10 Popular Zero Waste Brands To Be Obsessed With

1. ZWS Essentials

Did you know all of the plastic toothbrushes you’ve used over the course of your lifetime still exist? Yikes!

While bamboo toothbrushes are readily available, a lot of bamboo toothbrushes on the market are problematic. ZWS Essentials is the (first) and only brand to have 100% Bio-based bristles certified by USDA standards. 

This means the bristles contain no petroleum and therefore no fossil fuels! Even the packaging is sustainable, shipped in a paper box that is biodegradable and recyclable.

ZWS Essentials is an excellent zero waste brand to add to your collection; they also sell other oral hygiene products, personal care & home accessories, and stainless steel food storage sets.

2. Stasher Bag

Do you ever get that nagging guilt or eco-anxiety every time you use a plastic baggie? You’re not alone! It’s no question why Stasher bags became a quick, easy adoption in the zero waste space. 

Made from platinum silicone (AKA the good stuff), Stasher bags are designed to go even further than the plastic baggies before them. Not only have these bags passed all the safety standards for food in the U.S. & Canada, they’ve even passed the European Union food safety tests (and that is something to be impressed by). 

Because these bags are so heavy duty, they are not designed for the landfill. But not to worry! After making sure your baggie is completely non-usable (here are 10 ways you can use them) you simply need to print a free return label, clean & dry your bag, and drop it off at UPS to be returned to Stasher for proper disposal.

3. Davids Toothpaste

Davids Toothpaste is a great zero waste brand to try if you’re not ready to commit to toothpaste tablets (or other natural toothpastes). The same look and feel of a drugstore toothpaste without all the icky stuff. 

Davids is a family owned business and ensures the materials for their toothpastes are naturally sourced and naturally derived. 

In addition to unhealthy additives, standard toothpaste tubes also aren’t recyclable (shocker). Davids Toothpaste packages their paste in a metal tube lined with a food grade liner. Not only will it match your bathroom aesthetic, but the tube is completely recyclable. 

Each order comes with a metal tube key to help you get the laaast little bit out. While the tube keys aren’t curbside recyclable, you can place an order without the key or send them back to Davids. After 20 returned keys you’ll get a free tube of toothpaste! 

Saving the planet + getting free stuff; it doesn’t get much better than that.

4. Gladrags

Hey menstruators, did you know period products are full of chemicals, synthetic ingredients, irritants, fragrances, and adhesives? That is then supposed to go on your most sensitive bits. 

And while yes, you’re only using a handful of products per period (maybe) you’re also throwing away each product after every use. The average menstruator will use 12,000 to 16,000 disposable pads, tampons, and pantyliners in a lifetime. That’s a lot of waste! 

Switching to cloth pads and pantyliners and/or a menstrual cup is better for your health and so much more comfortable. Once you get your set together, designed to last your full period, you’ll be set for years to come. Imagine never running out of products right when your period starts! 

In addition to making comfortable, sustainable period products, Gladrags strives for waste reduction in every aspect of their business. 

Gladrags offers all types of pads, menstrual cups, and period product accessories. 

5. No Tox Life

Did you ever get a mystery rash and never figured out what caused it? Hives? Excess itching? It’s likely it was some chemical or additive in some product you used but will never know. 

No Tox Life founder, Sandee, had a similar experience as a child which led her to create No Tox Life. She wanted to create truly, non-toxic products — good for the planet, good for your body. 

A must-have zero waste brand, their products are almost 100% free of plastic packaging, with an option to select a zero waste version for those that do have plastic. 

The shipping process is also completely plastic free — everything is biodegradable, recycled or recyclable material. In order to keep waste down they reuse cardboard boxes whenever possible and even reuse boxes from their suppliers!  

No Tox Life is a great place to stock up on all your zero waste needs from deodorant, to dish soap and scrubbers, to beauty products.

6. Plaine Products

Whether you’re well into your zero waste journey and kind of miss the feel of a bottle, or naked bars just aren’t for you, enter Plaine Products.

With a 3 step refillable system for hair care, body care, and beauty products, using less plastic has never been easier! Founded by two sisters with a passion for reducing their impact on the planet, Plaine Products is on a mission to get rid of all your bathroom plastic. Using aluminum allows the bottles to be easily cleaned and reused many times before the end of their life when they can be fully recycled. 

