What makes for good sustainable snacks? It depends on who you ask. To some, the most delicious snack is a fresh fruit salad on a sunny day. To others, sea salt potato chips on the couch does the trick.
Personally, we think the best snacks are those that are ethically sourced from sustainable food systems and are contained in sustainable food packaging.
Despite the plastic-happy, GMO-saturated grocery industry doing the exact opposite, it isn’t actually too hard to find eco snacks that fit that criteria and taste amazing, too. This roundup is a case in point.
Whether you have a sweet tooth or you prefer something salty, good snacks are worth going nuts about, and to find the most sustainable of them, we’ll be using our new Brand Rating System in the coming months by looking at a range of eco-related criteria, including climate impact and water use. See our explainer here for more on this new selection system.
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.
Index: Eco-Friendly Snacks
- Bulk Snacks Jump to brand
- Patagonia Jump to brand
- Nature’s Path Jump to brand
- One Degree Organic Foods Jump to brand
- ReGrained Jump to brand
- Barnana Jump to brand
- Cartwright & Butler Jump to brand
Bulk Snacks
Finding snacks without plastic packaging can be difficult, even among the most sustainable snack brands. This is because consumer health and safety regulations require complete airtight sealing.
So if you’re looking for truly zero waste snacks, bulk is your best bet. If you have a bulk aisle in your local grocery store, always check there first. In addition to baking necessities and dry pantry staples, they usually offer plenty of snackable items like nuts, seeds, dried fruit, granola, and candy.
Not only do these come without packaging, but you’ll find many qualify as overall sustainable foods, too.
Be sure to bring your own container—having its empty tare weight on hand so you don’t pay for that—like recycled glass jars or other plastic-free food storage containers.
Patagonia
Patagonia Provisions offers ethically-sourced snacks such as dried fruit, sprouted almond butter, and packaged soups with bags that double the cooking pot and bowl all-in-one, designed for eco-friendly camping and other to-go uses.
They also offer high protein snacks from ethical meat sources, like grass-fed free-range bison jerky, smoked venison sausage links, and canned fish that are either wild-caught or from self-sustaining fish hatcheries. All products are Non-GMO Project-verified, containing USDA-certified organic ingredients without synthetic preservatives or chemicals.
Packaging consists of BPA-free recyclable fish tins (an alternative to those non-recyclable tuna packets), glass jars, and compostable cardboard. Their meal pouches do not fall into the compostable or recyclable packaging category, but they’re working to find better solutions.
Patagonia Provisions partners with vendors that support small, family-run businesses like The Regenerative Organic Alliance and The Wild Fish Conservancy, and some items are Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC). That means this Certified B Corp supports food produced in ways that build soil health, as well as those that ensure animal welfare and protect agricultural workers through fair trade practices.
As an offshoot of the legendary sustainable outdoor clothing brand and founder of 1% for the Planet, Patagonia, at least 1% of their revenue goes toward environmental nonprofits.
Nature’s Path
You’ve probably seen these in your local health food store. This family-owned business was the first USDA certified organic cereal on the market.
Nature’s Path Organic supplies delicious breakfast foods in the form of organic cereals, oats, and waffles, with more portable snacks that include granola, pastries, and tortilla chips. All with ultra-minimal, organic, and whole ingredients—no artificial preservatives, added sugar or flavor, or unsustainable seed oils.
They are actively working on sustainable packaging for snacks, aiming to make all of their packaging plastic-free, reusable, recyclable, or compostable. You can also find many of their products in grocery bulk sections and health food stores around the country.
Nature’s Path invests in the environment by supporting regenerative agriculture. They created the world’s first Regenerative Organic Certified instant oatmeal, just the beginning of their regenerative snack regime.
Nature’s Path offsets their electric bills in their packaging facilities with renewable energy credits that support green energy products and part of their proceeds are also invested into organic research and collaborative partnerships such as Non-GMO Project and National Organic Coalition.
One Degree Organic Foods
One Degree Organic Foods’ granola, cereal, oats, bread, and flour are made from wholesome ingredients sourced from 100% traceable, wholesome farms, of course.
Each snack has a QR code that can be used to trace back ingredients to specific farmers. The owners personally source from farm, co-op, and processing facilities to ensure ingredients align with their values. They only work with small farmers and producers who use organic, sustainable, and plant-based farming methods, and prioritize producers dedicated to reducing water consumption.
Their organic ingredients are Non-GMO Project verified, third-party Glyphosatem tested, and free from artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives.
ReGrained
ReGrained is a cutting-edge food lab rescuing spent grain typically discarded during the sustainable beer brewing process. The upcycled grain is loaded with fiber, protein, and functional benefits, with over three times the fiber and twice the protein of whole wheat flour.
The nutritious super grain is incorporated into baking mixes, pasta, sustainable popcorn-like puffs, and bars. Super grain banana bread, anyone?
Since their products are made out of otherwise “spent” ingredients, theirsnacks reduce food waste and have a low carbon footprint. Every pound of ReGrained prevents the carbon dioxide equivalent of burning one pound of coal and saves over 300 gallons of water.
ReGrained is working with OSC2 Packaging Collaborative to develop compostable packaging as an packaging alternative to petroleum-based plastic, reducing their environmental impact further.
Barnana
Barnana creates delicious plant-based sustainable snacks out of bananas that are considered imperfect, overripe, or damaged. This brand reduces food waste by repurposing fruit that would otherwise be thrown out. It’s truly something to go bananas over.
Their sustainable snacks include plantain chips, tortilla chips, and chewy banana bites.
As a Certified B Corp, they support indigenous family farmers by helping them become certified organic, support fair trade standards, and purchase their organic produce 30% over the market price. They are also actively working to replace their current packaging with recyclable packaging, but for now, encourage consumers to share inspiration on how to repurpose their packaging.
Cartwright & Butler
For those whose office snacks consist of a little afternoon sugar pick-me-up, Cartwright & Butler is a UK-based luxury biscuit brand that partners with local farmers and sources from ethical-vendors. Their collection includes chocolate, crumble, and shortbread biscuits. They also specialize in savory biscuits, crackers, fudge, and luxury nuts.
Packaging consists of reusable tins and jars, compostable cardboard boxes, and some traditional wrappers (accounting for 3% of total packaging).
They are actively working to make all products palm-oil free and strive for a more circular economy by partnering with Too Good To Go, a movement that prevents food waste by connecting businesses that have surplus food to consumers in need.
To become carbon-neutral, Cartwright and Butler offsets some of their carbon footprint. In partnership with Ecologi, trees are planted each month to reduce CO2 emissions by over 52 tons.
