Convenience to Clean Ingredients: 5 Sustainable Trends

1. sklyar perfume made with clean ingredients

Many fragrance companies rely on harmful ingredients to formulate their products. Skylar is on a mission to create fabulous scents that are safe, hypoallergenic, cruelty-free, and 100% vegan. You won’t find parabens, phthalates, synthetic dyes, SLS, or animal-derived products.

And you can enjoy sustainable perfumes like Isle, which will make everyday smell like a beachy getaway vacation with its subtle citrus and spiced sandalwood scents. Just divine.

2. reuse is the new recycling. it’s a global phenomenon.

Entrepreneurs around the world are designing consumer-friendly systems that make minimizing waste miraculously easy. In this video, we meet Le Thuy Linh, founder of AYA Cup, a platform that ends disposable cup waste in Vietnam.

It’s inspiring to hear how this sustainable entrepreneur is building a returnable, coffee cup system with local coffee shops, allowing customers to return their reusable cups made sustainably from sugarcane at any participating coffee shop.

Also, this week, we saw the French Minister of Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, inaugurate the launch of Loop, a platform that enables you to purchase brands you know in love but in beautiful, reusable packaging, in Carrefour stores. Loop is on the Lazy E 50 List and covered in our Zero Waste Lifestyle Roundup.

3. Shopping for sustainable products is most convenient 

It occurred to meet this week that, in many respects, sustainable living is more convenient than sticking to our old ways of doing things. For many, charging an electric car at home or work is way more convenient than filling up a conventional car at the gas station. The same applies to eco-friendly toilet paper. Who Gives A Crap will ship reams of recycled toilet paper directly to your door.

At a dollar per roll (less if you subscribe), this is a very convenient lifestyle shift to show that you give a crap about saving the planet.   

4. This Backpack’s protective padding is made from algae blooms

I’m a fan of Tentree’s Mobius Backpack because of its delightful versatility that’s perfect for office commutes and day trips to waterfalls. I like it even more because it’s made of innovative sustainable materials. The pack’s ergonomic padding protects your laptop, your back, and the planet. It’s made from excess algae blooms. That’s rather remarkable as it replaces all the EVA foam normally made of petrochemicals.

Not surprisingly, the company that makes the foam is called Bloom. Over a dozen mission-driven footwear brands are already using it in their midsoles, and big players like Adidas are experimenting with it too.

5. Secondhand Marketplaces Are Mainstream

Everyone wants a deal on stuff they covet. And almost everyone wants to shop more sustainably. Today, you can have both and an elevated shopping experience too. Rebag is a secondhand store for luxury goods like handbags, watches, jewelry, and other fashion accessories. All items for sale are inspected by specialists to ensure the highest quality.

Here’s the really fun, circular, sustainable part: you can return your purchase within 12 months for a store credit worth 70%-80% of your original purchase price.

And here are some brands offering a specialty shopping experience for their own pre-loved products: Patagonia Worn Wear, REI Used, Arc’teryx Used Gear, and The North Face Renewed.