The Best Sustainable Brands: 25+ Direct-To-Consumer Brands Putting Their Dollars Towards Sustainability

Calicle

Say goodbye to soupy ice cream thanks to Calicle insulated ice cream bowls. These stainless steel, vacuum insulated ice cream bowls are infinitely reusable, make a sustainable alternative to single-use ice cream cups you find at your neighborhood ice cream shop, and come in fully recyclable packaging.

Clean Origin 

You can feel good wearing these diamonds. The lab-grown diamonds are 100% real – keeping everything you love about diamonds while removing all the questionable ethics and destructive mining. Clean Origin takes an environmentally conscious approach so you can feel confident wearing these elegantly ethical gems. 

Dippin' Daisys

These swimsuits look great on and are great for the earth. Dippin’ Daisys puts sustainability at the forefront of the brand: swimsuits are made with recycled nylon and foam, lead-free, non-toxic metal, and elastic from organic and natural rubber trees. With its digital printing practices, Dippin’ Daisys prints patterns directly on the fabric, which reduces the amount of water, ink, and fabric used. The brand also has a repurposing program in which unsold stock is turned into new styles. 

DL1961

Since 2008, DL1961 has taken your old jeans and turned them into high-quality denim. And through its waterless laser and Ozone technologies in our family-owned manufacturing facilities, DL1961 jeans take less than 10 gallons of water to produce. Other jeans use about 1,500 gallons of water to produce – so DL1961 is clearly on to something. 

Fig. 1 Beauty

With meaningful formulations from scratch, Fig.1 founders, who include a Harvard dermatologist and a skin-care chemist, created sustainable packaging – including airless pumps to protect against air, light, and dirty fingers – in sustainable packaging that stays effective to the last drop. And best of all, everything is under $40 per product, giving everyone access to great skincare that’s taking the environment’s wellbeing into consideration too. 

Fracture 

This picture printing company puts images on glass instead of paper – a good move to help the environment considering 20% of waste comes from printing on paper. Fracture also manufactures all its products at a Florida-based, solar-powered factory. Every image is printed on the glass; all the unused glass is recycled. 

Friends of the Planet

Friends of the Planet is a relatively new “eco” store dedicated to the craft of cool clothing that doesn’t contribute to the climate crisis. Instead, Friends of the Planet seeks to actively fight climate change through ethical factories and education. They recently released a limited edition Earth Day collection of iconic 90s style-clothing with an Earth-friendly spin. Made from 100% waste cotton, the brand hopes these pieces will inspire action to fight for the planet.

Fulton 

Dubbed “the world’s most comfortable and supportive insole,” (a TQE editor tested out this claim) Fulton is taking a step toward creating an insole that’s trendy – not your grandma’s insert – and environmentally friendly. The company recently conducted a life cycle analysis that showed that its insoles are carbon negative (meaning it’s good for the environment to manufacture them). 

Girlfriend Collective 

Girlfriend Collective is a sustainable and size-inclusive women’s and men’s activewear and lifestyle brand that is on a mission to create a positive impact on customers, the planet, and the apparel industry. Each pair of leggings is made from about 25 recycled water bottles. In 2021 alone, Girlfriend recycled 15.7+ million water bottles into its clothes, saving 14.5M pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere and conserving 31M gallons of water. The brand also rescued 1,298 pounds of fishing nets from the ocean and donated over $28K to charitable causes. Additionally, the brand's ReGirlfriend Program will take back your old Girlfriend pieces and turn them into brand new products.

Hairstory 

Subscribe to the New Wash Refill club to save money and the environment. It's the refillable shampoo alternative that's better for your hair and planet. Instead of 16 bottles of shampoo, you’ll only need to refill about three times when you subscribe for this option with Hairstory. 

Imbue Curls

This go-to product for the girls with curly hair is also known for its sustainable practices. All bottles are made from 100% recycled plastic, and the brand has a goal for all of its packaging to be made from 100% recycled materials as soon as possible. Imbue Curls has pledged to continuously improve its sustainable efforts from sourcing to shipping.

JuneShine 

In partnership with Climate Neutral, JuneShine is 100% carbon neutral and also donates one percent of all sales annually to 1% For The Planet, a collection of environmental nonprofits working to fight climate change.

Lezat

This women’s apparel line is something you can feel good about wearing. Lezat products are handmade in the U.S. by a team of skilled craftspeople. The brand opts for recycled materials and low waste manufacturing processes. And any fabric that isn’t used is repurposed it into dog beds for animal shelters, dog rescues, and homeless dog owners. 

LouLou Lollipop 

Lifestyle baby brand Loulou Lollipop always aims to minimize harmful impacts to the planet by making sure it selects the right materials and utilizes energy-efficient processes. By choosing TENCEL™ Lyocell Fabric (a certified biodegradable material), LouLou Lollipop drastically shrinks its carbon footprint. TENCEL is extremely soft against a baby’s delicate skin, while also being extremely gentle on the environment. All of the brand’s pieces are thoughtfully designed and carefully sewn at an OEKO-TEX® certified factory, meaning they’re safer for your child and better for the planet.

Manakind

Manakind gets everyday plastic-free products to its customers (think food storage, cleaning items, t-shirts that are "grown and sewn in America," rechargeable lighters, toothbrushes, and water bottles. The brand does this in an effort to promote a sustainable lifestyle that keeps communities clean and improves overall health at home by consciously staying away from harmful chemicals found in plastic. In addition, with every purchase, Manakind donates a portion to the nonprofit Unity 4 Orphans. 

