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Celebrating Earth Day 2021

Happy Earth Day! While we’re missing the big events of pre-pandemic days, we’re very happy that our stores are open once again for Earth Day 2021. This year we have an in-store event, some special savings, and we’ve created an Earth Friendly Collection of items you’ll find in our stores. And we’re highlighting a few of our most environmentally sustainable brands.

Smartwool Wants Your Old Socks!

It’s true! Smartwool wants your thinning, holey, worn out socks! Here’s how it works. From April 21st through May 2nd, you can bring your clean, tired socks to your local Whole Earth store and place them in a special sock collection bin. Not only will you have the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve helped the planet by keeping the socks out of the landfill, you’ll also receive a $5 Whole Earth coupon you can use in store or online. One coupon per person for the duration of the sock drive, please. During the sock drive, Whole Earth will also be offering a special deal on Smartwool socks – buy three pairs get one free! Learn more.

Green Toys 20% Off!

Earth Day and Green Toys were made for each other. They’re an eco-friendly company that believes that every day is Earth Day. And from Monday, April 19th through Monday, April 26th you can save 20% on Green Toys! The company makes colorful toys for small children that spark imaginative play. They offer a full complement of transportation toys, construction vehicles, boats, airplanes and a submarine, as well as a tea set, a wagon, and even a recycling truck. All of these toys are made in the US with recycled milk jugs. They’ve used over 106 million so far. By using recycled plastic, Green Toys diverts materials from landfills, saves energy, and reduces our carbon footprint. Even their packaging in 100% recyclable. Green Toys are tough and ready to play outdoors or inside. And if they need a cleaning, pop them in your dishwasher.

Sunday Afternoons Hats 30% Off!

Sunday Afternoons makes hats for infants, children, men and women. And for three days only, Wednesday, April 21st through Friday, April 23rd, take 30% off all Sunday Afternoons hats, in-store and online! The company is actively working to improve their supply chain, materials, and practices for environmental sustainability and social responsibility. This family owned business offers a variety of styles made from 100% recycled polyester main body fabrics. The recycled polyester is high-performing and sourced from post-consumer recycled material made from plastic bottles. Sunday Afternoons also offers fashion hats for all seasons for men and women and sun protection hats for all ages.

Earth Friendly Collection

At Whole Earth we’re always on the lookout for quality, innovation and sustainability in the products we offer our customers. For Earth Day, we’ve put together a collection of clothing, shoes and more from some of our Earth Friendly brands. These are companies that are actively working to improve the quality and sustainability of their products.

Many are members of bluesign® , an organization that provides guidance for responsible and sustainable manufacturing of textiles. Many use organic fabrics, recycled wool and down, and environmentally responsible dyes and fabric treatments. They also use recycled polyester, including recycled plastic water bottles, and abide by fair trade practices when items are manufactured offshore. Certified B Corporations are businesses that balance purpose and profit. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. When shopping, these are some of the names to look for when you want your purchases to align with your ideals.  

Patagonia

Patagonia, a certified B Corporation, is the gold standard for sustainability. They source basic materials that have been produced according to strict environmental standards including the humane treatment of animals and the safety of workers, as well as adopting bluesign® standards to make the textile manufacturing process itself as environmentally sound as possible. Patagonia is also a Fair Trade Certified company that monitors the facilities where products are produced, assuring that there are safe, fair, legal and humane working conditions throughout the supply chain. Patagonia also gives 1% for the Planet to support environmental nonprofits working to defend the air, land and water around the globe. In Texas, Enchanted Rock has been among the recipients of 1% for the Planet funds. 

prAna

From its beginning in 1992, prAna has focused on sustainably made clothing. As they see it, sustainability is part of their DNA. With their Clothing for Positive Change initiative, they look at all aspects of the process of making clothing.  Starting with design, they take into consideration the raw materials used and their sources, how the materials and the finished pieces are made, and the well-being of those who made the materials and assembled the clothing. prAna is deeply concerned that their processes respect the planet and its people, and so they’re committed to making on-going change in the way their clothing is made and working with organizations like Fair Trade, bluesign®, Responsible Wool and Responsible Down. And from Fall 2021 onward, 100% of prAna styles will have plastic-free packaging! This is a big deal. While you may not see the plastic, when clothing shipments arrive at our warehouse, most are packaged in plastic bags. Hats off to prAna for reducing their plastic footprint!

Toad&Co

Toad&Co is joining the movement toward circularity. A circular economy is focused on minimizing the use of finite resources by using the three Rs: repair, reuse and recycle. Rather than wasting resources, they’re funneled back into the system instead of becoming trash in a landfill. The circular model helps reduce environmental impacts by using organic materials, recycled fibers, and other high-quality materials known for low impact growing and clean manufacturing.  Toad&Co is a founding member of the Renewal Workshop, a group that washes, repairs and renews your old Toad&Co clothing you no longer need to get it back in the circular economy. Their goal is to keep one million pounds of clothing repaired, reused, recycled and out of the landfill by 2025. They’ll even help you with your next closet clean out. Partnering with thredUP, you can send women’s and kids' clothing (from any brand) to give them a second life.

CamelBak

CamelBak is committed to sustainability.  By 2025, the goal is for all their products to be designed to reduce their climate impact and to be made with the safest materials using the rubric of Reformulate, Reuse, Rethink, Repackage and Reduce. They’re reformulating the materials and processes that go into crafting their products to make them long-lasting and sustainable, and reusing materials through recycling. By rethinking the specifications of their products, they’re making it easier to repair and reuse them, and they’re repackaging items using minimalist designs made with recycled materials. All these elements together help to reduce their impact by preserving resources and diminishing waste.  And CamelBak's Supplier Social Responsibility Code sets expectations for the safety and well-being for people and the environment all along the supply chain.

We hope this 51st Earth Day will be an opportunity for all of us to reflect on how our actions large and small impact the planet. At Whole Earth, we'll continue our search for products and companies that will help us all live up to our ideals for environmentally conscious living.