Six Brands Tackling the Plastic Problem

Last month, the Plastic Free July initiative urged people to join a global movement to rethink habits and boycott single-use plastic. Many tips were posted and information was spread on the dangers of plastic throughout the month, but the plastics fight shouldn’t slow down just because July is over.

To continue exploring the plastic-free journey, here’s a look at a few brands to consider next time you’re in the market for similar products. These brands are taking the plastic-free pledge to the next level, year-round.

CanO Water

We all know plastic water bottles are one of the main culprits of ocean pollution. Reusable water bottles are obviously a great way to avoid this, but what happens if you forget yours, or need water in a pinch?

This is where CanO Water comes in. CanO Water offers an eco-friendly solution to plastic water bottle waste. This brand packages fresh drinking water into aluminum cans that are infinitely recyclable. According to CanO Water, their cans go from being in the recycling bin to the shop shelves within 60 days, creating an ongoing cycle and completely cutting out plastic waste!

CanO Water also puts its efforts into ocean clean up campaigns and are constantly working to raise awareness of plastic pollution.

Check out their latest ocean cleanup efforts here.

Pela Case

More than 1 billion plastic phone cases are sold every year. An estimated 1.5 billion phone cases are thrown away each year, many of which are made from plastic. Pela Case is the world’s first 100% compostable, eco-friendly phone case working towards plastic-free oceans.

Pela takes responsibility for its products throughout their entire life cycle. They give you the option of sending in your old phone case when your new Pela case comes and they recycle it/make a new case out of it for a 360 approach to phone case consumption.

The climate-neutral certified company uses minimal, plastic-free packing for shipping, and is committed to giving one percent of their annual sales to 1% for the Planet to help fund projects that protect and preserve the environment.

For more on their strategy and impact, head here.

Coconut Bowls

Coconut Bowls works to inspire people to be conscious about the food they put into their body and the impact products have on the environment.

Every year billions of coconuts grow and are harvested for water and white meat. However, 99% of coconut shells go to waste and are often burned, which releases CO2 and Methane emissions into the atmosphere. Coconut Bowls reclaims these waste coconut shells and turns them into a resource. They also source the small pieces of coconut and other wooden offcuts that local builders and artisans would throw away or burn, as well as work with local artisans to handcraft the offcuts into spoons, forks, knives, and chopsticks, so almost nothing is wasted.

They have also committed to plastic-free packaging and using only compostable, recycled, and reusable materials in partnership with their packaging company, No Issue. No Issue uses only FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper and plant-based soy inks.

Check out the awesome work they do here.

Haeckels

Haeckels is a natural skincare and wild fragrance company based in Margate, UK. The brand was founded in 2012 and utilizes its coastal location to harvest and distill seaweed, ocean mud, and marine minerals in its home and body products.

Through their products, they work to implement solutions to the world’s ocean crisis.

They introduced a “Rubbish for Product” initiative, asking locals to bring a bag of beach rubbish to the shop in exchange for a free product.

They also are innovative when it comes to packaging. All of the brand’s packaging is plastic-free, made from glass and algae to create bottle seals. They also use Mycelium, a completely biodegradable, fungus-like bacteria for their packaging. It is formed into protective molds, which are used for delivery.

Learn more about this brand and its initiatives here.

Goodwell

Goodwell is an environmentally conscious oral care company with products that empower people to make a better choice in their daily oral care routine.

850 million plastic toothbrushes end up in landfills every year, in the USA alone. 15 billion batteries are made and sold every year, of which 87% end up in landfills, 12% are incinerated, and only 1% are actually recycled. Statistics like these are the seed of the innovation behind the products Goodwell designs and manufactures.

Goodwell makes brushes out of an innovative mix of recycled aluminum and degradable bioplastic that makes for far less waste than a plastic toothbrush, and ships completely plastic-free.

Goodwell is also a carbon-neutral company, as well as allocates one percent of their revenue to initiatives that give back to environmental nonprofits to create a healthier planet.

For more on how to reduce your oral plastic, check them out here.

Pakt

We have to mention our own efforts with our sister company, Pakt, in this category. At Pakt, we only use modern, durable, technical materials that are animal-friendly and have the lowest possible environmental impact. We are also working to constantly improve our supply chain and products by looking for lower impact replacements for every step and every material.

We chose to use rPET, a durable material that is created from recycled single-use plastic for the exterior of our latest product, The Pakt Travel Backpack. This material is just as durable as nylon and has a lower carbon footprint than both nylon and organic cotton fabrics.

All Pakt products are shipped in 100% plastic-free packaging: no bubble wrap, no plastic bags, no air pillows, and no Styrofoam. A percentage of Pakt profits goes to support SeaHive to help fight the environmental issue caused by plastic product packaging.

Six Brands Tackling the Plastic Problem Year-Round