Five Eco-Friendly Gifts For Mom From Female-Founded Companies

I grew up in a house full of women. When I tell people I have three sisters (two of whom are pictured here!) and no brothers, a common reaction I hear is “Oh! Your POOR father!” …cue eye-roll. Well we (father included) wouldn’t have had it any other way. We know better than most about the unbeatable strength of sisterhood, and the importance of always supporting and uplifting one another. We understand our incredible gift of fostering communities, and the power of community to affect change. And we know exactly how capable women are of getting the job - any job - done. It’s something I continued to witness and be inspired by in my career as a publicist and working in female-dominant offices.

May is a month for celebrating mothers, grandmothers and all the women in our life who have helped us get to where we are today. This Mother’s Day, consider getting your mom a gift from one of the below brands that help empower women around the world. Many of these also give back to Mother Earth!

1. Ninety Percent - The London-based, female-founded company launched in 2018 with a radical new idea to distribute 90% of their profits to charitable causes and the people who make their clothes and accessories, most of whom are women and are profiled on the brand’s Instagram page. At check-out, shoppers can “vote” for the charitable organization where they’d like their proceeds to go - from educating and empowering children in underprivileged communities to supporting conversation efforts for wildlife in East Africa.

2. Ethique - Ethique is a zero-waste, female-founded beauty bar brand out of New Zealand that now ships its lovely line of shampoo bars and more to the USA through Amazon. Beauty bars are an eco-friendly alternative to the roughly 80 MILLION plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles that get thrown out each YEAR. Ethique works closely with the Women in Business Development co-operative in Samoa to sustainably harvest their coconut oil and shells, ensure fair and equal pay, and reduce waste.

3. WorldFinds - I’m obsessed with the eye-popping colors and unique designs from this fair trade jewelry and accessories shop. Every WorldFinds purchase empowers the female artisans they work with in India. WorldFinds also established a Girls Education Fund that provides educational resources like tuition fees, school uniforms, books and more to the most marginalized families in their artisan communities.

4. Tonlé - Tonlé bills itself as zero-waste, fair fashion and we couldn’t love that any more. Clothes are made from scrap waste from large clothing manufacturers and each piece of clothing and accessory is signed by the women who make it in Cambodia. They even developed their own paper for tags using fibers made from these scraps. Soon the website will have bios for each of the women on the Tonlé team so you can really get to know who made your clothes on a personal level.

5. Obakki Foundation - Treana Peake created the Obakki Foundation as a platform with the power to transform lives via gifts of access to clean water, medical care, educational resources and more. 100% net proceeds from every purchase support specific projects of the foundation. By shopping the Scarves for Water collection, for example, you help to build clean water wells in Africa.