Our Favorite Eco-Friendly Finds: March Edition

Every month, Brightly co-founders Laura Wittig and Liza Moiseeva highlight a handful of their favorite eco-friendly finds. They've tried thousands of products throughout their lives, and the ones they choose to spotlight are nothing short of the real deal.

In the latest Good Together podcast, most of the highlighted brands are either women-owned or AAPI-owned. In many cases, both. "We wanted to make sure to highlight AAPI-owned businesses due to the ongoing violence against that community," said Wittig during the episode. "We, at Brightly, are very against hate, violence, and racism. And one way we believe you can support communities is to really vote with your dollars and support the businesses that are owned by this specific community."

Every product Wittig and Moiseeva highlight meets our high standards for sustainability. In addition, they're always something they use and love. Here are seven of their favorites this month.

7 March Eco-Friendly Finds

Want more eco-friendly finds? After scrolling through the picks below, listen to the podcast to discover even more brands.

1. Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp, $15

Why Laura Loves It: "This is an AAPI-owned company. It's amazing. The chili crisp is similar to a chili oil that would be on the table at your favorite Asian restaurant. But this one is so much more flavorful. It's kind of on the expensive side, but you don't really need very much of it. And it's so good in ramen. I mean, it's good in everything. I'm obsessed with this stuff... like, I need to buy a case of it."

2. Ettitude Signature Sateen Pillowcase Set, $40

Why Liza Loves It: "You've heard us interview the founders of this company, Kat and Phoebe. It's both woman-owned and AAPI-owned. They have amazing bamboo bedding, as well as robes and towels, and they even rolled out some baby clothes and pajamas. So I love them. They even call their pillows beauty pillows, because bamboo is really good for your skin. When you have materials that are touching your skin, you want them to be natural, right?"

3. Cocokind Turmeric Tonic, $11

Why Laura Loves It: "Cocokind is another AAPI company we wanted to highlight. The reason why I like this product is because you can use it under makeup. It's a great spot treatment that's good to use for acne. As you feel a bump coming up, there's a fun roller applicator you can use to put it on, and then you put your makeup over the treatment. Again, packaging is always something we want to be cognizant of. The packaging on this is probably not the best thing ever, because it's got the roller, but I love this product. It's awesome."

4. Rooted NYC Air Plant, $25

Why Liza Loves It: "I want to give a shoutout to my one of my favorite things I discovered a few years ago: air plants. I love them. They're amazing. I have my few sets of air plants at home in beautiful glass bubbles that you can hang from your ceiling. If you don't have access within your local community to buy air plants, Rooted NYC is an AAPI-owned business to shop. They'll liven up your space at home for sure."

5. Opus Mind Backpack, $195

Why Laura Loves It: "When you're traveling to the grocery store or traveling somewhere far, a backpack is always needed. And one that I personally love and I've used for a few years now is a backpack by a brand called Opus Mind. I received this backpack as a gift from the founder, Kathleen Kuo. It's made of recycled leather, which I love. She's using sort of a proprietary process that takes leather scraps, kind of mashes them up together, and makes them into what looks like one continuous piece of leather. It's beautiful."

6. Marley's Monsters Unpaper Towels + Holder, $84

Why Liza Loves It: "Marley's Monsters are famous for their Unpaper Towels. They're made from a very soft material and you can just throw them into the laundry or wash them by hand. They've helped me kind of curb my paper towel consumption. And I was super, super pleased to find out that they're another women-owned business, too."

7. Ordinary Habit Puzzle, $20

Why Laura Loves It: "The founders of a company called Ordinary Habit reached out to Liza and I to see if we wanted to try their puzzles. They partner with artists to create these beautiful designs for the puzzles. You can actually sit down, do the puzzle, and then glue it and frame it, which I think is really cool. The puzzles themselves are made out of recycled materials. It's kind of fun to be able to do something that's tactile and is something that, of course, is a little bit kinder to the environment."