Whether you would consider yourself an eco-conscious veteran or just a newbie, it’s always good to stay up to date with new companies, individuals, and movements that are making waves in the sustainability space.
Sustainability is not such a novel idea, but in the society we live in today that is based on everything being fast-paced and easily accessible, sustainability is not always at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Fortunately, because there are companies and individuals creating innovative ways to make living a sustainable lifestyle more mainstream, more people are willing to consider switching out conventional items for one’s that are more eco-friendly.
Check out five of my favorite companies that focus on sustainability below:
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1. Who Gives A Crap |Insta: @whogivesacraptp
Toilet paper might seem like a strange place to make the world a better place, but Who Gives a Crap has accomplished this goal with flying colors! Not only did the three co-founders build their business model with social impact at the forefront of their operations, they also supply the world with a household necessity made from eco-friendly materials like bamboo and recycled paper.
To find out why I made the switch to eco-friendly, plastic-free TP, click HERE.
The highlights:
- The WGAC founders started this company with the mission to provide underserved parts of the world with access to clean water and proper sanitation. From the WGAC website, “around 289,000 children under five die every year from diarrheal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That’s almost 800 children per day, or one child every two minutes.” By producing quality, eco-friendly toilet paper, the WGAC team is able to donate 50% of their profits to high impact organizations that address these disparities directly. So not only are you helping the planet by using sustainable toilet paper, your money also goes towards helping others around the world live a healthier life.
- When WGAC says “plastic-free”, they mean plastic-free. Everything from the packaging around each toilet paper roll to the box the products are shipped in contain no plastic. No plastic tape, no plastic wrapping, no plastic.
- If there is one thing we can all appreciate about any company out there, it’s how transparent they are. Transparency matters and the WGAC team lays it all out there. They love to share where and how their donations are making an impact and their business model is available for viewing on their website. If that isn’t enough, they make it clear that if you are an entrepreneur looking to make a social impact through your business, they are more than willing to share their insights and lessons learned.
Who Gives A Crap not only provides a superior sustainable product to meet a basic household need, they are literally making the world a better place.
To check out the range of sustainable products that WGAC offers, click HERE.
2. Sustainimals | Insta: @sustainimals
Making pants, dresses, and backpacks out of recycled plastic bottles seems doable, but what about something like… stuffed animals? Julia and her team at Sustainimals are making that possible! Not only can you make your child’s day by giving them a new stuffy, you can find joy in knowing that you are making a difference by keeping plastic out of landfills and waterways. It’s definitely a win win.
The highlights:
- If you are wondering how it’s possible to make a stuffed animal out of recycled plastic, Julia has the process completely written out on her website. Check it out HERE. The entire stuffed animal is made from recycled plastic, from the soft fur to the stuffing inside, it’s all keeping plastic out of the environment.
- Sustainimals is also committed to donating 20% of their proceeds to organizations that combat climate change and protect wildlife.
- Along with providing families an eco-friendly stuffed animal option, the Sustainimals team has an informative blog that helps teach people how to live their best sustainable life. It doesn’t matter what stage of the journey you’re in, their blog is extremely helpful in providing tips and resources to help all of their readers more eco-conscious consumers.
Check out the Sustainimals current range of Arctic inspired cuties by clicking HERE.
3. Eco-Girl Shop (ad) | Insta: @hello.ecogirl
One stop zero waste stores are my favorite places to discover eco-friendly products that help me reduce my environmental impact. Zero waste shops are starting to pop up in major cities across the U.S., but for places that might not have access to those brick-and-mortar locations, online shops are a great solution. Located in western Massachusetts, Eco Girl Shop focuses on giving consumers access to quality eco-conscious products from small businesses in one central location online.
The highlights:
- One of the best parts about this company is that they are not only female-owned, but they make it a priority to support and promote women and minority owned businesses through their shop. Also, they pride themselves on supporting small businesses! Could this shop get any better? Yes, yes it does.
- Not only does this company focus on reducing and eliminating single-use plastic in the production and supply chain for each product featured on their website, they are committed to planting a tree with every single purchase made. Why trees? From their website, “A single tree can provide a habitat for hundreds of species. Trees are so important for the air we breathe, the water we drink, the medicines we take, and they provide jobs for over 1.6 billion people.” They even give you the opportunity to add more trees to your order if you’d like to contribute more to their cause.
