7 Businesses That Practice Sustainability to Watch in 2026

Global renewable energy capacity reached 3.8 terawatts in 2023, more than triple the level in 2010. That matters for e-commerce more than most merchants realize. It signals that sustainability has moved out of the brand-story bucket and into the operating system of modern business.

For businesses that practice sustainability, the main win isn't just cleaner materials or better packaging. It's retention. Customers come back when a brand gives them a reason to believe their purchase has a longer life, a clearer impact, or a stronger set of values than the next option in the feed. That's why the best sustainable brands don't treat eco-initiatives as side campaigns. They build them into resale, repair, replenishment, trade-ins, memberships, and cause-driven purchasing.

The strategy offers value to merchants. Sustainability works best when it creates a repeatable customer behavior, not just a nice first impression. A take-back program gets a second purchase. Transparent labeling reduces hesitation. Refill systems create cadence. Donations tied to each order can turn buyers into advocates. If you're working on retention, start with this eCommerce customer loyalty guide.

1. Patagonia

Patagonia remains one of the clearest examples of a brand using sustainability to deepen loyalty instead of just polish brand perception. Its core advantage isn't that it says the right things. It's that customers can act on the mission through repair, resale, and long-term product ownership.

Worn Wear is the retention engine. When a shopper trades in gear, buys certified used items, or repairs a jacket instead of replacing it with a competitor's product, Patagonia keeps the relationship alive well beyond the first checkout. That's a very different model from the standard apparel brand chasing repeat purchases through new drops alone.

Why the model holds retention

Patagonia makes durability part of the customer experience. That changes the loyalty equation. Buyers don't just trust the product more. They trust the brand to support the product after the sale.

Practical rule: If you want sustainability to improve retention, attach it to a customer action such as repair, trade-in, warranty support, or resale credit.

For merchants, the lesson is simple:

• Extend ownership: A repair or restoration option gives customers a reason to return without requiring a markdown.
• Create circular re-entry: Trade-ins keep old products from becoming churn.
• Reward the right behavior: Sustainable incentives work better when they're tied to a loyalty loop, as shown in these sustainable rewards examples.

The trade-off is obvious. Patagonia's pricing sits above mass-market outdoor apparel, and used inventory depends on what comes back into the system. But that's also part of what strengthens loyalty. Scarcity in used gear, visible repairability, and mission consistency all reinforce the sense that customers are buying into a long-lived ecosystem, not a disposable catalog.

Visit Patagonia.

2. Allbirds

Allbirds took a different route. Instead of leading with activism, it made sustainability easier to understand at the product level. That's a smart retention move because clarity reduces buyer doubt, and doubt kills repeat purchases.

Its product carbon labeling and public methodology give customers a concrete way to compare products inside the brand's catalog. In practice, that helps shoppers feel that the sustainability story is built into the merchandise, not layered on top of it by marketing. ReRun adds a second layer by giving customers another entry point into the brand through used pairs and imperfect inventory.

What merchants should copy

Trust compounds when brands explain their standards plainly. Allbirds does that well. For a customer deciding whether to buy again, visible metrics and consistent materials create familiarity, and familiarity often matters more than persuasion.

A related long-term signal matters here too. A Harvard Business School study cited by Regreener's sustainability business case summary found that firms classified as “high sustainability” achieved 4.8% higher return on equity and 2.1% higher return on assets over an 18-year period. For merchants, the takeaway isn't to quote those figures in ads. It's to recognize that disciplined sustainability can support durable business performance.

Clear standards don't just help acquisition. They lower the friction of the second and third purchase.

Allbirds also shows why customer trust matters in sustainable commerce. If you want buyers to believe a material claim, a sourcing claim, or a footprint label, the explanation has to be visible and consistent. That's the same principle behind building customer trust in e-commerce.

The downside is that resale inventory can be uneven, and style rotations can make favorite products harder to repurchase. Still, among businesses that practice sustainability, Allbirds stands out for turning transparency itself into a loyalty mechanism.

Visit Allbirds.

3. Rothy's

Rothy's wins on a quieter retention lever. Habit. The brand built a product system around convenience, repeat wear, and lower-friction care. That matters because sustainable loyalty often comes from use, not messaging.

Machine-washable flats, sneakers, and bags give customers a practical reason to keep choosing the brand. The promise is simple: the product fits daily life, lasts, and stays easy to maintain. Sustainability supports that promise through recycled and natural fibers, knit-to-shape construction, and circularity efforts. But the retention engine is still product satisfaction first.

The retention lesson in washability and waste reduction

This is one of the more useful takeaways for DTC merchants. A sustainability feature works harder when it also improves ownership. Customers may appreciate recycled inputs, but they remember convenience every week.

Rothy's is also one of the few brands in this list with a specific manufacturing detail worth noting. Its knit-to-shape process reduces upper material waste to under 1%, according to the brand description in your brief. That matters operationally because the product and the process reinforce each other. Less waste in production supports the same quality-and-efficiency story the customer sees in use.

• Build for repeat use: Washability and durability keep products in active rotation.
• Make the sustainability invisible in a good way: The best eco-features often feel like product improvements, not homework.
• Support end-of-life: Recycling pathways matter most when they're easy and clearly communicated.

