Nothing screams summer relaxation like a good ol’ fashioned beach day. With countless summer products on the market, it can be difficult determining which ones are the best for both you and the planet. Here are some of Planet Home’s picks for the best summer essentials to help you beat the heat this season.  

Reef-safe Sunscreen 

While it’s no secret that sunscreen protects us from the sun, the skin care savior surprisingly poses many dangers to marine life. 97% of sunscreens on the market contain chemicals that are toxic to coral reefs, and nearly 10% of the world’s coral reefs are threatened by these pollutants. Oxybenzone, a chemical often found in sunscreen, disrupts coral reproduction, causes coral bleaching, and damages coral DNA. 

Stream2Sea’s reef-safe and biodegradable suncare products will leave you feeling both guilt (and sunburn) free. The sunscreen excludes dangerous chemicals oxybenzone, octinoxate, and octocrylene, and has been proven safe to freshwater fish and coral larvae. The company also uses eco-friendly packaging, with tubes made from sugar cane resins, bottles made from PCR and recycled milk jugs, and baggies made with biodegradable and recyclable PLA film. 

Badger Balm similarly provides a sustainable, ocean-friendly option. Made with 22.5% clear zinc oxide, Badger Balm’s mineral sunscreen is one of the first sunscreens to be certified Protect Land + Sea, meaning it is free of the environmental pollutants that harm coral reefs, sea turtles, and other aquatic life. 

Sunski Sunglasses 

With so many styles and brands to choose from, finding the right sunglasses to elevate your summer look can be overwhelming. Enter: Sunski, the company that helps you rock the trendiest frames, all while making a positive impact on our planet.

Sunski Dipseas Polarized Sunglasses | REI Co-op

Sunski’s unique SuperLight frames are eco-friendly, created from the scraps of post-industrial plastic. Unlike other companies that rely on plastic packaging, Sunski packages its shades in innovative origami folds. Sunski even donates 1% of sales to environmental non-profits. The company plans to offset its carbon footprint by 2020, and the brand’s lifetime warranty ensures that customers get their money’s worth, and helps reduce landfill waste. 

Reusable water bottles

Americans use a shocking 50 billion plastic water bottles annually, and of this quantity only about 9% are recycled. Many of these scraps are small in size, making these discards a major choking hazard for sea creatures. The solution: reusable water bottles.

S’well’s uniquely designed water bottles certainly bring style, innovation, and joy to sustainable living. The steel design will keep your drink ice cold, and S’well is also a partner with UNICEF, committed to providing vulnerable communities with a source of clean water. 

black and white plastic containers on brown sand

Like S’well, Mobot is similarly transforming the reusable water bottle industry. This brand has a focus on wellness. The water bottles are made of recycled steel and are BPA free. With non-profit partners including WE Leadership, GIVZ, NAACP, Frontline Foods, Mobot is devoted to helping those less fortunate through both donations and education. 

Sustainable Swimsuits

Who says style and sustainability have to be mutually exclusive? Companies Reformation and Summer Salt offer some of the trendiest swim looks, all while staying conscious of our planet.  

Reformation’s mission is to bring sustainable fashion to everyone. The company is 100% carbon neutral, and is working with non-profit organization Climate Neutral to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. Reformation has also partnered with Native Energy and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation to help restore used resources.

Summersalt is another planet conscious brand that strives to put their customers, and the planet, first. Some of the company’s garments are made with eco-friendly materials like TENCEL, TENCEL Modal, and Cupro, while others are made from materials with a path to sustainability. Items are packaged in poly bags made of recyclable materials, while swimwear specifically is made of a comfortable fabric from 78% recycled polyamide.    

Recycled Beach Bags

Sunscreen, sunglasses, water, a snack… with so much to hold, a high quality beach bag is a summertime essential. Handcrafted in Maine, Sea Bags are created from sails and transformed into nautical beach accessories. The brand is devoted to sustainability, and uses eco-friendly ink to create unique designs. 

Solar Powered Wireless Bluetooth Speakers

From R&B to classic country, music has the ability to transform any mood. Amazon’s solar powered bluetooth speaker is the perfect product to get your summer vibe going. 

This planet-friendly speaker is made of bamboo, one of the most sustainable crops. Unlike other plants, bamboo production requires no fertilizer, reducing any risk of runoff that could harm other nearby plant and animal life. Bamboo is also unique in that it is a regenerating crop, able to reproduce on its own without involving the manual labor and resources of replanting. Solar powered, the speaker can be charged either by spending time outdoors in the sun, or even soaking up the rays indoors on a window sill. 

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