7 Sustainable Belts That Won’t Take A Notch Out Of Nature
Low-quality materials hit the planet below the belt.
Fortunately, these sustainable belts can hold up the environment, social causes, and your jeans.
High-quality sustainable accessories made from durable and eco-friendly materials help put an end to fast fashion and keep you looking sharp.
We’ve made your job easy and found the best brands to help you add a few notches to your eco-friendly belt in supporting the environment.
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Suit Up With Eco-Friendly Belts For Suits & Sustainability
Patagonia checks all the boxes with vegan and sustainable belts that utilize 100% recycled nylon to create flexible belts perfect for travel and active use.
While not vegan, the accessories from Nisolo uses only Leather Working Group-certified cow leather that’s sourced as a byproduct and tanned using lower impact methods.
Don’t get caught with your pants down! Head over to the bottom of the article to find out how we found these brands.
The Full List Of Ethical & Sustainable Belts
- Matt & Nat | Visit Store
- Patagonia | Visit Store
- Nisolo | Visit Store
- Elvis & Kresse | Visit Store
- NAE | Visit Store
- Unbelts | Visit Store
- ASKET | Visit Store
1. Matt & Nat
About Matt & Nat
Price Range: $35–$50
Though a well-known PETA-approved vegan shoe brand, Matt & Nat can outfit you in vegan boots and belts alike.
If you think making the most durable belts means making something boring, think again.
Their chic and classic styles offer an edgy twist, like zipper detailing or a statement buckle, as seen in the Path Belt.
They primarily cater to women, but you will find some unisex styles that function as sustainable men’s belts.
Matt & Nat’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Matt & Nat’s most sustainable belts are those in the Purity line, their first line to replace PVC vegan leather with a PVB (polyvinyl butyral) leather made from 100% recycled windshield glass resin and PU.
We suggest avoiding the rest of the belts made from PVC leather, until Matt & Nat fully replaces it with PVB and other innovative vegan fabrics, like fruit skin fibers—so let’s hope for a banana-skin belt in the future.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Matt & Natt employs local ethical managers, and the CEO visits each factory 2-3 times per year to ensure they adhere to their ethical standards.
The brand is audited twice yearly, ensuring fair working conditions and wages.
One of their factories operates using the SA8000 standard, and Matt & Nat hopes to employ this standard across their entire supply chain.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Matt & Nat has a straightforward goal: “to become fully sustainable by 2023.”
While they have made progress with the Purity line, we would love to see more eco-friendly material innovation, as well as a more precise definition of “fully sustainable”—especially considering how short the timeline is for this goal.
Community & charitable giving:
The primary office in Montreal is a “cruelty-free zone” and hosts monthly vegetarian potlucks and vegan desserts to celebrate birthdays.
Matt & Nat encourages customers to donate used handbags to Dress for Success, while 100% of profits from the HOPE Charity Bag are donated to various organizations.
2. Patagonia
About Patagonia
Price Range: $29–$39
A top-tier sustainable outdoor clothing brand, it only makes sense that Patagonia’s belts are engineered for active and outdoor use.
Made of burly, high-denier nylon, these belts are designed to hold up (your pants) for years.
Despite their durability, they’re super flexible and easy to roll up, making them ideal sustainable belts for travel.
Did we mention they’re flexible in aesthetics too? Available in classic black and brown alongside multicolored designs, you could wear your workout belt to actual work and no one would be the wiser.
Patagonia’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
All three styles—which differ slightly in buckle design and width—feature the same 100% recycled nylon webbing body.
The buckles are made of anodized, anti-corrosive aluminum, cleverly shaped so that it doubles as a bottle opener.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Patagonia’s eco-friendly belts are all Fair Trade Certified sewn, along with 86% of their overall line.
Patagonia is also a core member of the Fair Labor Association (FLA) through which customers can know exactly where each of their products are made. And every product page contains links that take you to detailed factory profiles for that item.
The belts, for instance, are made in one of three factories in Vietnam.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Patagonia’s recycled belts aren’t a one-off product. They join 94% of Patagonia products utilizing recycled plastic and other recycled materials. So far, they’ve transformed 900 tons of plastic into something new.
Continuing the recycling chain, they buy back any old Patagonia pieces to either be recycled into new garments or resold via Worn Wear.
Products come with a lifetime repair or replacement guarantee (and we can say from experience they mean it—no disqualifying fine print), and the brand is spearing the regenerative agriculture certification movement.
Inclusivity:
While they fall under the men’s category on Patagonia’s website, they’re completely unisex and, at 46.5″ long, fit waists up to 42″.
Community & charitable giving:
As a co-founder of 1% for the Planet, Patagonia continually goes above and beyond to give back to the environment.
They’ve now gone so far as to reinvest ALL profits and stocks into the care of two funds: one dedicated to making Patagonia more sustainable and the other to directly fight climate change.
3. Nisolo
About Nisolo
Price Range: $60–$70
From women’s flats to eco-friendly woven belts, there isn’t a part of the body that Nisolo can’t accessorize.
