5 Eco Alternatives to Big Lifestyle Brands
It’s easy to reach for those labels we recognise. Those shiny red cans. The same soap your mum used. Time and again. And probably again after that. So as part of our #PledgeforGood campaign, we’re setting the Good Hemp team a challenge to find and use better brands in their day to day. By ‘better’ we mean brands doing good for people, for the planet or – bonus points – for both. Feel free to join in.
To get the ball rolling, we’ve found craft brews turning the tide on water poverty, solar-powered condoms (no, really) and zero-waste household sprays cleaning up our under-sink cupboard.
1. Brewgooder
The story starts when Alan Mahon caught a waterborne parasite on a trip to Nepal in 2012. Poor Alan. But far worse for the billion people unable to access safe water every day. So he brewed a plan to ‘create waves of positive change’ with craft beer. What else? Sip on Brewgooder’s hoppy IPA and 100 times the volume of clean water goes to places in need. And as if Friday drinks couldn’t get better, these guys also founded Work in Progress, a collective making the beer industry more inclusive. Big cheers to that.
2. Wild
Single-use plastic is the pits, so ditch throwaway deodorant in favour of Wild. Its sleek, reusable case looks as good on your bathroom shelf as its skin-loving formulas smell under your arms. Bergamot Rituals for the win. There are no parabens or harsh chemicals you can’t pronounce, and none of the rash that often comes with natural deodorants either. (If you’ve DIY-ed with bicarb, you’ll know what we mean.) For the ease of constantly having deodorant to hand, join Wild’s subscription – refills fit through the letterbox and profits fund reforestation projects. Win, win.
3. Homethings
It’s time to clean up the products under your kitchen sink. You might have caught founders Tim and Matt on Dragon’s Den receiving five offers from the dragons themselves. Unlike big-brand sprays (90% water packaged in single-use plastic bottles), Homethings’ non-toxic, vegan and cruelty-free cleaners come in small tabs in compostable wrappers. Drop them in a reusable bottle, add tap water and you’re good to go.
4. Easy José
Easy José works with the Mayni, indigenous families who grow and hand-pick organic coffee cherries in the shady canopy of the Peruvian rainforest (so there’s no need to clear land for plantations). It’s great for biodiversity and for the Mayni who can continue their traditional way of life and improve opportunities for future generations. Easy José’s Community Blend is chocolatey, a little floral and great with a splash of hemp milk.
5. FLO
FLO’s planet-friendly pads and tampons are made from organic cotton and edge-grown bamboo, meaning it doesn’t replace food crops. No synthetic fibres, pesticides or unnecessary nonsense. And you can toss the wrapper in the compost along with veg scraps. Every pack gives back 5% of profits to charities fighting period poverty and FGM, and they’ve also created sustainable bladder-leak protection (GLO) and vegan, carbon-neutral condoms (XO!) made in a solar-powered factory.