Ready to unleash your inner Picasso, but your conscience is tugging at you about the potential environmental impact? We get it. Traditional art supplies, while beautiful and vibrant, aren’t always the kindest to our planet.

Just as we believe in the power of creativity, makers of eco-friendly art supplies believe in the importance of preserving our Earth, too.

But with so many petroleum-based materials, how could art supplies be sustainable?

Hold on to your paintbrushes, eco-artists, because we’re diving into the colorful world of recycled or natural art materials that let you express your creativity while keeping your carbon footprint as small as a pencil point. From biodegradable sketch pads to vegan paints, these earth-friendly alternatives that we’ve rounded up are every bit as vibrant, versatile, and inspiring as their traditional counterparts, if not more so.

And with our new Brand Rating System that we’ll be running these brands through in the coming months, we’ll use an array of eco-related criteria to examine everything from the brand’s climate impact to their chemical use and more. Learn about this new selection system here.

We independently research all featured brands and we ask them to confirm their claims. In many cases we personally review recommended products. This post contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you buy something. Learn more here.

Sustainable Art Supplies That Get Our Eco-Juices Flowing

Faber Castell’s EcoPencils are made from sustainably sourced wood—that also happen to offset the carbon footprint of their entire green art supplies production.

If you’re looking for kid’s art supplies for your mini Monet, eco-kids use only the safest, most non-toxic materials in their range.

Index: Sustainable Art Materials & Supplies

  1. Bee Paper Jump to brand
  2. Winsor & Newton Jump to brand
  3. Honeysticks Jump to brand
  4. Faber-Castell Jump to brand
  5. Eco-Kids Jump to brand
  6. Natural Earth Paint Jump to brand
  7. EcoStardust Jump to brand

Bee Paper

Bee Paper has not been rated.

Bee Paper’s Craft Supplies

Price Range: $8–20

For artists seeking to harmonize their creative expression with environmental responsibility, bee at one with Bee Paper.

Their 100% Recycled Sketch Pads—in tape and spiral-bound forms, allowing you to select the format that best suits your artistic journey—are crafted from chemical-free recycled paper that’s entirely biodegradable. With a sturdy weight of 70 lbs, this sketch pad can handle a variety of mediums: pencil, charcoal, pastel, and artist crayon.

Though not all offerings use recycled paper, others are sourced using sustainable forestry practices and all are acid-free and made to be archival quality. This means that the papers are designed to resist yellowing and deterioration over time, ensuring the longevity of your artwork.

About Bee Paper

Bee Paper provides for a range of specific art needs, including drawing paper, sketch paper, watercolor paper, marker paper, pastel paper, and more. While known for its quality, they offer competitive pricing, making it an attractive option for both professional and amateur artists.

Winsor & Newton

Winsor & Newton has not been rated.

Winsor & Newton’s Art Supplies

Price Range: $18–$80

UK based Winsor & Newton offers a wide range of watercolor, acrylic, and oil paints.

Some are traditional paints, but their Professional Watercolour range is made using quality pigments and environmentally friendly production methods. Free from harmful chemicals such as cadmium and lead, these eco painting supplies are safe for both artists and the environment.

The non-toxic paint range includes over 100 colors, each of which is formulated with a high level of pigment to ensure that the colors are vibrant and long-lasting. You can buy individually or buy full art supply kits for adults.

All paint tubes are packaged in recyclable aluminum tubes, aside from the plastic cap.

About Winsor & Newton

Winsor & Newton is a British art materials manufacturer that was founded way back in 1832.

Paints are their specialty—highly regarded for their rich pigmentation and re-wettability—but the brand also offers gouache, brushes, canvases, papers, inks, graphite and colored pencils, markers, and charcoal.

While not all of their products are sustainable at this time, they are making strides, such as offering cadmium-free paint ranges, reducing product packaging, switching to recycled plastic bottles for their mediums, and incorporating more renewable energy into their supply chain, with carbon neutrality being the goal. They also pledge to reduce hazardous waste 50% by 2025.

To cultivate community, their site includes a wealth of tips and tutorials for artists, and they donate acrylic paint and brushes to hospitals.

Honeysticks

Honeysticks has not been rated.

Honeysticks’ Children’s Art Supplies

Price Range: $15–$60

Another option for parents seeking eco-friendly children’s art supplies is Honeysticks and their collection of beeswax crayons, watercolor paint, paint brushes, and coloring books.

Their Jumbo Beeswax Crayons are the perfect companion for the colorful pursuits of little hands and minds. They’re 30% larger than most natural crayons, making them easier for kids to hold and more durable for long coloring sessions. Plus, their size also helps children develop and refine their pencil grasp.

These fun and crazy crayons aren’t just bigger; they’re also safer. Made with 100% pure New Zealand beeswax and safe, food-grade pigments, they’re entirely natural and non-toxic, being free of BPA, phthalates, and parabens.

The Honeysticks difference isn’t just in the colors. It’s in the smell and feel—no waxy residue or unnatural chemical smell here. Instead, you’ll find a lovely, natural scent of pure beeswax, which adds to the joy of coloring.