- The Eco Girl Shop takes the entire lifecycle of the product into consideration, including the packaging used to ship the product to the consumer. In some cases, the product may be shipped directly to you from the local artist or supplier in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of the product during the shipping process.
I have said time and time again on my blog and in my social media posts that I wholeheartedly believe where we put our dollars is as important as the products we choose to buy. Our dollars drive the market.
I completely stand behind this quote on the Eco Girl Shop website, “Every time you make a purchase, you are casting a vote for the type of world you want to see.”
To check out the Eco Girl Shop, click HERE.
4. Stellita’s Stitches | Insta: @stellitas.stitches
If you head over to the Stellita’s Stitches Instagram page, you will see reds, greens, pastels, and neutrals woven into beautiful pieces for the whole family. From scarves to mittens to reusable facial rounds to the more recent addition of cardigans, Estella is a hardworking mama of two that is using her talent to bring cozy pieces to the world.
The highlights:
- I love the opportunity to support female-owned and family run small businesses when I can. By purchasing directly from a small business, you know you are directly supporting a family. You also know you are supporting someone’s dream.
- Estella’s most recent addition of reusable facial rounds to her products got me really excited from a sustainability standpoint. A major factor in sustainability is considering how waste can be eliminated or minimized in any process. For example, facial rounds prevent cotton pad waste and not to mention it reduces the amount of plastic packaging used to ship and contain those disposable cotton pads. To purchase your own reusable facial rounds from Stellita’s Stitches, send her a DM on Instagram with your order. Click HERE.
Whether you are in need of a birthday gift for someone special or simply a new cardigan to spruce up your wardrobe, check out Stellita’s Stitches on Instagram HERE to place an order. #supportlocal #supportsmallbusiness
5. PlasticScore | Insta: @plasticscoreco
One of the biggest culprits of single-use plastic waste is the restaurant industry. Many restaurants are thankfully starting to make the switch to more compostable take-away options, but the progress overall is slow and the need for the switch is not always acknowledged by the restaurant. That’s where PlasticScore comes in. By creating a rating platform for consumers to rate restaurants on their plastic use, it not only creates a way for consumers to share sustainable values by eating at restaurants that are more eco-conscious, it also helps restaurants to see where they can improve from a sustainability standpoint.
The highlights:
- The app is incredibly user friendly. If you are simply looking to dine out, you are able to not only search by their turtle rating, you can search by type of cuisine. On the flip side, if you are looking to rate a restaurant, the app takes you through a step-by-step process to accurately rate the restaurant based on their plastic-use. It even takes into account the disposal of the products! They are really trying to capture the entire lifecycle of a plastic product in a restaurant. #nailedit
- Instead of stars, the app uses turtles to rate the restaurant after you leave your review. If you ask a restaurant how many stars they have, they think of quality ratings, but if you ask a restaurant how many turtles they have… that is a little more unique. It makes it an impactful experience since I’m sure the goal of every restaurant will be a five turtle rating.
- By using this app to rate restaurants on their plastic use, you not only encourage healthy competition between restaurants to see who can be more eco-friendly, your ratings go beyond your initial review. By leaving reviews and taking photos of your dining experience, you are participating in the plastic offset program through the app. For every review, PlasticScore recovers 0.25 lbs of plastic waste from the environment. Learn more about this process HERE.
Who would have thought that by simply downloading an app and providing your two cents could help reduce plastic waste on a potentially massive scale? PlasticScore did.
To download the free app and start saving the planet while you dine, click HERE.
And finally…
For more sustainability resources, check out my resource list HERE. You can find everything from books for young and old, influencers to follow, zero waste shops to support, and so much more. The list is ever evolving, so keep checking back for more resources.
I hope this post helped to give you some more resources to pull from on your plastic-free journey. Living plastic-free and more eco-conscious is hard to do in modern society and it’s always a work in progress, so be patient and soak up any information you can. Anyways, I hope this post helped you and stay tuned for more like this in the future.
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Until next time,
Kylie Bee
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