Brands that are devoted to the environment & foster our lives and individuality with style, comfort and durability.
WHY ETHICAL & SUSTAINABLE BRANDS
It’s an indisputable fact, we should reduce the amount we consume if we want to protect our planet. Fashion is the second largest industrial cause of pollution (after oil) in the world. Buying sustainably is still, undoubtedly consuming.
However, we bundled a batch of brands that make quality, long-lasting products with a consciousness for the environment we can back. For example, some brands may incorporate, or use, only recycled fabric materials and biodegradable or compostable packaging. Others may partner with environmental organizations, both donating a portion of their sales and using their voice to mobilize communities, or use locally sourced, Fair Trade materials and labor.
If you’re going to buy that new jacket, bikini, or pair of shoes that will fit and wear beautifully for years to come- feel good knowing you’re using your dollar to vote for a more conscious and sustainable industry overall.
ACCOUNTABILITY RATING
To determine the brand’s accountability rating, we used Lex Weinstein’s Conscious Collab checklist of 15 major factors including sustainability, ethics and transparency attributes among others. For every 3 boxes checked, a star is given to the brand, creating the potential to earn a maximum of 5 stars of sustainability.
Click here to see the checklist in it’s entirety.
“The economy is dictated by trends, and we decide the trends. It is our responsibility to make sustainability a permanent trend that drives those industry standards forward.”— L. Weinstein
NOMADIX
Accountability Rating | ★★
Ethics | Give backs, made from certified recycled material
Product Range | Towels & Blankets
Based In | California, USA
Nomadix makes long-lasting, environmentally-friendly products that can be used for more than one activity (yoga, beach, travel, home). “Own less. Do more.”
They produce products “in the most sustainable way possible, and pledge to promote this philosophy to their partners”. Their towels are made from certified recycled material.
Conner Hats
Accountability Rating | ★★★★
Ethics | Environmental preservation, B Corp, uses recycled materials, tree planting, non-toxic materials, environmentally sustainable facilities, cruelty-free wool, organic cotton, hemp, family run
Product Range | Hats
Based In | Australia
Conner Hats is a family run company that designs and manufactures a wide array of headwear styles that are “Responsibly Grown, Beautifully Made”. Conner Hats maintains a commitment to incorporating sustainable materials like organic cotton, hemp, and from recycled plastic composites.
For every hat you buy 25 trees will be planted.
Olukai
Accountability Rating | ★★
Ethics | B-corp, give backs, community empowerment
Product Range | Footwear
Based In | Hawai’i, USA
Olukai is a B-corp that is interested in the preservation of Hawaiian culture, and honors those who cultivate cultural heritage and the Aloha spirit of Hawai‘i. Their relationship with local communities includes community service and charitable giving, diversity, and relationships with their business partners.
OluKai partners with other members of The Conservation Alliance to protect wild places for their habitat and recreation values. They seek grassroots conservation plans.
Olukai selects only Gold Certified tanneries to source leather products to ensure they minimize waste water, reduce hazardous substances, and build a quality product that lasts longer.
Veja
Accountability Rating | ★★★
Ethics | B-Corp, fair trade, give backs, community empowerment, organic cotton, recycled materials, cruelty-free, environmentally-friendly manufacturing, transparency
Product Range | Footwear
Based In | France
VEJA prides themselves on making sneakers differently and has a vision that proposes cultural change. VEJA combines fair trade, ecology and links together economy, social initiatives and the environment. VEJA believes in sustainability, and is a Certified B Corporation brand.
They use organic or recycled and fairly traded cotton for the canvas of the shoes and wild & fairly traded rubber for the soles. Recycled plastic bottles are also used to create technological fabrics. All products are made in a high standard factory in Brazil. All tanneries VEJA purchases are Gold Certified through Leather Working Group.
GOOD GUYS Don’t wear leather
Accountability Rating | ★★★
Ethics | Transparency, 100% vegan, cruelty-free, fair & ethical labor, sustainable & eco-friendly materials
Product Range | Vegan Footwear
Based In | France
Good Guys collections are designed to be timeless, durable and comfortable. Their shoes are completely cruelty-free and sweatshop-free, and are manufactured in a fair-trade environment. All the materials they use are eco-friendly and sustainably made in Europe with certified manufacturers.
