28 Sustainable Black Owned Businesses to Support Now and Always
Zero Waste Lifestyle
February 26, 2021 | Guest Post
Last Updated on April 15, 2024
These 28 sustainable Black owned businesses offer high quality, sustainable products that are worth supporting any time!
From clean, Black owned beauty brands like Luv + Co to Black owned sustainable clothing brands like Aliya Wanek, this list has everything you need for your house! Some people are surprised to learn that Black owned makeup brands offer makeup for everyone, not just people of color! The same remains true for many Black owned businesses.
Table of Contents
black owned businesses
One of the things we often talk about in the zero waste movement is voting with your dollars. You don’t just vote at the ballot box, you vote every day with your actions and purchases.
Every day you get to choose the type of world you want to live in with your choices, and one way we can begin to make the sustainability sphere more inclusive is by supporting eco conscious BIPOC owned businesses.
I wanted to round up a few sustainable Black owned businesses and brands that you can support now and always. This shouldn’t be a trend, but a consistent practice because supporting these businesses is a step towards closing the racial wealth gap.
According to Forbes, “A Federal Reserve Bank report in 2017 indicated thatĀ Black-owned businesses apply for creditĀ at a rate that is ten percentage points higher than the rate for white-owned businesses, and yet their approval rates are 19 percentage points lower.
This means Black business owners are more likely to encounter financial hurdles and have a harder time obtaining credit in comparison to white business owners.”
So, check out these sustainable and eco friendly Black owned makeup brands, clothing brands, and beauty brands that are trying to make a positive impact in the world. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so please feel free to share more in the comments! I’d love to give them a try and maybe do another feature!
black owned beauty brands for your bathroom:
oui the people
- Sustainable shaving and skincare brand
- Stainless steel safety razors
- Refillable and recyclable razor blades
- Razors made for sensitive skin
/ OUI THE PEOPLE /
reel
- Tree-free toilet paper
- Plastic-free packaging
- Subscription, conveniently delivered
- Bamboo paper
- Charitable, provide toilets to those in need
/ REEL /
blade and bloom
- Sustainable skincare brand
- 100% natural ingredients
- Plant-based
- Made in small batches
- Glass bottles
/ BLADE AND BLOOM /
ruby love
- Reusable period underwear
- Made in the USA
- 100% maximum leak-proof protection
- Adult and teen underwear
- Period proof swimwear, sleepwear, and activewear
/ RUBY LOVE /
black owned makeup brands
blk + grn
- Sustainable makeup + skincare marketplace
- Non-toxic products
- Carefully curated
- Quality tested
- Low waste brands and artisans
/ BLK + GRN /
luv + co
- Natural makeup brand
- Nontoxic ingredients
- Vegan
- Made with certified organic ingredients
- Cruelty-free
/ LUV + CO /
black owned sustainable clothing brands:
paskho
- Clothing made in America by craftsmen near you
- Basics and essentials
- Uses 43% reclaimed fabric
- Fair Labor association
- Charitable, 1% for the planet
/ PASKHO /
thrilling
- Online secondhand and vintage marketplace
- Adult clothing, shoes, accessories, and bags
- Shop by era, material, price, size, or color
- 95% of their stores are women and/or POC owned
/ THRILLING /
baxter wood
- Vegan adult raincoats and rain boots
- Raincoats made from 22 plastic bottles
- Rainboots made from hevea tree rubber
- Offers rubber boot recycling take back program
- Charitable, partnered with the Green Board Organization
/ BAXTER WOOD /
vintage + soul
- Online vintage store
- Womenās attire
- Handpicked pieces highly curated with love
- Woman owned
- Small business
/ VINTAGE + SOUL /
hope for flowers
- Sustainable clothing brand
- Womenās attire
- Natural fabrics
- Woman owned
- Charitable, 10% of sales go to Detroit Dirt
/ HOPE FOR FLOWERS /
arrow + phoenix
- Sustainable swimwear brand
- Made from recycled materials
- Take-back program
- Made in the USA
- Body positive
/ ARROW + PHOENIX /
aliya wanek
- Sustainable handmade clothing brand
- Womenās attire
- Natural fibers, locally dyed
- Made in USA
- Ethical production
/ ALIYA WANEK /
black owned brands for your home:
fillmore wasteless
- Zero waste refillery
- Low waste home, kitchen, body, travel, and pet products
- Refills come in compostable bags, reusable pouches, or spray bottles
- Products utilize all natural and organic ingredients
- Offers Better Bin Composting drop-off service
pur home
- Laundry detergent brand
- Plant-based ingredients
- HE safe
- Leaping Bunny Certified
- Zero waste refill program
/ PUR HOME /
linoto
- 100% linen bed, bath, and home products
- Made in the USA
- Shipped in plastic-free, recycled packaging
- Offers a certified organic linen
- Zero waste program repurposes leftover linen into new products
/ LINOTO /
good vibes all purpose cleaner
- All-natural ingredients
- Concentrated
- Plant based
- Cleans floors, countertops, windows, cars, laundry, walls, etc.
