One great way to defeat denial and steer clear of greenwashing is to see good examples from real-life businesses. On this page, we highlight companies and products that are truly promoting sustainability in their business practices.
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| Company | Product example | In-store/online | Success/role model features | Improvements/clarity needed | URL |
| Ardent Goods | Soap, sponges, spades | Online and in retailers | The products are designed to reduce waste and use non-toxic ingredients. Packaging is biodegradable or recyclable or “multiple use.” They also use “sustainable textiles.” All items are made in-store in small batches (which can improve accountability) in California. | Saying that all packaging is multiple use is a bit tricky, given that even most plastics are ‘reusable,’ however Ardent uses materials like ceramic for ‘multiple use’ which are high quality and built for ‘circular use’. | link |
| Lovett Sundries | Hair mousse | Sold online, in their own store in PA, and in many other low-waste stores. | Products made in Pennsylvania by the small, family-owned company and put in recyclable containers. Ingredients are minimal, clear, and simple. Most packaging is made in the US and all is recyclable, post consumer, or repurposed. They also have a progressive policy that restricts wholesale on large sites, like Amazon. | Some containers include plastic spray/spritz mechanisms, which may not be recyclable everywhere, but most are pure glass or metal. | link |
| Plaine Products | Shampoo | Online and in retailers | All metal packaging (except for plastic pumps), carbon neutral shipping, refill program by subscription – you buy and send back old containers when you get your new fills. Vegan ingredients and cruelty free. B Corp and 1% for the planet, women enterprise. Made in the US. No palm oil. | Shipping has its costs and carbon neutrality is not a panacea, but generally the business model is good, especially for in-store purchases. | link |
| Myro Case | Deodorant | Online and in retailers | Cruelty-free, vegan, and aluminum-free deodorant. The deodorant case is designed to be refilled and refills come in pods that use half the plastic than a typical deodorant single-use container and are recyclable. Deodorant made in US. | The pods used are still made of plastic and recycling is not a perfect system in the US. Packaging made in China (shipping includes emissions and maybe less regulation in manufacturing). It is a shipment model (no retail), which entails emissions. | link |
| Ethique | Lotion concentrate | Online and in retailers | Plastic-free products (and packaging and shipping). The classic item is a lotion concentrate bar, which reduces the weight (and emissions) of shipping the lotion and removes the need for single-use/send-back containers. They plant a tree for every order, donate 2% of sales to charity, and are ‘carbon positive’ (which includes carbon offsets, which can be tricky, but they provide a lot of information on their website). They include a scoreboard of environmental metrics (e.g. gallons of water saved) to inform the consumer. Packaging is compostable and there is a warehouse that these ship from in New Zealand and the US (which reduces the distance to ship to US markets and the associated emissions). Ingredients are cruelty-free, vegan, palm-oil free. They state that they pay employees a living wage and include many pages on their processes and path, which improves transparency (including the partnerships they use and direct trade practices with suppliers). They have created a project to donate soap to vulnerable populations. They also include a plan for next steps and future impact. They are also a certified B Corp (which includes ethical sourcing requirements. They include details on all their ingredients, and they state that ingredients must be ‘sustainably sourced,’ renewable, and biodegradable. They also include helpful consumer information on things like their coconut oil harvesting. They carbon offset for employees and travel and power their office with renewable energy. Their offsets are accredited. They have warehouses in the US and UK, which can reduce emissions to ship directly to consumers in those and nearby markets. The packaging for their paper is PEFC-certified paper stock for sustainable forests. | They also ship via Amazon, which means packaging may not be plastic-free or shipped low-emissions. Carbon offsets are not a total solution and can be tricky, but Ethique uses accredited offsets providers, reduces waste via their business model anyway, and includes a web page about the limitation of offsetting. | link |
| Last Object | Swabs, tissues etc. | Online and in retailers | Designed to replace single-use items with reusable ones. Have sustainability commitments for the whole value chain (cradle to grave) and an impact minimum for their products. They use organic cotton and reused or bio-based plastics instead of virgin plastics. Silicone is used, as well, which is durable, non-plastic, and recyclable. Some products also include Scandinavian wool and cotton fibers too short to be used for textiles. They produce in Denmark and China and the Denmark facility is renowned for sustainability. Information is transparently laid out on the sustainability page of the website. They include information on how many uses offsets the impact of single use products compared to theirs. Non-EU manufacturers must be SMETA certified (for social ethics). Packaging materials is made from cardboard and paper. | No information is provided on the wool (if cruelty-free or not) and no information is included on the environmental quality of the manufacturing facility in China (though they do mention their cradle-to-grave accountability). They don’t include any information on shipping sustainability (which can have a large footprint). | link |