They use mostly Microfibers, also known as ‘vegan leather’ or ‘vegan suede’. They’ve introduced collections with a “Zero Co2” emission vegan leather, made from polymers derived from natural renewable sources. Another collection launching in 2020, “Apple Skin”, uses another leather alternative made from fruit, more specifically from the skin and core waste recovered from the food industry. The material contains a minimum of 50% apple fibre and is created in Italy.
Good Guys is “heading toward being 100% Recyclable in 2021. Their effort to use strong, sustainable, eco-friendly materials is their number one focus.”
ARBOR COLLECTIVE
Accountability Rating | ★★★
Ethics | Give backs, sustainable & eco-friendly & recycled materials, sustainable & environmentally-friendly manufacturing
Product Range | Skateboards & Snowboards
Based In | California, USA
Arbor Collective’s mission is to “blend innovative design and traditional craftsmanship, with sustainable materials and construction methods”.
Arbor pioneered the use of bamboo, bio-plastic, and other recycled, reclaimed, and renewable alternatives. In their skate line, all wood and bamboo cores and the vast majority of their wood and bamboo topsheets are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council to be derived from responsibly managed forests (a wide range of fast growing, highly renewable wood and bamboo materials obtained from well-managed forests and other sustainable, non-native sources of supply).
They were the first to replace the standard plastic top, with responsibly sourced wood veneer, significantly improving performance. Their Sucrose Initiative Wheels are made in part from a sugar-based curative, reducing reliance in petroleum, while adding to the performance and durability of the wheel.
Their production line is 30% solar powered, and “will be 100% by 2020”. They capture, filter and reuse all water. All wood bi-product is reclaimed and upcycled. They’ve integrated Entropy Super Sap Resin into the production of their snowboards. Super Sap is a plant based alternative that has a 40% smaller carbon footprint.
Made By Minga
Accountability Rating | ★★★★
Ethics | Transparency, female & community empowerment, environmental sustainability, natural & sustainably sourced materials, non-toxic materials, give backs
Product Range | Hats, bags, wallets
Based In | California, USA
Made by Minga collaborates with a group of 18 women artisans living in the cloudforest of Intag, Ecuador. “From plant to product, we strive to do all things rooted in love, intention and transparency”.
Each bag is produced using 100% all-natural materials. The fiber originates from sustainably harvested cactus. The fibers are colored using specially prepared, chemical-free dyes made from handpicked, native plants of Ecuador. Buying a Minga bag helps support their artisan partners.
They partner with a family of fifth generation hat-makers to highlight a traditional process that uses ancient crafting methods and techniques to make a hat that lasts.
Mohinders
Accountability Rating | ★★★★
Ethics | Fair & ethical labor, community & economic empowerment, organic & recycled packaging
Product Range | Slides & shoes
Based In | California, USA
Mohinders shoe designs are deeply rooted in the shoemaking traditions of Northern Karnataka, a region in India. They work with families of 3rd-and 4th-generation shoemakers and leather tanners. They strive to uphold respectful design (vs. appropriating designs for production elsewhere) and sustainability from start to finish.
They reduce their environmental footprint through dedication to traditionally-tanned water buffalo leather, fewer synthetics and biodegradable materials, naturally-dyed colors, organic and recycled packaging choices, and creating shoes that last and age beautifully.
TOMS
Accountability Rating | ★★
Ethics | B-Corp, give backs, community empowerment, fair & ethical labor
Product Range | Footwear & Sunglasses
Based In | California, USA
Toms is a global footwear and lifestyle brand “committed to helping humanity thrive”. Since 2006, the TOMS community has been providing shoes, sight, and safe water to millions of people around the world with their One for One program. They provide no information on their environmental impact or sustainability initiatives.
They’ve given over 60 million pairs of shoes to children in need, teaching us 60 million lessons. Since 2011, Tom’s has helped restore sight to over 400,000 people in need by providing prescription glasses, medical treatment and/or sight-saving surgery in 13 countries with each purchase of eyewear.
They focus on working with long-term, strategic suppliers that demonstrate a commitment to engaging with their workers and ensuring safe working conditions and environmental responsibility.