The Nashville-based Certified B Corp uses guiding ethical principles to create timeless pieces that will forever have a place in your minimalist wardrobe.
For the waist, that means a simple selection of smooth leather or woven textured belts in equally classic black and brown tones.
You’ll find identical styles on their line of eco-friendly men’s belts designed to better fit men’s waistlines.
Nisolo’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Nisolo has embraced leather as a sustainable material when it’s made and processed responsibly.
Their sustainable leather belts (along with 95% of their line) are LWG certified, meaning their tanneries are evaluated for traceability, environmental impact, health, safety, and energy consumption.
One hundred percent of Nisolo’s leather is a byproduct of the cattle meat industry, though they’re investigating non-animal leather offerings for the future.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Nisolo’s Tier 1 factories are committed to their Code of Conduct, ensuring “100% living wages”, ethical working conditions, and equal treatment—and by founding the Lowest Wage Challenge, they’re encouraging other fashion brands to do the same.
All of their factories (in the USA, Peru, Mexico, and Kenya) provide benefits like healthcare, paid time off, and financial bonuses. Many locations also offer professional development training and opportunities for continued education.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
As part of their 0% Net Carbon commitment, this Climate Neutral Certified brand measures (and publishes) the emissions generated by each sector of business, before offsetting them completely through verified conservation projects.
Leather isn’t the most sustainable material, but this repairable shoe brand ensures its durability of all its accessories by providing leather cleaning kits and education on maintenance.
They also resell flawed and damaged goods at discounted rates to reduce waste and are in the process of creating a Resale program and Repair strategy.
Community & charitable giving:
Nisolo encourages customers to recycle and dispose of their products responsibly via their Shoe Reclamation Program with Soles4Souls.
4. Elvis & Kresse
About Elvis & Kresse
Price Range: $43–$97
Elvis & Kresse’s innovative product line echoes the King’s words: “Do something worth remembering.”
Through traditional craftsmanship and ingenious designs, they create ethical belts, wallets, handbags, and other sustainable pieces for both men and women.
Elvis & Kresse’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Elvis & Kresse has elevated sustainable belts with their collection of pieces made from innovative materials, like fire hoses, printing blankets, and recycled leather.
The Big Yellow Belt is constructed from retired fire hoses after 25 years of service in the London Fire Brigade. The material softens over time while retaining strength and durability.
Other items, like the Fire & Hide Belt, are constructed with high-quality leather scraps from the Burberry Foundation.
Supply chain & labor practices:
As a UK Certified B Corp and Living Wage Foundation member, the brand ensures fair wages and does not tolerate unfair treatment of their workers in either their local Kent or Istanbul workshops.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Everything this sustainable wallet and accessories brand does is reclaimed, including packaging made from tea sacks, tea bag paper, and recycled shoe boxes.
They manufacture goods using renewable energy, and all of their items are backed with a lifetime repair guarantee.
Community & charitable giving:
Elvis & Kresse donates 50% of their profits to charities like The Fire Fighters Charity and The Costa Foundation.
They also give 50% of their profits from the Fire & Hide Collection to Barefoot College, an organization dedicated to training female solar engineers, entrepreneurs, and educators across the world.
5. NAE
About NAE
Price Range: $38–$75
NAE has a simple guiding principle: “No Animal Exploitation.”
Their product line of vegan shoes, belts, bags, wallets and other accessories is 100% vegan and PETA-approved.
You’d never guess, considering the real, full grain leather look mimicked by the vegan materials in their Vegan Belt. All the classic style with none of the cruelty.
NAE’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
NAE creates sustainable belts that mimic various leather textures using a mix of microfibers, including cotton (though we’re not sure if it’s organic cotton), polyester, and usually recycled nylon.
Whether you pick a braided style or one of their eco-friendly microfiber suede men’s leather belts, rest assured knowing its OEKO-TEX certification promises a hypoallergenic, toxin-free tightening.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Protected by Europe’s stringent ethical standards, NAE ensures their four factories in Portugal and two in Spain follow strict Hygiene, Health, and Safety Protocols and their Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
This vegan store creates all pieces using a carbon-neutral and water and chemical conserving manufacturing methods
Community & charitable giving:
Protecting animals and ecosystems by doing more than making vegan and sustainable belts, NAE has a history of donating to organizations like Sea Shepherd.
6. Unbelts
About Unbelts
Price Range: $59–$135
Unbelts puts workers first, with dedication to dignified working conditions, quality jobs, living wages, and fair treatment.
Items like the Intrepid Belt are stretchy, comfortable, and made from entirely recycled materials.
The Lifetime Guarantee for free repairs and replacements is the icing on the cake for these women’s and men’s eco-friendly belts that come in unisex sizes and styles.
Unbelts’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Unbelts makes the only kind of acceptable men’s and women’s plastic belts—the recycled kind.
Their sustainable belts are made from recycled polyester and elastic from recycled water bottles.
Supply chain & labor practices:
All products include information on where it was made, usually in their Edmonton, Alberta studio.
For those made in other partner factories, Unbelts ensures their partners provide all employees living wages and safe working conditions. Their component partners receive annual audits and twice-annual visits.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Unbelt extends its pieces’ lifetimes by providing free repairs and replacements for life.
