We love Earth Month at Duft Watterson. So much so that while we were still putting away our green St. Patrick’s Day hats, we gathered over our favorite breakfast food, (organic sustainably sourced) waffles, to talk about DW’s involvement this year. With important issues like plastic refuse in our oceans, greenhouse gases and deforestation, it can be hard to know where to focus efforts. But as we broke “bread” and chatted environmental impact, one universal theme resonated with the DW crew – the importance of shopping sustainable brands.
Something as simple as supporting sustainable brands may not appear to make a colossal difference in our day-to-day activities, but the mindset that it fosters just might. Something we can all agree on is that as an agency, we believe in the power of branding. The power of brands goes beyond marketing and can create products with a purpose. Since the number of sustainable brands we love and support could be a mile long, so we settled on a list of our favorite five. Some we’ve worked with. Some we just like.
Stasher: The negative effects plastic waste has on our planet was at the heart of our Earth Month conversations. Living a plastic-free lifestyle isn’t easy, but companies like Stasher that utilize silicone, a safer alternative to plastic, to manufacture reusable bags allow for more opportunities to embrace plastic-free life choices. On top of all this, stasher is woman-owned, a Certified B Corp and their environmental and social responsibility extends even further as a 1% for the planet member. We fully support a sustainable brand like Stasher, which is helping to mobilize the plastic-free movement and leading the way to social change.
Happy Family: Sustainable brands based in Boise are popping up left and right, but we’re particularly fond of the mission behind Happy Family. Their organic baby and toddler foods omit artificial hormones, toxic pesticides, and GMOs, plus they’re founded by a group of women dedicated to healthy nutrition options for childhood nutrition. Happy Family, you make Boise a better place and we love what you’re doing.
Who Gives A Crap: Forest-friendly bamboo toilet paper, enough said. This is a sustainable brand that thinks outside of the box, which is part of why we love them. But it’s their mission that seals the deal. According to their company, 2.3 billion people don’t have access to toilets – roughly 40% of the population. With profits from their environmentally friendly products, all forest friendly, they build toilets around the world. We don’t know about you, but that kind of toilet paper is pretty inspirational.
Warby Parker: Who knew the trendy, innovative eyewear company did more for the environment than meets the eye (haha)? This Certified B Corp makes our list of top sustainable brands not only for disrupting the eyewear industry with a revolutionary product but also because of their dedication to impacting the world for good. They are one of the only carbon-neutral eyewear companies out there. Also, for every pair of glasses sold, a pair is distributed to someone in need, as almost one billion people worldwide lack access to glasses. When you’re picking out your latest pair of frames, sustainability may not be top of mind, but we appreciate how Warby Parker bridges that gap.
Grove Collaborative: Let’s talk home care products. We recognize that picking up a brand of all-purpose cleaner at the grocery store may not scream environmental impact to most, but we like that we live in a world where a subscription-based sustainable home care product business exists. We like Grove Collaborative because their cruelty-free, plant-based, ingredient transparent products make even cleaning the bathroom feel environmentally responsible. This sustainable B Corp brand helps us imagine the world the way it could be, and we can’t get enough of it.
There are a plethora of sustainable brands out there dedicated to making a positive impact on our environment that we wish we could recognize. When it came down to it, we had a hard time narrowing this list down. By recognizing just a few that have caught our attention, we hope to have propelled their mission forward just a little.
Plus, we all agree that talking sustainability over waffles is a trend that just might catch on.