.C. Johnson: Its mission is to lessen the implications its products have on the environment. The company has managed to reduce 1.8 million pounds of volatile organic compounds from its Windex artifacts and another 1.4 million pounds of polyvinylidene chloride from Saran Wrap. The company has minimized the use of coal to generate power by replacing most of it with natural gas.
Beauty
- PHB Ethical Beauty: a family business which sells eco-friendly, palm oil free, animal cruelty free, and vegan beauty products.
- Content Beauty Wellbeing: the products sold in this natural apothecary are entirely organic, with no synthetic chemicals.
General
- Blue Patch: marketplace that showcases a large range of eco-friendly British brands: from clothing and beauty to interior decor and wellbeing. You can find nearly everything on Blue Patch!
Source credits:
Creative Review – The brands taking sustainability seriously
Blanc Living – The 17 eco-friendly and sustainable brands we love