The Best Eco-Friendly Brands on the Planet
We’ve all heard it, reduce, reuse and recycle campaigns that have been pushed hard during the last few decades. We all know that taking care of the environment is a must and starts with us.
Climate change is a continuing problem and with this concern it’s never too early to pay attention how we as individuals and businesses affect the planet. In case you need a reminder to go towards the more eco-friendly direction just take a look at how many people now a days are more eco brand aware. Let’s take a look at some of the brands that are making people more aware of the eco-friendly home products and how they are finding huge commercial successes.
1. Beyond Meat
When you talk to an environmentalist and they will agree with you that biggest problem facing the world is climate change. And who is contributing the most to it? The meat industry is a culprit. Everyone loves a good burger and such but there is no denying the meat industry is having some serious issues for the environment. Beyond Meat comes in then and is shaking up the food industry by making delicious plant based meat products. Even carnivores approve and they are better for humans, the climate and the environment. And the taste is just as good as any real burger. Their branding focuses on the good they are doing for the environment. They are great at creating drool worthy photos and cool graphics that show the benefits of saving the planet. Thinking outside the box is what it can take to protect the environment. If your industry is not as eco-friendly you can put a spin on things to do your part like if you own a company where you can offer discounts to your customers if they use an eco-friendly process like printing on recycled paper.
LEARN MORE ABOUT: BEYOND MEAT
2. Eco Energy Insights
This may be one you have not heard of but they are some big things in the world of green business. They offer intelligent and sustainable solutions for enterprise wide energy operations and efficient management. What this means they partner with companies to help them reduce their energy wastage which in turn saves them tons of money. It can help keep their client savings numbers under wraps but they are open about how they have helped the environment. To this day the services they offer have saved 1.5 billion KwH, equivalent to taking over 222,600 cars off the road for a year. Sounds pretty good. As a consulting company Eco Energy Insights likes to stay in the background and let their customers speak for themselves. It shows in their design. Website for them is clean and simple showing the impact of their services for clients and letting results take the stage. It’s a great advantage for your customers when you go eco-friendly. Eco Energy Insights was able to slash their client’s energy costs and reduce their environmental impact at the same time. Think of ways you can show your clients on how green practices can benefit everyone.
LEARN MORE ABOUT: ECO ENERGY INSIGHTS
3. Lush Cosmetics
If you are not a beauty person or a bath person you may not have of heard of this company. But you are missing out. Lush Cosmetics is an all-natural bath and body brand that makes fragrances, massage bars and bath bombs that people all around the world have fallen in love with. In addition to making the world more beautiful, they are also dedicated to eco-friendly practices and products. For example they have created solid shampoo bars to reduce packaging waste and offer free products to customers who bring in empty packaging to recycle. Their eco-conscious practices are paving the way for other beauty companies to follow in their footprints. The earthy feel of their products and stores show their dedication to earthy, organic planet. Lush also offers a recycling program, by offering a free product or a discount in exchange for recyclable goods.
LEARN MORE ABOUT: LUSH COSMETICS
4. Numi Tea
Has sustainability in their mission. They are all about uniting the mind, spirit and body through their tea and offer a holistic idea to protect the planet. They follow their mission to the tee in that they have sustainable packaging to making donations to environmental nonprofits to making sure they are tracking carbon emissions during the production process. The like to make sure every step in the process of marketing and selling their tea is environmentally sounds. Numi Tea is the source behind OSC2- One Step Closer to an Organic Sustainable Community. Which is a group of CEO’s and business leaders from natural products and focus on sustainably. They are dedicated to improving their own practices but also other practices across the board. Now that says commitment. Their design and branding screams eco-friendly and organic. Numi Tea has green practices are a part of their DNA and their eco-friendly vibe is part of their DNA design. They like to use earth tones and brown shades in their design and branding. When you see the color brown and color of soil people associate it with eco-friendly branding and feel it’s connected to the earth. The reason Numi is successful is their practices and sustainability of it. When it is part of the brand you are it will show in everything you do and being green then becomes easy. For example owing a paper company. Make green practices part of your moto by only selling paper made of recycled paper.
