8 Editor-Loved Sustainable Small Kitchen Brands to Shop This Earth Day (and Always)
With Earth Day coming up, there’s no better time to take a step back and think about our daily habits, especially when it comes to what products we use in our home. In particular, our kitchens are a great place to start if we’re trying to think sustainably, whether we’re looking at our groceries, cleaning products, or cookware. To help you make some eco-friendly swaps at home, we’ve rounded up some of the best sustainable kitchen brands that our editors (and readers!) love.
Whether you want to cut down on plastic by investing in Bee’s Wrap reusable food wrap or equip yourself with eco-friendly cleaning products from Grove Collaborative, you’ll find just about every part of your kitchen covered with these picks. Most of these eco-friendly kitchen brands are also certified B Corp companies, which means they’ve passed a rigorous evaluation process to vet their social and environmental performance. While many use recycled materials and are already plastic- and carbon-neutral, they’re also dedicated to paying livable wages and being publicly transparent, among other factors. When it comes to going greener, little steps like switching to these brands’ eco-friendly kitchen products can go a long way!
1. Full Circle
This brush has been a Kitchn reader-favorite for years because of its thoughtful design that easily cleans your cast iron pans. The Tenacious C Cast Iron Brush is also made with a bamboo handle and nylon brushes made from recycled plastic, which is in line with Full Circle’s overall mission to produce sustainable cleaning products. As a certified B Corp company, Full Circle makes all of their cleaning items using renewable or recycled materials. While they currently are plastic neutral, they will be completely plastic-free by the end of 2022. In addition to this popular brush, they also make other kitchen brushes, sponges, and a chic dish drying rack that we love.
2. Bee’s Wrap
As the best food wrap winner on our Kitchn Essentials: Tools Edition list, Vermont-based Bee’s Wrap is an obvious must-have in any eco-friendly kitchen. The brand is known for their reusable food wrap, which is made from organic cotton that’s coated in a mixture of beeswax (or plant-based wax for their vegan line), certified organic plant oil, and tree resin to form a wrap that you can use over and over again. You can use it to store or transport food, just like plastic wrap, but this is way better. In addition to traditional wrap, the certified B Corp company also sells sandwich wrap, bread wrap, and new produce bags that I tried recently — and they totally cut out plastic sandwich bags in my kitchen.
3. East Fork
It probably isn’t surprising that every product from East Fork, a reader- and editor-favorite pottery studio from Asheville, is sustainably made. After all, each handmade piece they produce has so much thought behind it, especially the famous The Mug. The thick handle is designed to feel like an extension of your hand for optimal comfort, it’s chip-proof, and it looks like a piece of art, according to our senior commerce editor, Danielle, who uses it every morning. As a B Corp company with a robust outline of their sustainability efforts, East Fork has a mission to pay employees a living wage, is going carbon neutral, and uses lead-free and regionally-made materials. Their ceramic dinnerware includes so many gorgeous everyday pieces like the Dinner Plate, Everyday Bowl, Side Plate, and more (plus, they’re all available in the new Fiddlehead glaze!).
4. Material
One item that so many Kitchn editors use in their own kitchens is the Material reBoard cutting board. We’ve ranked it as our favorite plastic cutting board for several years now because of its style-forward design and sturdiness. It’s made entirely of kitchen plastic scraps and renewable sugarcane, so you can enjoy the ease of a plastic board knowing that it’s also sustainably made. Material also has The (mini) reBoard, a smaller version of this large board, and The reBowl, a large mixing bowl that’s made from the same eco-friendly materials.
5. Kana Lifestyle
If you’re trying to look for sustainable cookware, cast iron is often a safe bet, especially because it should last you for decades, eliminating the need to replace them. One of our favorite brands, Kana, holds several environmental certifications for their sustainability efforts. Their line of pre-cut parchment paper is notably 100-percent compostable and biodegradable, made entirely from recycled paper and PEFC Certified wood pulp. Additionally, the Milo Dutch Oven seriously wowed us when put to the test and earned a spot as our favorite Dutch oven under $150. It’s also made from 40 percent recycled materials that are non-toxic, as is their 10-Inch Ultimate Skillet. What’s more is that they partner with family-owned factories that are BSCI Certified, which means they meet certain workplace standards such as safe conditions and fair pay.
6. Grove Collaborative
Grove Collaborative is a marketplace for cleaning supplies that are good for you and your home, and they also make their own sustainable products. While the site stocks brands you’ve heard of (Mrs. Meyer’s and Method, for example), they also have an entire plastic-free section of goods, including their own concentrates (as we shared above) that you can add to your own bottle to dilute and use. Not only are they a certified B Corp company, but they’re also the first plastic-neutral retailer in the world and are committed to going plastic-free by 2025. They’re on their way to planting 1 million trees by the end of this year and are working toward reducing their carbon footprint (they’re already carbon-neutral with their shipping and facilities).
7. Stumptown Coffee Roasters
As one of our editor-favorite coffee brands, Stumptown Coffee Roasters does a lot more than just have delicious coffee. They’re a certified B Corp company with a focus on quality and commitment to supporting the farmers they work with and their communities through Direct Trade relationships and paying premiums for quality coffee. Their coffee is sourced from four continents so they have a wide variety to choose from, whether online or at the grocery store. They’re also actively working to reduce energy and water consumption at their cafes, breweries, and roasting facilities, with a goal for zero landfill waste from manufacturing by 2025.
8. King Arthur Baking Company
With over 200 years of being in business, King Arthur Baking Company knows how to produce reliable baking ingredients. Ranked on Kitchn Essentials: Grocery Edition as our favorite flour for two years running, King Arthur is not only an editor-favorite but it’s a top choice for many home bakers. The employee-owned certified B Corp company is dedicated to being sustainable at every part of the process, whether how they source ingredients, reducing their shipping carbon footprint, and handling waste in their cafe and bakery.