Top 10 Brands To Add To Your Eco-Friendly Summer Essentials

We invited The One Edit to feature on our blog this month, read their fabulous guide to staying sustainable this summer!

This summer, travel may not be possible for everyone, but taking a holiday or “stay-cation” may be. Whatever your plans this summer, make sure you reduce your impact as much as possible by choosing eco-friendly and sustainable options to accompany your summer plans. Here are our top eco-friendly summer essentials you need to try in 2021.

Our top ten brands to add to your eco-friendly summer essentials include:

1. Bird (Sunglasses)

2. Sun & Earth (Sunscreen)

3. Affina (Towels)

4. Wild (Deodorant)

5. Myro (Deodorant)

6. Sole Rebels (Sandals)

7. Ocean Refresh (Sandals)

8. Lucy and Yak (Accessories)

9. Svala (Bags)

10. The Little Soap Company (Shampoo)

Eco-Friendly Sunglasses

Whether the sun is shining or not, sunglasses are the coolest accessory to complete your sustainable fashion outfit, or carefree summer attitude. They don’t have to be harmful to the planet though. With sustainable sunglasses brands you can make sure you look after the planet in style. Eyewear brand Bird has ‘reframed’ what matters to them: people and planet. They have a responsible supply chain, use a biodegradable material called Bio-acetate, and all products are considered vegan and cruelty-free. This summer, choose sustainable eyewear, made for you, without compromising the environment. 

Vegan Sunscreen 

The next thing on your eco-friendly summer essentials list should be sunscreen. Protecting your skin from UV rays is very important because they can be the cause of skin damage or cancer. This summer, make sure you’re protected with planet-conscious vegan sunscreen. With many brands to choose from, you can protect yourself from the sun without harming the environment. Made using solar power and natural ingredients, Sun & Earth’s sunscreen is biodegradable, meaning no toxic residue washes into the ocean as you swim and play. 

Organic Cotton Towels

Nothing beats a soft and cosy beach towel to keep you dry and covered on your summer excursions. With 100% organic cotton towels made in colours inspired by coral, Affina should definitely be on your eco-friendly summer essentials list. Woven in Portugal, and coloured with low impact, fibre reactive dyes, their towels are also tested by OEKO-TEX to ensure there are no toxic substances. This summer, honour Mother Nature with Affina and enjoy your sustainable towels. 

Biodegradable Phone Cases

With around 1.5 billion plastic phone cases being thrown out every year, a sustainable solution is needed. This summer, protect your phone with a product that’s good for your phone and the environment. Wave Case are leading the way towards a sustainable phone case future. Made from wheat straw, their phone cases and accessories protect the planet too. Once you’re done with them, they simply compost and leave no waste behind! As well as helping out in local community projects in their home in the North East of England, Wave Case also support the UK marine conservation initiative Surfers Against Sewage. So, when you’re thinking about your eco-friendly summer essentials, make sure to include a Wave case.

Natural Deodorants

Reinventing the deodorant we all know, some brands are making deodorants out of natural ingredients with plastic-free, refillable models. Brands like Wild and Myro make refillable natural deodorants designed to reduce the plastic we buy. Wild don’t use parabens or aluminium, and deliver your deodorants straight to your door. Both brands made the deodorant case to be reused, so you’ll be sent stick refills to replace when you run out, and you can choose how often you receive your refills. This summer, protect yourself from perspiration and keep smelling fresh with natural, plastic-reducing refillable deodorants. 

Sustainable Sandals

Driven by the ethos of ethical production, sustainable materials, and maximum comfort, Sole Rebels was founded by Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu. They make sustainable footwear and offer workers prices 3 times the industry average. Using organic cotton, recycled tyres, and plant based fibres, their sandals are more than their share of goodness. With a mission to free the oceans from plastic, Ocean Refresh make footwear from plastic waste rescued from the oceans and coastlines. So far they’ve collected 1 million plastic bottles from the waves and used it to make antibacterial, vegan, and recyclable flip flops. Make sure sustainable sandals are on your list of eco-friendly summer essentials.

Eco-Friendly Bags & Hats

Using material offcuts from their organic cotton clothing, combined with hand-stitching techniques, Brighton-based brand, Lucy and Yak, make hats and bags to complement an exciting outfit. They commit to fair wages to all workers and suppliers, gender and sizing inclusivity, and using eco-friendly materials. You can protect your head from the sun with their brightly coloured eco-friendly summer essentials. If you’re after a sleeker look, US brand Svala make handbags using vegan leather alternatives to pair with any summer outfit whether day or night. 

Plastic-free Shampoo Bars

Many eco-friendly companies are creating shampoo bars as a way to escape the large use of plastic in the cosmetics industry. These bars of shampoo often come in just a cardboard box, effectively becoming a zero-waste product. The Little Soap Company are a certified B-Corp, as well as being Vegan Society and Cruelty Free International certified. Their Eco Warrior shampoo bars lather and clean, leaving your scalp feeling fresh without harming the planet. Freshly scented and made with natural ingredients, shampoo bars should definitely earn a spot on your eco-friendly summer essentials list. 

Wave Hello to an Eco-friendly Summer

This summer, whatever you do to kick back and enjoy yourself, make sure you think about the planet too. So much of our everyday lives have an impact on the environment, that simply changing up some of your summer essentials to more sustainably-conscious ones, can make a difference. Whatever you get up to this summer, capture the magic while protecting your phone with your Wave Case. Choose from a range of colours to match that summer feeling.