Don’t you just love those lightbulb moments?
We had one recently when pondering how sustainable our literal lights were. Energy consumption aside, we wanted to know what else could be hitting the dimmer switch on our planet—sparking our interest in sustainable lighting.
Most of us don’t give a flicker of thought to the flick of a switch. However, you can brighten up a room in ways that are better for people and our planet. So how many eco-friendly lighting brands does it take to change a lightbulb—or rather change the lighting industry?
That’s a good question and one we don’t have the answer to but what we can provide is this list of companies who are making inroads. Not only do they use responsible materials but also ethical labor and sustainable packaging to light the way.
Rather than feeling around in the dark, in the next few months, we’ll be using our Brand Rating System to better illuminate a brand’s eco-performance against a range of criteria like circularity, and climate impact. We highlight all of these criteria here if you’re curious.
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. We explain this further in our Terms of Use.
The Best Eco-Friendly Lighting For Home & Beyond
Honey & Ivy offers delightfully minimalist chic lamps and lights made of industrially compostable PLA. They’re made in the USA using 3D printing to minimize waste materials.
Or via The Cardboard Boutique’s retro-inspired designs made from—you guessed it—cardboard.
Graypants combines both these recycled and compostable concepts by transforming scrap cardboard into minimalist artisanal lighting fixtures.
Index: Eco-Friendly Lighting Brands
- Honey & Ivy Jump to brand
- Lanna Passa Jump to brand
- The Cardboard Boutique Jump to brand
- Collectiviste Jump to brand
- Burrow Jump to brand
- Graypants Jump to brand
- GOODEE Jump to brand
- Bicycle Glass Co. Jump to brand
- David Trubridge Jump to brand
Honey & Ivy
About Honey & Ivy
Turning 3D printed plastic into sustainable lighting? It can if you use non-toxic, bio-based thermoplastic made from renewable natural resources as Honey & Ivy does.
If you’re looking for desk lamps or bedside lamps, the whimsical shapes and soft mood lighting provided by these lamps may fit the bill. You can custom order the color of the base.
Honey & Ivy’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
All products are made from 100% bio-based PLA (Polylactic Acid). PLA is made from renewable, natural resources including corn starch and tapioca products. While they are compostable, it requires the right industrial composting conditions.
Thankfully it’s also durable so your lamp will last a long time—over which time access to industrial composting facilities will hopefully improve!
Supply chain & labor practices:
All items are designed, 3D-printed, and hand-assembled in Honey & Ivy’s Portland studio in Oregon.
Carbon comittments & green practices:
Honey & Ivy’s lamps are made to order using 3D printing because it eliminates the need for heavy machinery, reduces energy consumption, and minimizes waste.
The lamps can only be used with energy efficient LED bulbs—incandescent bulbs will melt the plastic.
Lanna Passa
About Lanna Passa
Family-run business Lanna Passa offers a selection of homeware, lighting, and textiles that showcase traditional artisan techniques from hill tribes in Northern Thailand
You’ll find upcycled cushion covers made from vintage hill tribe dresses, handspun, indigo-dyed batik fabric, and a range of handwoven lighting solutions. Some of the bamboo pendants are made in the design of traditional fishing baskets and can be shaped (think: concertina-effect) to your liking.
Lanna Passa’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Wiring and bulb hardware aside, Lanna Passa’s lights are 100% handcrafted from bamboo.
Supply chain & labor practices:
This small, family-run business is based in Chiang Mai. They source materials directly from the Hmong & Lisu villages in Northern Thailand.
Carbon comittments & green practices:
Natural materials and traditional artisan production processes help tread more gently on the planet.
The Cardboard Boutique
About The Cardboard Boutique
UK-based small business The Cardboard Boutique draws inspiration from the 60s and 70s as well as Danish design for their collection of environmentally friendly lighting. With a selection of pendant lampshades, table lamps, and standing lamps, you’ll find retro-inspired designs for every room in the house.
The Cardboard Boutique’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
True to its name, The Cardboard Boutique makes lighting fixtures from 100% recycled cardboard. Those in white and yellow are instead made of repurposed Corex (a corrugated plastic), and any hardware is made from steel.
Supply chain & labor practices:
All items are handcrafted in their small Nottingham studio.
Carbon comittments & green practices:
The Cardboard Boutique uses recycled and repurposed materials and believes that “we all have a responsibility to minimise any negative impact whilst trying to maximise positive outcomes”.
Collectiviste
About Collectiviste
UK-based small business Collectivisite has traveled the world seeking global artisans to offer a range of eco-friendly lamps and pendant lights handcrafted from natural materials.
From rattan pendants made in Bali to recycled capiz shell floor lamps made in Java, the brand has an abundance of unique and beautiful ethical lights to offer.
Collectiviste’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Natural, responsible sourced materials like bamboo, oyster shells, and palm fibers are used throughout their collections. The stained glass lamps are made from kiln-fired hand-painted glass.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Collectiviste is a small family business that partners with artisans from around the world including Bali, Columbia, and Java.
Carbon comittments & green practices:
Their lights are made in small batches using traditional artisan production processes. All of Collectiviste’s lamps use efficient LED light bulbs.
Burrow
About Burrow
From sustainable sofas that you can burrow into to beds, shelves, coffee tables, and desks, Burrow is on a mission to “reinvent the way people make themselves at home.”
Think timeless designs combined with modern features like built-in chargers and modular, made-to-expand items that can grow with you. They offer only lamps made by London brand Tala, like the Knuckle lamp, which effortlessly combines modern and vintage vibes.
