Sustainable Brands for the Sustainable Consumer
Why do we love the brands that we love? It’s a mix of things: status, comfort, price, ethics, accessibility, style! The newest piece of the puzzle: sustainable business practices.
Sustainable business practices are varied. They can range from automatic dimmer choices in infrequently used spaces, through to packaging choices, organic certification or maybe even supply chain traceability.
Some brands start out this way, while others seek to correct past inefficiencies and embrace future business practices. Your head is in the sand if you don’t think this is the direction businesses should be moving. Global accords are being written to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the next 30 years. We’re going to have to work hard to get there.
I wanted to take a minute to speak to why I chose to engage with the brands that I did for Greenvine’s Sustainable Business Earth Day contest. I chose to reach out to brands that incorporate sustainable business practices somewhere in their ethos. I also chose to elevate Canadian companies. Last week, Trudeau announced that Canada will be enhancing its emissions reduction target from 30% to 40% of 2005 levels by 2030. By incorporating sustainable business practices into its operations, businesses like those in this promotion are helping us to achieve these targets.
You will not find a single brand below who has disproportionately prioritized profits over people and planet. They look to master all three. Details of the contest are here, it is open for entries until April 30th, with the winner to be announced on May 1st. The brands mentioned below have donated over $900 in sustainable goods. These are only my personal insights - not an exhaustive list of everything the brand stands for.
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These first three businesses hold a special place in my heart, they opened my eyes to a sustainable subculture in my city, Toronto. You can read all about that revelation here: Why Bulk is Better.
eco + amour
Donation: “28 day face" capsules (28x facial cleansing capsules and 4x green clay face mask capsules), 12 cellulose face cleansing sponges, a makeup blending sponge and a face mask application brush.
eco + amour offers bulk refills on bath, body and home products, sells zero-waste products for your home, and manufactures green beauty products - i.e 100% plant based and organic in some cases! These offerings mean less plastic and fewer synthetic chemicals floating around in our waterways. eco + amour was the very first bulk store that I visited in March of 2020. Upon entering the storefront (when that was still an option) I had the privilege of meeting one of the brand’s co-founders, Sarah Marcus. She took the time to tell me about eco + amour’s beginnings, product line extensions, product manufacturing (in house!), and the importance of packaging choices.
Green & Frugal
Donation: ‘Must Haves Gift Set” which includes: body butter, face oil, deodorant, hair and body soap and dry shampoo - all in reusable containers.
Upon entering Green & Frugal I was met with jars of bulk beauty ingredients. This highlights much of what I love about the bulk industry: take what you need, need what you take. People are so out of touch with what goods are made from - food, clothes, cosmetics - the accessibility of bulk beauty ingredients in the store make DIYs achievable. My favourite discovery upon that first trip - you can buy essential oils by the drop! Beyond DIY opportunities, Green & Frugal has a library of zero waste products, as well as its own private label product line which is outfitted in reusable packaging.
Saponetti
Donation: 25$ gift card to test out their bulk refill service.
Located in my end of the city (West is best!), Saponetti is my go to bulk refill shop. Everytime I went in (they offer pick-up and delivery in the time of COVID), I would look forward to exchanging banter with Christian von Seydlitz, one of the co-founders, about the latest scents and available brands. If I couldn’t make it into the store, Saponetti could deliver to my doorstep, in an electric vehicle no less. As far as adopting a new habit goes, Christian and his co-founding wife, Nikki Self, made it easy. Their branding harkens back to the days of the milkman: when empty bottles were exchanged for a full one. An innovative take on an old concept.
Paume
Donation: a travel sized, plastic neutral, natural ingredient hand sanitizer.
I think that it is safe to say that our obsession with hand sanitizer is not going anywhere, anytime soon. COVID may have introduced this to many people’s lives, but not everyone was satisfied with the options being presented to them. Paume founder, Amy Welsman, was confronted with that reality upon bringing home her newborn from the hospital. How to introduce her new baby to her bubble with all of the harsh ingredients in traditional hand sanitizer? If raising her newborn daughter wasn’t enough to keep her busy, Amy simultaneously created & launched Paume. Paume’s sanitizer is formulated to kill harmful bacteria, while moisturizing the skin with plant based emollients. Aloe vera, witch hazel, ethyl alcohol, hydresia G2, and essential oils - that’s all there is to it! The pièce de resistance, the packaging! There are many great angles to their packaging story which are chronicled on their website, but I want to mention their partnership with rePurpose Global. A percentage of each Paume sale will go towards funding rePurpose Global to remove and recover as much plastic waste from the environment as they put into it. Because of this, each one of Paume’s products has a Net Zero Plastic Footprint. It is also worth noting that Paume products are not designed to be discarded after one use, it’s designed to be refilled.
Province of Canada
Donation: a 100% organic cotton, Made In Canada baseball cap.