LEARN MORE ABOUT: NUMI TEA
5. Apple
Apple may not make you think eco-friendly right away since they are a technology giant. But just because they are not an outspoken company that revels in environmental causes doesn’t mean they are not doing their part. They may not shout and say I am green but they have made some serious contributions to help the environmental changes over the years. 2015 they signed a $1 billon deal with First Solar, which is the largest developer of solar farm in the US. Apple powers all of its California stores, data centers an offices with solar energy from First Solar. This has made for the largest solar procurement deal for a non-utility company in history. The deal with First Solar made big news and a lot of companies felt the need to change their design, website and branding to show it. But Apple did not do this. They know who they are which is a highly respected tech company with minimalist design and they are going to stay that way. No matter how green friendly they become. You don’t need to have your eco-friendly practices shown up front and center. You are not trying for green attention. You are doing it to protect the environment. No matter what line of business you are in don’t worry about what people will think about you going green, you just have to do it!
LEARN MORE ABOUT: APPLE
6. Seventh Generation
This company is a cleaning product company that is changing the world of cleaning with eco-friendly cleaning products free of harmful toxins and chemicals. It has the one two punch of being great for the environment and also for human health. Forbes annual Best For The Environment list which spotlights companies that go above and beyond the standard green practices highlighted Seventh Generation. They seem to be doing something right. It’s hard to miss their eco-friendly design, they stay true to their brand. It’s a traditional green company that has had success but they have been able to expand outside of their typical customer base by making sure to show off their product benefits that appeal to everyone not just green consumers. If you push your products benefits you will get even more customers behind your eco-friendly mission.
LEARN MORE ABOUT: SEVENTH GENERATION
7. Toms
While on a trip to Argentina in 2006, Blake Mycoskie was surprised by how many kids were growing up without shoes, making life hard for them. He came up with the brilliant idea of a for profit company that donated a pair of shoes to a child for every pair sold. 11 years later and TOMS has donated over 60 millon shoes to kids around the world. . To reach more people and increase their brand they have expanded on helping more people by offering clean drinking water, eye services and safe birth kits to people all around the world in need. TOMS respects our planet and all of their shoes and boxes are made with sustainable, vegan and recyclable materials. Their philosophy appears in all their design and branding. Fearturing photos of the communities they support prominently in their marketing materials and are able to build a stronger emotional aspect of their mission. Doing good for the humanity and environment goes together. You can find a cause or mission you’re passionate about make it a force behind your brand. You can identify a cause you feel strongly about and a green cause that can bought into your brand. One example is bringing clean water to communities in need can do a corporate takeover for one month out of the year. You can redesign your marketing materials and website to focus on your clean water project and donate a part of the sales for that month to your cause. When consumers see that you are doing good in the world it will help build a connection. People will want to be a part of what you are doing and as bonus your sales will soar.
LEARN MORE ABOUT: TOMS
8. Patagonia
For everyone who is non-outdoorsy Patagonia is one of the world’s most successful active wear companies. They sell all items such as snow gear to sleeping bags and any item appealing to the adventure crowd. They folks tend to be eco-conscious also and their philosophy is all about being green. Patagonia has built repair centers around the world to increase the life of their products and to lower their carbon footprint. In 2016 they had pledged 10 million of their Black Friday sales to grassroots environmental groups that help to improve the planet. The company’s moto is 100 percent for the planet but they are not perfect. They have been honest about their areas of business that need improvement. Such as using fossil fuels to produce shells for their coats which can lead to climate change. Patagonia’s is wanting to change and improve their practices and are moving towards becoming more eco-friendly which this helps to set them apart from other companies. They rugged design and nature focus appeals to outdoor audience which is their target and also echoes their commitment to protect the planet. If you are not 100 percent eco-friendly yet it is ok. No one is perfect. You just need to be honest and making a change toward a more sustainable business will connect you with your customers.
LEARN MORE ABOUT: PATAGONIA
If you are already going green or just starting out in the eco-friendly market there are lessons that can be learned from all of these brands. Not only are they crushing the competition, they are supporting the planet and staying true to their DNA along the way. It is a winning combination for sure.
Lisa Czachowski is a professional social blogger and has worked on several online publications including Citrus Sleep. Lisa is an experienced content writer and copyeditor. You will find many of her works throughout CitrusSleep.com that cover a wide array of subjects including sustainability, natural, sleep products, health, fashion and many more. She is passionate about what providing as much information as possible on products you bring in your home and what we wear.
Follow Lisa at Lisa Czachowski