They also plan to re-introduce their belt buyback program and secondhand Unbelt marketplace.
The sustainable fashion brand also avoids unnecessary features and excess materials in its designs, including shipping materials.
Community & charitable giving:
Unbelts donates at least 5% of its annual inventory to community initiatives, and every team member receives paid time off for community service.
They also donate $15 to Shades of Colour for every Prairie Fruit Arts Intrepid Belt sold.
7. ASKET
About ASKET
Price Range: $80
ASKET makes all things men, from underwear to overcoats and everything in between.
Their collection of eco-friendly men’s dress belts is handcrafted with transparent details on where it came from.
ASKET’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
What are men’s vegan belts made of?
In ASKET’s case, they’re made from soft and durable Italian-made elastic from cotton/viscose/natural rubber blends.
Some, like the Braided ASKET sustainable belt, also include\ bio-leather trim from 75% bio-based polyurethane and 25% viscose fabric.
Supply chain & labor practices:
ASKET has a Full Traceability standard and is committed to publishing its list of suppliers and manufacturers, which are regularly visited and WRAP, SA8000, OEKO-TEX, and/or GOTS-certified.
All eco-friendly suit belts are specifically cut and braided in an artisanal studio in Florence, Italy.
Each ASKET product includes an Impact Receipt, displaying the cost, traceability, CO2 emissions, and where it was processed, sewed, laundered, dyed, and milled.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
For shipping, ASKET avoids air transport, uses reusable materials, and has a proprietary tool to help customers find the right pieces to reduce returns.
They also create slow fashion pieces with end-of-life in mind, providing repair and recycling programs, alongside selling garment care kits—only adding to the longevity of these already durable men’s belts.
Reducing their carbon footprint doesn’t stop at company operations, either. ASKET employees receive five additional vacation days if they travel by train instead of plane.
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How We Found The Best Eco-Friendly Belts
Slow fashion doesn’t stop at sweatshirts and pants—it includes accessories made from sustainable materials, too.
When it comes to something as essential as keeping our pants up, we don’t want to entrust such an important job to cheap belts.
What are cheap belts made of?
Bonded leather glued together, synthetic materials like polyester, nylon, polyurethane, and PVC plastic are common materials—which is a fast (fashion) recipe for belting the planet.
To find the best sustainable belt brands, we tightened our belts and our expectations of the fashion industry with our sustainable and ethical fashion.
Materials:
Animal leather rarely makes our list of sustainable fabrics, and when we did consider sustainable leather belts, we ensured it met standards of sustainable ethical leather sourced from recycled leather off cuts or naturally tanned byproduct hides.
What about if you’re vegan? What is the alternative for leather belts?
Vegan belts are designed to mimic the look and feel of real leather without any animal products, though that can mean more or less sustainable materials.
Recycled and biodegradable materials like kraft paper, cork fabric, and Piñatex are at the top of our list.
If synthetic fabrics are all that’s offered, polyurethane (PU) leather is the best choice, but it isn’t as sustainable due to the fact that it is a type of plastic.
Due to its toxic nature and terrible end-of-life prospect, we avoid PVC (polyvinyl chloride).
- Certifications: Leather Working Group (LWG), Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), OEKO-TEX, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Global Recycle Standard (GRS)
Supply chain and labor practices:
Sustainable fashion brands with transparent details about wages, working environments, and where their products are made are our favorites.
Living wages, safe working conditions, and local manufacturing are equally important.
All the better if our eco-friendly formal belts come with formal manufacturing certifications.
- Certifications: Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), fair trade, B Corporation, Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), Social Accountability International (SA8000)
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Durable belts that last a lifetime are critical to avoiding fast fashion. Brands that champion circularity through recycling programs and lifetime repairs do right by our books.
As much as we like seeing carbon offset programs, it’s time for the vegan gloves to come off and for brands to do more than just counter their carbon. They need to start reducing it altogether, like using clean energy, efficient manufacturing, and regenerative agriculture.
Community & charitable giving:
Brands that give back to social and environmental causes are excellent, and some of these sustainable fashion brands go above and beyond by contributing as much as 50% of profits to charity.
Final Thoughts On Sustainable & Ethical Belts
Holding up your pants and the environment isn’t easy, but these sustainable and ethical belt brands get the job done.
High-quality belts made from recycled, biodegradable and sustainable materials can last for years—but until you notch one of these around your waist, keep using your old trusty belt hanging in your cupboard. Assuming it’s still functional, of course.
If it’s not, scope out secondhand options from online thrift stores before buying new.
Either way, be sure to dispose of your old belt responsibly.
Which can be fairly tricky. For example, old leather belts are not actually biodegradable. Not really anyway.
Leather is technically a natural fabric, but given how tough and durable it is, it will not break down in a timely manner in either home or industrial composting environments—-especially if treated with chemicals and synthetic additives.
Try to repurpose it instead using DIY belt crafts.
Do you have a friend who needs a new eco-friendly dress belt?
Send them this list, so they can add a notch to their belt in supporting the environment.
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