Pride Month is not the only reason to celebrate eco-friendly LGBTQ+ owned businesses, but it is a good time to.
It’s hard to imagine, but two decades ago, there weren’t so many gay business owners who were out and proud. Most other gay-owned businesses simply fade into the background.
But with progress, more gay-owned businesses are coming out. And not just in the fashion industry but in others as well. Here are the top LGBTQ+ owned businesses that deserve more love this year.
1. Otherwilde
Otherwild by Marley’s Monsters is a queer-identified, woman-owned shop. The store focuses on zero-waste items, artisan jewelry, clothes, housewares, and natural cleansers.
Their “Unpaper Towels” are an eco-friendly, cost-effective alternative to disposable paper towels. These are 10 by 12-inch single-ply clothes and are made of cotton flannel. Thus, they naturally cling together, and the serge-seamed edges prevent fraying.
2. Boy Smells
Boy Smells was founded by real-life husband-and-husband team Matthew Herman and David Kien. The 5-year-old brand now offers a large range of eco-friendly products.
Their products include over 16 unique perfume and cologne fragrances and a line of naturally colored underwear. Products are made from organic, responsibly-sourced ingredients. These include basil, fig, sage, sandalwood, and spices.
3. Ladyfingers Letterpress
Ladyfingers Letterpress specializes in personalized stationery, rubber stamps, and invitations. Their handmade goods are manufactured locally and sustainably. The business also partners up with local environmental organizations for other green causes.
They have a large collection of unique, yet amusing, honest, and emotional greeting cards. Some of these cards are rare finds in other stores, including same-sex wedding invitations.
4. Arcane Swim
Queer-owned Arcane Swim has beautiful bikinis and one-piece swimsuits for summer. In its business approach, the company promotes environmental activities such as employing eco-products in new apparel and giving excess materials to animal shelters in need.
The swimsuits are attractive, eco-friendly, and comfortable. They are made from Amni Soul Eco, the world’s first biodegradable nylon fabric. The company also ships products via carbon-neutral shipping and biodegradable envelopes.
5. Zero Grocery
Zuleyka is a trans woman who founded and runs Zero Grocery, a plastic-free supermarket. Zero Grocery has locations in both the Bay Area and Los Angeles. The company’s goal: show that you can get whatever you want without affecting the environment.
The store sells everything from fresh products to delectable pastries. The green shop is a smart way to save time and money on shopping for organic goods.
6. Noto Skincare
Noto is a charity-focused and queer-owned skincare brand. Their products bring an immediate glow to your skin and smell amazing.
Take care of your skin with Noto Botanics’ all-natural, vegan, and cruelty-free skincare products. Their bottles are handcrafted from glass or recycled polymers. Even their packaging is biodegradable.
7. Suay Sew Shop
Textile waste is less of environmental concern, especially in fast fashion, thanks to the Los Angeles-based Suay Sew Shop. The brand recovers items and upcycles fabrics to create gorgeous home products and elegant garments.
Founded in Los Angeles in 2017, Suay Sew Shop is an ethically sourced gay-owned home goods and apparel store. By using a green manufacturing technique, Suay has saved 500,000 lbs of garment waste from landfills since 2017.
8. Automic Gold
Automic Gold is a queer-owned company that produces radically ethical and cheap jewelry. The SCS has certified its 100%-recycled materials. Each item is created in New York City by professional goldsmiths.
The brand is self-funded and focuses on promoting body-positivity outside of environmental causes. They hire size-inclusive, non-cis, and non-white models and hire all year, not only during awareness months.
9. Fluide
Fluide is a queer-owned cosmetics brand that makes makeup for every gender. Isabella Giancarlo and Laura Kraber co-founded this radical, community-based beauty company in 2018. Their goal: they wanted to see queer beauty represented by queer people.
Fluide’s inventory includes items for different gender expressions, identities, and skin tones. Their cosmetics are cruelty-free, glitter-free, and devoid of potentially hazardous ingredients like parabens and formaldehyde.
10. Arium Botanicals
The Portland-based company sells handcrafted ceramics and houseplants, including some very rare ones.
Arium Botanicals is a gay, Latinx, vegan-owned company that promotes environmental sustainability. The plants are supplied responsibly from recognized nurseries in the United States. They will come to you packed in recyclable or biodegradable materials.
11. Steer Queer
Steer Queer was founded by Cat Conley, a gender-fluid jewelry artist, in December 2013. The store is based in Pittsburgh as a quarterly queer art and literature journal.
The shop is crammed with zines, LGBT jewelry, vintage knick-knacks, and other goodies. Fans of their products praise the craftsmanship in some of the wooden rings as being perfect.
12. Diaspora Co.
Diaspora Co. will spice up your life. This queer-owned firm is striving to improve the spice trade. They acquire the spices directly from their partner farmers, paying them six times the commodity price,
The store began in late 2016. The owner, Sana wanted to make the turmeric latte, but couldn’t find any affordable ones. This inspires her to start a fairer and more regionally rooted spice business, by obtaining turmeric from a small family farm in India. As a popular one-stop coupon site, Tenere proudly stands with these eco-friendly LGBTQ+ owned businesses. You can easily look for coupons for these shops, and more, in our database. Each time you shop via Tenere, you contribute to global reforestation efforts.