Mill 

The Mill kitchen bin is a sleek, trashcan-esque connected device that you’ll actually want in your kitchen. And since, according to Tannenbaum, “the next best thing you can do is feed your leftover food to an animal,” Mill creates a new byproduct from those scraps: chicken feed. Here’s how it works: 

Step 1: Throw scraps in the Mill after meals.

Step 2: Let the bin dry out liquids and grind the food into a material resembling soil overnight.

Step 3: Once the bin’s bucket is full, usually every four weeks or so, empty the Food GroundsTM into a provided bag and prepaid cardboard box (also provided free of charge by Mill) and leave it out for the mailman.

From there, the grounds are shipped to a facility in Seattle where they are processed into ingredients used for chicken feed. “What we’re trying to do is make something that is practical and awesome,” Tannenbaum said.

Monos 

As part of this luggage brand’s cruelty-free commitment, Monos sources the highest quality vegan alternatives wherever animal-derived materials are traditionally used. Monos also chooses packaging that is recyclable and/or reusable. And the brand has partnered with  Climate Neutral to measure, offset, and reduce its carbon emissions in all areas of the business. Monos is also a member of 1% of the planet, donating 1% of its revenue to non-profits dedicated to preserving the environment. 

Parachute 

Bed, bath, and home goods darling Parachute will officially be Climate Neutral Certified just in time for Earth Day. The brand continues to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability, refining every step of its supply chain process, from sourcing to manufacturing. The recently-released Organic Cotton Collection is made from ethically harvested GOTS-Certified Organic Cotton and includes bedding, bath, and loungewear –– for a greener home, one room at a time. 

perfectwhitetee

This apparel brand is not only the maker of the perfect white tee, but it's also working on being perfect for the environment too. For perfectwhitetee, sustainability for this brand starts with yarn sourcing. The brand often sources from Parkdale Mills, a zero-waste yarn manufacturer in North Carolina, where some of the highest quality cotton is grown. And the company pushes to dye/finish many of its fabrics at Swisstex California, a Bluesign-certified dye house, meaning the textile products are safe for the environment, workers, and customers.

Puracy

Recently launched in time for Earth Day, beloved cleaning brand Puracy now offers a better-for-the-Earth multi-surface cleaning vessel. You simply crack open the fully recyclable can, screw it into the bottle, and spray away. The smell is light, but powerful enough you can tell it’s actually doing its job. At just $3.99 for a can refill and $9.99 for the entire starter kit, this is one deal you can’t afford to miss – and neither can the planet.

RAHI

Looking for that new spring outfit? RAHI has you covered. 100% of this collection is made to order, and 80% of it is made with upcycled fabric. Rahi uses leftover fabrics to create new and modern silhouettes, too. 

Reel

Reel is a tree-free, 100% bamboo toilet paper with zero plastic packaging. Bamboo toilet paper is significantly more sustainable than traditional toilet paper, as bamboo is generally 100% biodegradable, which means it requires less water to break down. The lifecycle of a bamboo tree is also much faster. That’s why every roll of Reel is made from 100% bamboo with plastic-free packaging -- even the tape.

SuitShop

SuitShop launched a new Eco Stretch fabric made from 38% recycled poly (25 plastic bottles per suit). This relatively new material looks and feels incredible – giving comfort where you want it and stretch where you need it. For Earth Day, SuitShop developed a 100% biodegradable suit as an experiment and to act as a north star. This suit can be worn as normal and at the end of its “life" can be buried, returning to the earth within 2 years. All suiting is made in fairtrade factories and all shipping boxes are 100% recyclable.‍

‍SuperZero 

Superzero is on a mission to prove “that true beauty does no harm” with its line of shampoos, conditioners, and hair serum created in bar form. Reminding us “with every wash, rinse, care and repeat” that we're expanding our already destructive waste footprint, the brand lives up to its etymology – Super performance, Zero waste. Superzero is committed to its environmental cause, taking great pride in eliminating plastic waste to cut down on the 552 million plastic shampoo bottles sold annually. 

SWAIR 

This showerless shampoo makes it possible for you to wash your hair without using water. By washing your hair out of the shower twice a week, you will save about 300 gallons of water each year. 

Tabeeze

This Los Angeles-based direct-to-consumer clothing brand offers sustainable and intuitive baby garments. Tabeeze’s revolutionary and patented baby bodysuit is one of the only 100% GOTS-certified baby bodysuits sold in the USA. A Certified B Corporation and 1% For the Planet partner, Tabeeze also offers responsible packaging with EcoEnclose and free carbon-neutral shipping through Cloverly on all orders. 

Thrills 

This sustainable fashion line is dedicated to reducing its impact on the environment. Thrills uses sustainable, environmentally friendly fabrics like Organic Cotton, Hemp, Ramie, Linen, and Recycled Cotton to lessen its carbon footprint. The brand has also cut down it’s waste by 90% by working with their partners on recycling and reusing practices. Additionally, a handful of locations use green power, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and support renewable energy production. And as a 1% For The Planet partner, it’s no secret Thrills is on a mission to leave behind a better world for the next generations. 

Virgin Suncare

This body oil is made from sustainably sourced ingredients. It prides itself on being "of the earth, for the body." Virgin Skincare products come in packaging that can either be recycled or recyclable or thoughtfully reused for another purpose. 

Voyage Foods 

Voyage has made sustainable and scalable alternatives to foods that have current obstacles –environmental, social, and health alike. Its breakthrough technology provides endless opportunities to make delicious, nearly identical, versions of beloved foods, without compromising individual health or our planet.