Open in app

Sign in

Write

Sign in

Sustainable shopping for beginners

A collection of brands and labels that act responsibly.

Katharina Buiten
6 min readNov 17, 2020

Some years ago, I started my journey to a more sustainable lifestyle. But to be honest, it’s often not that easy. I found myself often at a place outside my comfort zone when searching for sustainable alternatives, as I needed to do some research first and couldn’t just buy what I bought. This should be a little helper for everyone being on the same journey. ❤

So, important things first: it’s always the most sustainable way to use what you have. And the second-best way is to re-use, upcycle, get the unworn vintage pieces from friends and family or buy second-hand. If those two options are not available then it’s time to check for brands who act responsibly and produce sustainably. There are many of those, but as a beginner, it’s hard to know about them — that’s why I started this list whenever I got recommendations from family, friends, or some great influencers and magazines in this field.

So here it is, my list. It’s not a complete list of ALL brands, it’s a beginning. Feel free to comment below with great brands not mentioned and I will try to update the list as regularly as possible.

How to work with this list?
It’s quite straightforward: there are categories, like cosmetics/shoes/etc. and below you find a list of brands with the origin country and a link. Unfortunately, most of the clothing brands are for women, but some of them also have products for men. Maybe at some point, I will do some research specifically for men’s clothing too :-)

PS: The brands fulfill different “sustainability criteria*”, but often not all of it. For example, some brands offer sustainably and fairly produced shoes, that aren’t vegan, but they are produced to last for many, many years. Please check yourself, in what way the company values fit yours.
*ie. sustainable production & materials, recycling/upcycling materials, regionality, ethics, vegan, cruelty-free, natural ingredients, fair wage & work conditions, diversity, inclusivity, zero (less) waste, good quality to last long, transparency, supporting social projects, planting trees, carbon-neutral, etc.

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Second-hand fashion

Second-hand books/games/DVDs/CDs

Second-hand IT

Second-hand market places

Here is also a work-in-progress map with second-hand stores.

Photo by rupixen.com on Unsplash

Online Marketplaces (focus: sustainability)

Online Marketplaces (focus: regionality)

Photo by Mike Petrucci on Unsplash

Accessories

Bags & Backpacks

Cleaning

Contraception

Cosmetics

Home

Jewelry

Men’s Clothing

Menstruation

Shoes

Sportswear

Swimwear

Underwear

Women’s Clothing

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Search / Directory platforms

I really hope that this can help some of you for starting your journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle ❤

Shopping
Sustainable Fashion
Sustainability
Brands
Lifestyle

--

--

Katharina Buiten

Written by Katharina Buiten

8 Followers

Sustainable development graduate with a passion for new technologies. Trying to live a more conscious life in every aspect - taking care of myself & our planet.

Help

Status

About

Careers

Blog

Privacy

Terms

Text to speech

Teams