The HANX Guide to: Easy, Eco-Friendly & Sustainable Swaps

Hot under the collar? Sustainability is a huge focus for us, both as human beings and business owners. As a startup, our big, green vision is sometimes curtailed by unfortunate realities such as gigantic minimum orders of biodegradable materials or legal packing requirements for medical devices. However, we’re keeping the faith (and our responsibly sourced latex) with our long-term goal to operate in a manner that’s as earth-friendly as possible - here’s how we do it right now.

As we go through an uncomfortably warm summer here in the UK, here at HANX HQ, we believe more than ever it’s important to focus on what we personally can do to look after our planet. If you, like us, want to make more easy sustainable swaps in your day-to-day life, we’ve collated some of our favourites below:

Sustainable: Condoms

Of the 10 million condoms produced each year, most will end up in landfill. Not our - our OG, HANX Condoms, are compostable or disposable in household waste, making them an eco-friendly alternative to many mainstream brands which coat their latex in unnecessary chemicals that mean their johnnies will take at least hundreds of years to decompose. Plus, they’re vegan-certified (no animal by-products here), and our ingredients are as-natural-as-possible.

Sustainable: Vibrators

It’s all about the motion of the ocean - literally. We love the look of these Ohhcean (nice) vibrators - the world’s first sex toy range made with ocean-bound plastic, and they’re sure to make a splash. Self&more also stock the Gaia vibrator, which is cost-effective and biodegradable (with discreet shipping to avoid nosey neighbours).

Sustainable: Deodorant

We’re big fans of Fussy (and not just because they were on Dragon’s Den) - sleek, with plastic-free re-fills (made from waste sugarcane!) and natural ingredients, you can feel smug every time you swipe on your deodorant in the morning (or in the evening, we don’t judge).

Sustainable: Chewing Gum

Nuud is another great sustainable life hack. Most people don’t realise that most chewing gum contains plastic (!). Alternative Nuud is plant-based and naturally sweetened for guilt-free chewing.

Sustainable: Period Products

If you’re someone who needs period products, we’d also recommend Dame for their reusable pads, Ohne for their organic tampons and Modibodi for their groundbreaking period pants for easier, eco-friendly periods.

Sustainable: Fashion

Over £140 million worth of textile waste goes to landfill every year, so it’s time to kick the fast fashion habit. It’s true, most of us feel the urge to buy something spesh for a date, wedding or when general wardrobe boredom kicks in. No more - we’ve fought back by shopping fashionable folks’ closets on fashion rental app, By Rotation. Go beyond and expand your mind with our inspo Izzy Manuel, who breaks down everything from the politics of buying new clothes to social media’s impact on our shopping habits - with serious style references.

Sustainable: Household Essentials

Half of the battle is working out how to be more sustainable at home, too. Smol is a firm favourite over here - their washing tablets are great, cost-effective and take the hassle out of a lot of housework. Homethings are also great, with eco-sponges, floor cleaners and the like.

Sustainable: Drinks

NICE wines are a HANX HQ go-to - vegan, female-founded and with recyclable packaging, they’re delicious. Looking for a zero alcohol option? Days Brewing offer incredible alcohol-free beer and lager, and they’re B-Corp certified. Our new discovery is Wasted Wines Club - new South African wines that are surplus as a result of Covid-19.

Sustainable: Coffee

For coffee as delicious as their branding, we recommend Grind - ethically sourced, they help combat the 29,000 non-recyclable coffee pods that go to landfill every minute. Volcano Coffee is also a firm fave, and their pods take just 90 days to fully biodegrade.

Sustainable: Haircare

Nuddy is our latest obsession - shampoo bars that are plastic (and guilt) free, they also have soaps, razor subscriptions and more. If shampoo bars aren’t your thing, fiils have refillable shampoo bottles and recycle your empties for free!

Slide into our DMs and let us know what other sustainable swaps you’re making this year.