About Honeysticks

Honeysticks is an award-winning New Zealand-based brand that specializes in environmentally friendly art supplies for toddlers, all handcrafted in New Zealand. The company uses recyclable paper and cardboard packaging.

Faber-Castell

Faber-Castell has not been rated.

Faber-Castell’s Art Supplies

Price Range: $1–$2,500

Faber-Castell is an icon in the art world. While not all their products are eco-friendly, quality art supplies from this creative cornerstone brand have increasingly taken on a sustainable focus in recent years.

Most notably are their EcoPencils, available in colored, watercolor, and metallic variations. Made from 100% FSC-certified wood, they’re non-toxic and have a high level of break resistance across a variety of hardness grades—from 2H to 8B—so you can choose the perfect pencil for your artistic needs. Sharpened with a special SV bonding process, they’re easy to sharpen and long-lasting.

Like most of Faber-Castell’s products, the EcoPencils are packaged in recycled cardboard.

Other eco art supplies in the Faber-Castell family include refillable fountain pen and ballpoint pens, partially recycled artist paper pads, PVC-free erasers, water-based and non-toxic varnish coated graphite pencils, and more.

About Faber-Castell

Faber-Castell is the world’s leading and oldest manufacturer of wood-cased pencils, producing over two billion pencils per year, over 90% of which come from sustainable forestry certified (FSC and PEFC) sources.

The company owns more than 10,000 hectares of pine forests in Brazil, which provide the raw material for their pencils and absorb more than 900,000 tons of CO2 and neutralize the production emissions. 82% of their energy demand comes from renewable sources and they’re working on reducing plastics or replacing them with recycled ones.

Eco-Kids

Eco-Kids has not been rated.

eco-kids’ Art Supplies

Price Range: $8–$19

Say hello to eco-kids and their natural art supplies. This brand has dedicated itself to crafting art supplies for toddlers that foster young imaginations while keeping Mother Earth smiling.

eco-kids’ plant-based finger paint and crayons are both perfect for inspiring young artists to let colors and creativity fly across multiple painting sessions. They’re made of food safe, ingredients (including potatoes, rice & beans) and are easy to mix with water.

If a paper canvas is too small for your Michelangelo-in-training, let them paint their own Sidewalk Sistine Chapel using the Hop Scotch Sidewalk Chalk.

About eco-kids

No matter which eco-kids natural art supplies you pick, you’re getting something made with natural ingredients that adhere to stringent American (ASTM) Toy Safety standards.

The packaging matches the brand’s commitment to the planet, with even the powdered paints housed in FSC-certified recyclable paper cartons. All of these eco-friendly school supplies and art supplies are 100% plastic-free and made in the USA.

Natural Earth Paint

Natural Earth Paint has not been rated.

Natural Earth Paint’s for Artists

Price Range: $6–$99

What is the most eco-friendly paint for art?

That would be Natural Earth Paint. If the name didn’t clue you in, they specialize in paint made from natural plant and mineral pigments and organic ingredients.

Wait, is acrylic paint eco-friendly? Typically no, but theirs does not contain any traces of the acrylic polymers you find in acrylic paint. Not only is their acrylic paint biodegradable, but totally safe and non-off-gassing. Their Natural Acrylik art set for adults includes weight colors, each of which are highly pigmented, ensuring that your artwork will be vibrant and long-lasting.

Be sure to pair your new eco-friendly acrylic paint with some of their vegan and cruelty-free paint brushes, made with sustainably-harvested wooden handles and a plant-based, non-toxic varnish.

You’ll also find they offer sustainable watercolor paint, Gesso, face paints, varnish, painting accessories, and more are included.

About Natural Earth Paint

Natural Earth Paint products—including some certified organic art supplies—are free from toxins, heavy metals, solvents, and harmful additives, making them a healthy choice for artists and educators. They hand craft products in Germany and source pigments responsibly.

In addition to a zero waste line of minimally compostable packaged supplies, you can also add a Zero Waste Shipping option onto any order to ensure it comes in 100% recyclable paper materials, down to the tape.

EcoStardust

EcoStardust has not been rated.

EcoStartdust’s Craft Supplies

Price Range: $2–$167

For the glitter-loving artist with a green heart, EcoStardust’s Bioglitter offers a sprinkle of sustainability in every sparkly speck.

While we typically give biodegradable glitter some deserved eco-scrutiny, Bioglitter is in a league of its own. Unlike traditional glitters that are based on polymers that don’t biodegrade and add to microplastic pollution, Bioglitter uses natural materials. Namely plant polymers derived predominantly from non-GMO sustainably farmed Eucalyptus Trees.

These materials have been proven to biodegrade in the natural environment, breaking down into harmless substances over time.

About EcoStardust

UK-based EcoStardust has the planet and party people alike at heart. Aiming to “spread happiness and bring people together”, their bio glitter is safe to use for both craft projects and on the human body.

They do impromptu litter cleanups, build EcoBricks with office waste, and educate themselves on proper waste disposal at every available opportunity.