Health-conscious consumers no longer need to choose between personal and planetary health. That’s thanks to an evolving sustainable supplement industry that aims to make more eco-friendly products.

What are sustainable supplements? Here’s what you might want to look for when choosing a greener green powder:

• Recyclable, compostable, and recycled packaging
• Refillable containers to reduce waste
• Sustainably sourced, organic ingredients
• Upcycled ingredients that reduce food waste
• Wild-harvested herbs from responsibly managed ecosystems
• Reduced carbon footprints through renewable energy use, reforestation projects, and carbon neutral shipping
• More environmentally-friendly plant-based alternatives to things like protein powders, fish oil, and vitamin D3 from lanolin
• Socially responsible business practices – fair wages, charitable endeavours, and transparent supply chains – look for B Corp (Benefit Corporation) status!

Here are some of our favourite sustainable supplement brands that help you support your health without messing up the planet.

Viridian

Viridian Nutrition is a supplement company committed to sustainability and ethical practices. Some of the highlights include:

• Recycled and recyclable packaging
  • Dark glass jars: these protect the contents and are reusable and recyclable
  • Aluminium lids: the black metal lids are recyclable again and again
  • Plant-based over-seals: tamper-evident over-seals made from polylactic acid (PLA) instead of petroleum-based plastic
  • Shipping materials: Viridian ships its supplements in recyclable cardboard packaging and paper padding 
• Recycling incentives!
  • Viridian offers a 25 p credit for bottles returned to the store where you purchased the product!
• Ingredients
  • Viridian produces supplements in small batches in the UK to GMP standards using carefully sourced, sustainable ingredients
• Donations and awards
  • Viridian donates a considerable sum each year to charities not involved in animal testing or research 
  • Viridian is a signatory to His Royal Highness, King Charles Terra Carta, which sets a green roadmap to 2030 
  • Viridian won the Greenleaf environmental award for its sustainability practices!
  • The company is also a top rated socially responsible company by The Good Shopping Guide.
• B Corp certification
  • Viridian is a certified Benefit Corporation!

Check out Viridian’s collection at Lifestyle Vitamins.

Avalon Organics

While they don’t make supplements, Avalon Organics does offer more sustainable and environmentally friendly toiletries. Here’s what we like about AO:

• Certified organic ingredients
• All products are certified organic by either the NSF/ANSI 305 Standard or the USDA NOP Organic Standard. 
• Recyclable packaging
• Sustainably sourced paperboard and high post-consumer material content that is recyclable. Their PET bottles are made from 100% PCR. 
• Biodegradable formulas
• All formulas are tested to ensure they meet the organic carbon to CO2 conversion rate required for biodegradable certification. 
• Cruelty-free
• The company doesn’t test any products on animals or allow their ingredient suppliers to test ingredients on animals. They are Leaping Bunny certified Cruelty-Free. 
• Environmental Working Group (EWG) Verified
• Some products are EWG Verified, meaning they meet strict criteria for ingredients, transparency, and health. 
• Avoids certain ingredients
• Products are free of parabens, phthalates, synthetic fragrances, artificial colours, harsh sulphates, and more. 

Check out Avalon Organics at Lifestyle Vitamins.

Solgar

Solgar is a fantastic supplement brand boasting a slew of sustainable practices, including:

• Responsibly sourced ingredients 
• Natural and organic ingredients with no artificial fillers. 
• Recyclable packaging
• Solgar uses 100% recyclable amber glass bottles to protect what’s inside.
• Carbon neutral business practices! 

Solgar also offers a variety of supplements, including vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, kosher, and halal options. Check out the Solgar collection at Lifestyle Vitamins.

AOR

AOR is a high-quality supplement brand that’s also committed to sustainability. Some of its eco-friendly practices and achievements include:

• Aiming for net-zero

• AOR recently received a silver badge from Greenly for its carbon management, environmental transparency, and active engagement in reducing emissions to get to net-zero.

• Packaging
  • AOR began using PCR (Post Consumer Resin) Packaging in 2019 to minimize waste and reduce its environmental footprint.

Check out AOR’s collection at Lifestyle Vitamins.

Gaia Herbs

Gaia Herbs is a super transparent B Corp (as of 2018) that also became a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) in 2022. That means it has adopted a business model that makes it a legal requirement to be more accountable and transparent with stakeholders.

This business has been around for 35 years and is highly committed to safeguarding people, plants, and planet. As a PBC its mission is to improve human health and well-being through natural products produced sustainably and ethically.

To this end, Gaia Herbs releases an annual Sustainability Report full of information about its achievements and goals for better business practices, including:

• Regenerative Organic Certification (2022)
  • Silver certified ROC – demonstrating support for soil health, fair labour practices, and animal welfare.
• Carbon sequestration
  • Through ROC practices, Gaia Herbs sequesters the CO2 equivalent of its major business operations! Not quite carbon neutral, but getting there!
• ISO certification
  • Increasing transparency through certification that tests supplements for authenticity and purity. This means you can feel assured Gaia Herbs supplements are free from harmful pesticides, toxic residue, microbials, and contaminated material. 
• Ethically traded ingredients
  • At least 35 ingredients used by the company are certified ethically traded, through bodies such as ROC, FairWild, and Fair for Life.
• Fairer labour practices
  • Gaia Herbs consistently demonstrates progress on support of its migrant farm workers and in-house employees, with lots of detail in its Sustainability Report!
• Community support
  • The company time and again shows its charitable side through monetary donations, product donations, and freeing up staff to help after the recent hurricane in North Carolina.
• More eco-friendly packaging
  • After many years of using glass, Gaia Herbs is working on refreshing packaging with lighter, more eco-friendly options. It still uses glass, for now, as it is safe, non-toxic, and recyclable.
• Composting!
  • In 2023, Gaia Herbs implemented onsite composting to ensure 70-80% of its waste stream becomes organic compost it can use on its own herb farms!

Check out Gaia Herbs’ collection at Lifestyle Vitamins.

Final thoughts

Lots of supplement brands are making smarter choices for sustainability these days. A couple of others to check out are Garden of Life (another B Corp that uses recycled packaging) and Naturya (an up and coming sustainability star that runs its operations using green energy!).

By choosing supplements from companies committed to sustainability, you can support your health while also contributing to a healthier planet.