Plaine Products works with a local partner to create a shipping container made from 100% recycled material and sturdy enough to not need filling. The sturdiness of the box also allows it to be reused several times before eventually being recycled. 

Plaine Products operates on a circular economy meaning nothing is ever wasted or sent to the landfill, an amazing feat even for a zero waste brand. 

You can find hair, body, and skin care products in full and travel sizes at Plaine Products.

7. Who Gives A Crap

Image By Who Gives A Crap

Every day 27,000 trees are cut down just to make toilet paper. Who Gives A Crap stepped up to the plate, or throne if you will, and came up with a sustainable solution while simultaneously giving back to communities in need. 

Their paper comes in two options — made with either 100% recycled material created from post consumer waste paper (think office paper), or made with bamboo. Both are biodegradable and septic tank safe.

But if they’re so eco-friendly why do all their roles come individually wrapped? 

TL;DR — sanitation. 

The rolls need to be wrapped to keep them hygienic and free of moisture. Somehow wrapping them individually uses less material than wrapping them in bunches. Plus, WGAC will happily admit they did it for the ‘gram. Everything about their packaging, and name, makes you want to share, which gets their name out there. And since they donate 50% of profits to providing access to toilets and sanitation, this is one company you won’t feel crappy about sharing. 

8. Pela Case

Image By Pela Case

Of all the zero waste brands covered so far, most of them address a single use plastic or obviously wasteful product. But how often do you think of your phone case? How many times have you upgraded to a new model and the size changed so you need to update the case. Or it breaks, or it gets too dirty to clean, or you just don’t like it anymore and want a cuter one? Now multiply that. By a lot.

Pela (pronounced peel-a) has designed the world’s first 100% compostable phone case. Once they nailed down phone cases, they added airpod cases, smart watch bands, and accessories such as phone grips and screen protectors. 

At the end of its life, no matter how short or long, simply toss your Pela case into the compost and it will return right back to the earth. The packaging and shipping are also sent in 100% recycled and recyclable paper that can be composted as well. 

9. Meow Meow Tweet

Image by Meow Meow Tweet

Meow Meow Tweet is a wonderful go-to zero waste brand for beauty and skin care essentials. They were actually the first ever to create a deodorant that comes in a compostable tube! 

Not only are the tubes compostable, they’re made from 90% recycled material containing no metal or plastic. Their fun illustrations, designed by one of the founders, are printed with non-toxic soy and vegetable based ink.

Meow Meow Tweet has built their business using ethical ingredients, minimizing waste, and providing fair compensation to all employees. Striving for a circular economy, their bulk program is a closed loop refill system and 100% zero waste.

All products come in glass, metal, or compostable paper and are handmade in small batches. The only production waste during manufacturing is a small amount of the ink and the recycled materials, which then get recycled — again.

10. Suds & Co.

Suds & Co carries all natural shampoo & conditioner bars + accessories such as a travel tin and soap lifts (which are like a soap dish but not quite an entire dish). 

A 3.5 oz bar is equivalent to at least 2 plastic 16 oz shampoo bottles and with several different types of scents and bars you’ll be able to find one that works best for you! 

Free of silicones, parabens, preservatives, vegan, and cruelty-free, each bar is made with natural, nourishing ingredients and completely safe for color treated hair. 

Grab a storage tin to make traveling with these bars extra easy. Whether you’re traveling from bathroom to bathroom or country to country, these shampoo & conditioner bars are completely TSA friendly. 

Packaged in 100% compostable material and packaged without any plastic, Suds & Co will be your next go-to place for shampoo & conditioner bars. 

These zero waste brands are all renowned companies in the zero waste space; but by no means is this an exhaustive list. 

When on your zero waste journey, it’s important to remember the ‘why’ of what you’re doing and remember no journey is linear. While it would be amazing if we could all be like the zero waste warriors seen on social media, throwing away only a grocery bag of trash every month, it’s not that easy, or even possible, for a lot of us. 

But as we’ve said before and we’ll say it as much as we need to, starting somewhere is better than never starting at all and trying to be zero waste imperfectly is better than not even trying.