| Hand in Hand | Hand soap | Online and in retailers | For every sale, they donate soap and clean water to children. They also partner with other organizations for impact (Eco Soap Bank, My Neighbor’s Children). Palm oil free (palm oil is often linked to deforestation). Cruelty-free and vegan. They list their key ingredients on the website information section. All ingredients listed for each product separately. Many of the products come in recyclable, metal refill containers. You can buy the display container with a plastic pump, as well. They say on their website that they are trying to make a recyclable pump. Products are made in the US (strong environmental regulations and accountability). | They say on some products that they are packaged with recyclable aluminum, but this ignores the (seemingly) plastic nozzle/pump. Some of the products are packaged in plastic containers/squeeze bottles. The website states that they are rolling out aluminum packaging for more products, but this isn’t specific. Little information provided on shipping emissions or outer packaging (shipment packaging). | link |
| Marley’s Monsters | Reusable paper towels | Online, in-store, and available through low-waste retailers | Products are designed as zero-waste alternatives to conventional single-use items. All items are made in Oregon, which improves transparency and can reduce shipping emissions to customers. All packaging is recyclable or compostable, including tape and acid-free ink. They manufacture also using their own waste scraps (and partnering with other organizations to reuse them). They use reusable items in their own staff areas, as well. They are BRING certified for sustainability. The store also sells external low-waste products, supplied from domestic suppliers. | Source materials may be supplied internationally. More information on source sustainability (e.g. fabrics) would be useful. | link |
| Albatross | Razors | Online and in retailers | Designed to replace plastics in shaving and other items. They also have a blade take-back program and use the metal to make other items. Their soap is solid, which reduces emissions from shipping heavy liquids, and plastic packaging. Packaging is paper. The shaving brush is vegan. | Bristles for the shave brush are combination bamboo and nylon (which is plastic). | link |
| Goodee | Desk, lotion, etc. | Online | Products are designed to be durable, sustainable, and ethical across the value chain. They state that their products minimize waste and are designed to last and follow the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. They provide living wages and professional development opportunities for suppliers, a portion of profits go toward marginalized communities, and the company advocates for gender equality and diverse leadership. They are a certified B Corp and part of 1% for the Planet (1% of every sale goes toward environmental nonprofits). Brand selection is very intentional and information on each brand is provided really transparently. Each product includes a lot of information on the materials, attributes, and location of origin. You can also shop gifts by their impact. Packing labels are recycled and recyclable. Tape is plant-based and recyclable. Bubble wrap is 90% recycled, and containers are often reused. | Information on shipping practices is not provided. Information is provided for each item (e.g. if it is made from ‘natural materials’), but not at the company scale (e.g. no statement about cruelty-free, but they are B-Corp certified and held to high standards as a result). Packing bubble wrap is mostly recycled, but the items are still plastic (likely not easily recyclable) and not entirely recycled content. | link |
| by Humankind | Deodorant, toothpaste, soap | Online | Products are designed to eliminate the need for single-use plastic body care items (e.g. deodorant holders) via a refill/subscription model. Much of their packaging is compostable paper and they use recycled paper already. They are carbon neutral. Most products are cruelty-free and vegan (except their silk floss, which they transparently state). They include a transparent ingredient list explained in layman’s terms and include a list of ingredients/chemicals they never use. They indicate that they follow stringent EU safety guidelines (highly regulated) for ingredients and that they source ‘sustainably’ from ethical producers and harvesting practices. They pay a living wage to factory employees in their factories (EU and US, highly regulated, but also China which is less regulated and may entail high shipping emissions). Their palm oil is fair-trade and RSPO certified (for labor and sustainability). It doesn’t use aluminum, which has been linked to cancer for antiperspirants. They have an educational page about plastic waste, including why recycling is flawed. They also sell plastic offsets. | Though the company is designed to reduce single-use plastic waste, their containers are made from plastics. Much of their packaging is compostable, but they use plastics, as well. Their carbon neutrality is via offsets (which can be tricky), but they appear to be transparent about these and accountable. Their silk floss is not cruelty free. They say that all their packaging is ‘eco-friendly’ and that they use all ‘natural ingredients’ (with many plant-based ingredients), but this is vague for the layman to understand (however they do include a whole page and list of ingredients). Their statements about ethical and sustainable production and harvesting is vague and don’t all appear to be covered by certifications, which can reduce accountability. They do not state if their sources (only factory employees mentioned) are paid a living wage. Manufacturing in China may be less regulated and entail more emissions to ship products (though they do carbon offset as mentioned above). | link |
| Asarai | Face wash | Online | They are part of 1% for the Planet (donating 1% to environmental causes). Products are not tested on animals. Many products are vegan and use organic materials. Ingredients are transparently labeled. | It is unclear if any ingredients are tested on animals (compared to just final products). Products are “ethically sourced” but this is vague. A small portion (0-1%) of ingredients are synthetic. Packaging appears to at least in part be metal/recyclable, though this is unclear and plastics may be used. More transparency on impact/packaging/shipping and other metrics are needed. | link |