I remember when Province of Canada began. I was in the process of designing Canadian province-inspired designs to…. I don’t know what I planned to do with them. So at first, I had a little bit of entrepreneurial envy. They quickly changed my mind when I saw everything they stood for. Province of Canada manufactures every one of their products in Canada, they ship everything in compostable packaging, and the most everything is made using 100% organic cotton. The name says it all: Canada needs to work together to hit zero-carbon by 2050.
Crowbar
Donation: One of their innovative, sandalwood, bergamot & jasmine scented moisturizing bars.
I had used shampoo & conditioner bars before, but I had never heard of a moisturizing body lotion bar. Knowing my preference for sustainable brand attributes, my sister so kindly introduced me to Crowbar. Well into my pursuit of #lesswaste, this bar showed up with all the right attributes: plastic free, recyclable/compostable packaging, quality ingredients, innovative product design & good branding. I can’t wait to see what this brand comes up with next!
Bare Skin Bar
Donation: Surprise Pack of natural ingredient bath bombs and a facial cream in resuable/recyclable packaging.
To be bare is to be without addition; basic and simple. I don’t know if founder Cynthia Cyr was referring to the vegan & gluten-free ingredients, or the reusable/recyclable packaging choices! My discovery and subsequent love of Bare Skin Bar came by way of another gift, from a different sister: the restoring bath bar. It is a natural ingredient, cubed bath bomb in a tidy cardboard package. On this day it was nicely juxtaposed with the only other bath bomb available to me: a synthetic AF, spherical, individually wrapped-in-plastic bomb. This contrast was enough for me to take a deeper look into Bare Skin Bar to reveal that all of its products focus on raw, natural ingredients.
Abundance Naturally
Donation: Nature’s Aid shampoo & conditioner bar, a trio of Thursday Plantation essential oils, and a Wax & Fire Co. candle in a reusable container.
Abundance Naturally imports only the most natural products. Organic rosehip oil products, biodegradable tea tree face wipes, natural baby balm (which my sister swears by for her tiny bums), and premium essential oils. I know that it’s owner, Shannon O’Brien, also helps to distribute shampoo and conditioner bars to some of the pharmacies you know and love, ahem, Well.ca and Rexall. Making sustainable products available to the masses is half the battle.
Diphy Wellness
Donation: A $25 gift card to try any one of their packaging friendly beauty products.
I met Emiliana Ayala through an entrepreneurship accelerator we are both members of and I was very impressed that even as a small business, she had opted to invest in sustainable packaging. Plastic is the cheapest and the most accessible way to package products. As an entrepreneur, taking short cuts like that is the quickest way to pad your bottom line, but it is clear that Emiliana & Diphy have more than profits in mind. Her handmade soaps are being hailed for their skin clearing effects and their packaging choices.
Z-Teca
Donation: A $50 gift certificate to try its classic Mexican dishes in its innovative compostable/recyclable packaging.
I found this Mexican eatery one night when I was craving a burrito. It’s as simple as that. Render me happily surprised when I received my burrito wrapped in aluminum foil (infinitely recyclable), with a paper ring to hold it closed, in a paper bag. Everything recyclable. Render me elated when I ordered something else the next week, and found that it came in a compostable take-out container! How forward thinking.
Rawcology
Donation: Plant based, organic, gluten-free, and nut-free snacks: four bags of coconut chips and four bags of granola.
Founder Tara Tomulka and I have shared a best friend for 3 decades. Now, we also share a desire to protect the natural world. As a founder who follows a plant-based diet, she found that there were few healthy, quality ingredient snacks available to suit her lifestyle! All of Rawcology’s products are made from ingredients that are GMO-free and organic. By not supporting products that use pesticides and genetically modified ingredients, you ensure your health, and the planet’s.
SiSi Georgian Bay
Donation: One jar of sunscreen & a lip balm, both in reusable/recyclable packaging!
I first connected with this brand and its founder, Andrea Tranter, over social media. It was a mutual desire to reduce plastic waste that brought us together. If you take a look at her product offerings, you will not see any plastic containers - lip balm and sunscreen inclusive! Not only is the packaging on point, but so are the ingredients. Andrea is a chartered herbalist who carefully sources the best natural, organic and wild ingredients, in order to utilize the gentle, yet powerful, plant based properties.
PURE
Donation: Biodegradable multi surface cleaner, dish soap, and a reusable bottle. Refillable where applicable!
I first discovered PURE when I was chatting with Christian in Saponetti one day. If I’m being honest, it was the affordable price that initially attracted me. Deciding to give it a try, I find myself using the same products two years later. Another bulk manufacturer, I first connected with PURE about their innovative commercial program. That is, a bulk subscription service being offered to the conscious corporation. Their products are made using the safest ingredients, both for the user, and for the water table.
B Corps
Before I launch into my admiration for the next five brands, I feel I should define what a B Corporation (B Corp) is, because all five companies hold that certification.
B Corps are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. You know how corporations are typically judged on the profitability of their ‘bottom line’? Think of the B Corp as the Triple Bottom Line - how they take care of their People, Planet and Profits.
“B Corps form a community of leaders and drive a global movement of people using business as a force for good.” They subscribe to the notion that no stakeholder should be negatively impacted by the operation of their business.