- Offers refillable glass spray bottle and coconut husk scrubber set
eco vibe style
- Lifestyle brand offering home goods, apparel, and plants
- Supply sourced from local, minority, family-owned businesses and makers
- Low waste, sustainably made, ethically sourced products
- Sustainable garden supplies, plant pots, and stands
- Charitable, 1% For The Planet
/ ECO VIBE STYLE /
bolƩ road textiles
- Eco-friendly household textiles
- Designed in Brooklyn
- Handwoven in Ethiopia
- Natural fabrics
- Offers rugs, pillows, fabrics, mats, curtains, towels, throws, and wall hangings
the koop
- Handcrafted and hand poured candles in Brookyln
- Coconut, soy, and vegetable wax blend
- Toxin-free
- Glass candle holders
- No dyes or additives
/ THE KOOP/
clare
- Toxin-free paint brand
- Zero VOC paint & colorants
- GREENGUARD Gold certified
- No hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) or toxic air contaminants (TACs)
- Paint containers, trays, and liners are made from recycled materials
/ CLARE /
black owned businesses for your kitchen:
zero grocery
- Zero waste online grocery service
- Delivers to Los Angeles and Bay Area
- Plastic-free
- Vegan and Gluten-free options
- Sourced locally whenever possible
/ ZERO GROCERY /
diaspora co.
- Low waste spices from India
- Fresh, heirloom, single-origin spices
- Packaged in glass jars
- Offers turmeric, pepper, coriander, cumin, saffron, etc.
- Sustainable agriculture
/ DIASPORA CO /
zach & zoe sweet bee farm
- Wildflower honey brand
- Family-owned business
- Raw and unfiltered superfood infused honey
- Packaged in reusable glass jars
- No pesticides or additives
trade street jam co
- Vegan, low sugar jams
- Packaged in reusable glass jars
- Woman owned business
- Made by hand in small batches
- No pectin or preservatives
me and the bees lemonade
- Lemonade made with bee honey
- Glass bottles
- No preservatives or additives
- Teenage female founder
- Charitable, 10% of all sales go to Healthy Hive Foundation
sol cacao
- Vegan chocolate bars
- Founded by three brothers in the Bronx
- Nut-free
- Sustainable organic farming practices
- Ethical sourcing for their raw ingredients
/ SOL CACAO /
faqs
can you find black owned brands from big box stores?
For convenience, you can certainly find Black and BIPOC owned businesses from marketplaces such as Amazon or even from stores like Walmart or Target. If you’re looking for black owned makeup brands, try specialty stores like Ulta or Sephora, which have a wide range of makeup, making you more likely to find what you’re looking for.
However, they’re still much harder to come by in your average big box stores and often get overshadowed by mass produced, cheaper (and often toxic) brands.
how many businesses are black owned?
In 2021, just 3% of US businesses were Black owned, without about 161,000 Black owned brands. And believe it or not, that’s a huge improvement from 2017, when there were just 124,000. By making supporting minority owned businesses a priority, you can improve the wage inequality and business success for BIPOC entrepreneurs.
are black owned beauty brands more expensive?
They can be, but that’s more because they’re small, locally sourced, and/or sustainably manufactured companies than because they’re Black owned. These featured brands focus on clean, high-quality ingredients, making them well worth the money in my opinion! The fact that you’re helping to support a real person achieving their dreams is just the cherry on top.
are black owned clothing brands expensive?
Cost is relative, so what is expensive to one person may be perfectly reasonable to another. However, just like with the beauty brands, any additional upfront cost when shopping from a Black owned sustainable clothing brand is because they’re focusing on quality materials and ethical business practices. This leads to a longer closet life and more “bang for your buck.”
Which of these Black owned businesses are you most excited to try? Feel free to add some of your favorite Black owned brands in the comments too!
Guest Post:Ā Ariana Palmieri is the founder ofĀ Greenify-Me.com, a blog dedicated to zero waste living and sustainability. Her work has been featured on MindBodyGreen, Green Matters, The Penny Hoarder, and several other publications. Get her free e-book ā10 Ways to Reduce Trashā by signing up to her newsletter and learning how to reduce your waste today.
This is such a great and helpful post! I bookmarked a lot of these so I’m looking forward to support these businesses
This was super helpful, thank you! I had a question about the bullet points for Blade and Bloom – one of the things you included was that their products are made in small batches. How this is eco-friendly? I’d think making things in larger batches to save energy would be better for the environment, but I’m a zero-waste beginner, so I’m not very educated yet šš Thanks!
Thank you for this list!