Burrow’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Materials include heavy grained wood, smoked glass, brass, and porcelain.
Supply chain and labor practices:
Burrow partners with the brand Tala for their lights. Their table lamps are designed in the UK and manufactured in China, but we’re not sure what ethical protections are in place.
Carbon comittments & green practices:
Burrow is committed to reducing waste by making (or in this case choosing to sell) durable, well-made and thoughtfully-designed products that won’t end up in landfills. To avoid unnecessary transport to their warehouse, lighting is shipped directly from their brand partners, fast and free.
Graypants
About Graypants
Based in both Seattle and Amsterdam, design studio Graypants combines a love of design with a solid sustainability ethos. Founders Jon Junker and Seth Grizzle met at architect college—both wearing the same gray pants—and embarked on a foray into product design.
With intricate laser cuts and a warm, inviting glow, you wouldn’t guess that the Scaplights collection is made from recycled corrugated cardboard. In addition to table and floor lamps, you’ll also find pendant lights in unusual shapes reminiscent of beehives.
Graypants’ Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Products in the Scraplights collection are handcrafted from partially recycled (at least 50%) cardboard, held together with non-toxic glue, and treated with a non-toxic fire retardant. You’ll only find natural colorways because they aren’t able to secure recycled cardboard for white and blonde colorways.
Once all hardware is removed, they are compostable. That means these are not suitable as sustainable outdoor lights, in case you were hoping they would illuminate your patio.
The frames on the Scraplights’ lamps are made from brass or powder-coated steel and materials used for other collections include FSC-certified plywood, acrylic, aluminum, and forged iron.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Graypants’ lights are handmade in either Seattle and Amsterdam by makers valued for their work. In the Netherlands, they’ve partnered with a social program for manufacturing, providing meaningful employment to individuals with disabilities.
Carbon comittments & green practices:
The cardboard waste used for their Scraplights is collected locally and the brand is committed to socially and environmentally responsible production.
GOODEE
About GOODEE
GOODEE is a POC-founded one-stop shop for sustainable living. This curated online marketplace is full of furniture, homeware, gifts, and decor from carefully chosen brand partners.
If you’re looking for the best sustainable lighting, Goodee has plenty on offer including lamps, pendants, and outdoor lights. They also sell energy-efficient bulbs by Tala that reduce energy use by 90% and last 10 to 15 times longer than traditional bulbs.
GOODEE’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Because this is a marketplace of many brands you’ll find everything from FSC-certified hardwoods to steel.
For some specific examples, the woven lampshades by PET Lamp are made from a combination of PET recycled plastic bottles and natural plant fibers. Pendants by Golden Editions are handcrafted from Ghanian elephant grass with polished brass fixtures. Tala’s range includes table lamps made from mouth-blown glass.
Supply chain & labor practices:
As a Certified B Corp, GOODEE’s carefully selected brand partners are required to report on their supply chain and labor standard, as well as their ecological footprint. Over half of their partner brands are female-owned and their own leadership team consists of 67% women.
Carbon comittments & green practices:
The company is Climate Neutral Certified through carbon offset programs and uses responsible packaging. They are seeking further ways to make their supply chain more energy efficient, and 100% of their products feature sustainable and ethically-sourced materials.
Bicycle Glass Co.
About Bicycle Glass Co.
Founded by independent glass artists David Royce and Michael Boyd, Bicycle Glass Co. makes beautiful hand-blown glass sustainable lighting solutions
Browse their range of chandeliers, pendants, sconces, and semi-flush mounts that provide an elegant and clean touch to any room.
Bicycle Glass Co.’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
These are made from 100% locally sourced pre-consumer and post-consumer glass waste. If you’re looking for dimmable lights, all models come with a dimmable LED bulb.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Each of these eco-friendly lighting fixtures is individually hand-blown by skilled artisans in Minneapolis. This video shows the captivating process.
Carbon comittments & green practices:
As well as using recycled glass, the Bicycle Glass Co. uses recycled newspapers to help mold the hot glass. All packaging is recycled, recyclable, and compostable. To avoid plastic bubble-wrap, shades are wrapped in Geami paper and old boxes are repurposed into a cardboard lining for shipping.
They’re sold with LED bulbs and the company offsets its electricity usage with wind credits via Xcel Energy’s Windsource Program.
They’ve also installed two beehives on the roof of their Minneapolis office to help pollinate their local area and compost as much as possible in their backyard.
David Trubridge
About David Trubridge
Internationally renowned designer David Trubridge creates sustainable lighting designs inspired by the nature around his New Zealand home.
The light and airy geometric pendant lights are available in different sizes and colors and come as kits for easy self-assembly. Statement styles like the Navicula Pendant are sure to be a major conversation starter in whatever room you decide to place it.
David Trubridge’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
David Trubridge lights use sustainably harvested bamboo or natural birch plywood, both of which are abundant and easy to grow. Other materials include powder-coated aluminum and recyclable nylon clips.
Supply chain & labor practices:
They’re made by a small team in David’s Hawke’s Bay workshop in New Zealand.
Carbon comittments & green practices:
They’re shipped unassembled in a recycled cardboard box, using 1/40th of the amount of packaging needed for the assembled lights.
Jenny is a UK-based sustainability writer and tea-drinker extraordinaire who has a Masters in Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh. Her travels have taken her to organic permaculture farms in the UK and Nepal but you’ll mostly find her working on the veg patch with a garden fork in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. Jenny writes for ethical brands and purpose-powered publications on a broad range of sustainable living and conscious consumerism topics. She is passionate about organic and regenerative farming, nature reconnection, and the small things we can do each day to better care for our planet.