In order to become a certified B Corp, a company must take the B Impact Assessment, and score at least 80/200 to qualify. This assessment helps to benchmark and standardize a company as it relates to policies undertaken for its Governance, Workers, Community, Environment & Consumers.
ONEKA
Donation: Citrus hand soap & body lotion and hand sanitizer - all in reusable/refillable/recyclable packaging!
As an impassioned horticulturist, ONEKA’s origin story really spoke to me. Co-founders Philippe Choinière and Stacey Lecuyer Choiniere were born to own a certified B Corp. Over a decade ago, they started ONEKA with the desire to create products that have a positive impact on the Earth and people. On their farm, southeast of Montreal, they grow 12 of the plants that are used in their products such as calendula, sage, dandelion, burdock.
The attention to detail and the hand grown, 100% organic ingredients speak to me louder than a bunch of synthetic herbal essences being mass produced in a factory somewhere. ONEKA also manufacturers their products in bulk, available for refill at most bulk refill stores.
Propeller Coffee
Donation: House Blend Discovery Pack of 100% renewable power craft coffee.
Another local legend, Propeller Coffee innovates in an industry that is tough to differentiate in. While there is a lot of care put into bean selection via direct trade relationships, the art of the coffee bean goes a lot further. Propeller roasts their beans using energy efficient approaches in their low footprint roastery, they choose biodegradable packaging for finished beans, and they offset their transportation footprint with Bullfrog’s bio-diesel program.
Ethical Swag
Donation: Ethical Swag Pack which includes eight Earth friendly alternatives to our modern day, unsustainable swag options.
Having worked in the marketing department in a past life, I know the SWAG hustle. I think we often forget that SWAG is an acronym for Stuff We All Get. Finger spinners, pens, stress balls, USB drives - you know to what I refer. It’s a $25 billion dollar industry which introduces unwanted items into many conference go-ers lives. I’ll boldly claim that a lot of this product is being produced/imported from abroad, harming local industry. Ethical Swag seeks to correct some of these misguided notions. They are not saying to get rid of SWAG, because let’s face it - it serves a purpose - but they’re opting to sell items that are reusable, made by B Corp (see below), or made from renewable resources - this is an industry that needed a makeover.
Greenhouse
Donation: A 50$ gift card so that you taste test your favourites plant-based treats, then return the bottle for reuse afterwards.
I have long admired Greenhouse as a juice brand, and now they’ve expanded their product line to include other plant-based treats. They promote health and wellness, domestic production, plant-based nutrition, organic ingredients, and they have a take back program in place for used glass juice bottles. A favourite practice of mine? Besides fresh fruit from local farms (when possible), they also use fruits and vegetables which are not deemed worthy for sale in the grocery store because of a superficial blemish! Approximately 58% of food produced in Canada is wasted each year, leading to the production of 56.6 million tons of carbon dioxide. Greenhouse helps to reduce that statistic.
African Bronze Honey Company
Donation: Two bottles of organic honey from wild African bees, a box of honey drop lozenges, and a bee balm.
As my preferred type of sweetener for almost any imaginable recipe, it was not hard for me to fall in love with African Bronze Honey Company. As its namesake implies, the honey is collected in Africa, from remote wilderness areas and national parks. Socially, African Bronze Honey Company is a powerhouse too - giving marginalized remote communities employment opportunities while simultaneously growing the bee population and maintaining its health.
Chickapea
Donation: 6-pack of their original chickpea pastas: 2 each of spirals, penne and shells.
When I was preparing for the onset of the pandemic last spring, I can tell you that my pantry was stocked with chickpeas. As a part time vegetarian, chickpeas are my favourite way to get a serving of plant-based protein. When endless servings of roasted chickpeas eventually got tiresome, Chickapea showed up! Chickapea offers a variety of different pasta types, ranging from lasagna noodles to penne, made entirely from organic chickpeas and organic lentils. Their product packaging is entirely recyclable, and made from recycled materials. Double impact. No gluten + no plastic = guilt-free pasta night.
Fresh Restaurants
Donation: A $50 gift card to try out some of their plant based delicacies delivered in compostable packaging.
Fresh’s meals are just that, fresh & plant based. Following a plant based diet has a multitude of benefits for you, and the planet. I won’t get into statistics here, but emissions are way down if you participate in this diet. Fresh puts a fresh spin on classic dishes which are all made from whole, natural ingredients. It was the packaging that turned me into a fangirl: all meals are delivered to you in compostable dinnerware.
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Having studied sustainable business practices during my MBA, I was taught about the headline makers: Nike, Patagonia, H&M for piloting one sustainable item once (don’t get me started on H&M) - but I heard less about the SME segment. Communicating, working with and using these brand’s products has altered my understanding of sustainable business. Most businesses start small, where it’s easier to have a smaller carbon footprint. As they scale, how to sustainably scale through growth becomes the question. B Corp certification, carbon offsets, packaging design, renewable energy, green roofs, consumer awareness - these practices exist for a reason, and Greenvine is here to help you implement similar practices for your business.