The trade-off is price. Rothy's sits above conventional flats and casual shoes, and some circular options are still limited by category. But it shows how businesses that practice sustainability can drive retention without making every customer become a sustainability expert. The strongest loop is still this: buy, use often, trust, buy again.

Visit Rothy's.

4. Seventh Generation

Seventh Generation built loyalty the old-fashioned way. It gave households a dependable default. In home care, that matters more than a dramatic sustainability message because cleaning products live or die by routine purchasing.

Ingredient transparency is the core retention play here. Customers who care what comes into the home often don't want to re-evaluate every detergent or spray bottle from scratch. Once a brand becomes the trusted option, reordering becomes almost automatic. That's where sustainability becomes commercially powerful. It reduces switching.

Why accessibility matters more than novelty

A lot of sustainable brands stay niche because they're hard to find or too specialized for everyday use. Seventh Generation avoided that trap by becoming broadly available through major U.S. retail channels while maintaining a sustainability-forward identity. That combination matters for retention because convenience keeps values-based purchasing alive.

The broader strategic point is easy to miss. Existing advice about sustainable business often focuses on visible tactics such as recyclable packaging, renewable energy, fair-trade sourcing, or waste reduction. The bigger question, as the U.S. EPA guidance for small businesses highlights, is how to connect those actions to practical business outcomes. Merchants need to know which actions create measurable value and which ones mostly stay at the branding layer.

If a customer can't feel the benefit in trust, convenience, or habit, the sustainability story usually won't improve retention on its own.

Seventh Generation's trade-offs are familiar. Some shoppers question performance in certain use cases, and some buyers prefer independent ownership over a large parent company. Even so, the brand remains a useful model for merchants selling replenishable products. If sustainability is paired with easy reordering and high trust, loyalty follows.

Visit Seventh Generation.

5. Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative is worth studying because it combines sustainability with membership logic. That's one of the strongest retention combinations in e-commerce when it's done carefully. The company doesn't just sell eco-friendlier goods. It curates a repeat-purchase environment around refills, household routines, and optional VIP perks.

That structure matters. Many sustainable stores struggle because they ask customers to change too many habits at once. Grove simplifies the switch by bundling multiple categories in one place, from cleaning to personal care, then reinforcing repeat behavior through refill-friendly formats and account-based convenience.

What works in the Grove model

The best part of Grove's approach is that sustainability isn't isolated to one hero product. It's built into assortment rules, packaging standards, and recurring household behavior. That creates more reasons to stay.

• Bundle the transition: Customers are more likely to adopt lower-waste options when they can change several categories in one order.
• Use membership carefully: VIP-style benefits can improve repeat purchase behavior, but they need to feel valuable for the customer's actual order frequency.
• Curate with conviction: Standards matter. If every product qualifies under a clear internal rule set, the store itself becomes a trust signal.

Grove also highlights a real tension in this space. Sustainability at scale often collides with affordability, supply complexity, and fulfillment pressure. As noted in this discussion of enterprise sustainability examples, sustainability is now mainstream among large firms, but smaller brands still have to solve the harder operational question of how to stay price-competitive while improving materials and packaging.

That's why Grove is useful as a model, but not one to copy blindly. Membership can lift retention, yet it also creates expectations. If customers don't order often enough, perks can feel like overhead instead of value.

Visit Grove Collaborative.

6. EILEEN FISHER Renew

EILEEN FISHER Renew is one of the cleanest examples of circularity functioning as retention, not just positioning. The trade-in mechanic keeps customers connected to the brand even when they're done with a garment. That's what many apparel brands miss. The post-purchase phase is where loyalty either compounds or disappears.

Renew accepts garments in any condition, then cleans, repairs, resells, or upcycles them. That opens several loyalty paths at once. Returning customers get a simple reason to re-engage. New customers get a lower-risk entry point through resale. The brand keeps control over quality, presentation, and storytelling instead of leaving the secondhand experience entirely to third-party marketplaces.

Why take-back programs keep customers in the loop

Trade-in systems work because they reduce friction at the moment when a customer might otherwise churn. If the old item still has a clear return path, the next purchase feels more rational.

Danone's packaging transition offers a useful parallel from outside fashion. By 2018, 87% of total packaging and 77% of plastic packaging were reusable, recyclable, or compostable. Different category, same principle. When a company redesigns material flows instead of just promoting green claims, customers see a system, not a slogan.

For merchants, Renew suggests a strong playbook:

• Offer a predictable return path: Customers act faster when the program is simple.
• Integrate resale into the main shopping journey: Circular inventory shouldn't feel hidden.
• Be honest about operational friction: Reverse logistics, cleaning, grading, and inventory variability are real.

The fixed per-item reward won't satisfy every customer, especially compared with original purchase prices. Inventory also depends on what gets returned. But among businesses that practice sustainability, EILEEN FISHER shows how circular operations can create durable retention without relying on discounting.

Visit EILEEN FISHER Renew.

7. Bombas

Bombas proves that sustainability-adjacent loyalty doesn't have to center only on carbon or packaging. Social impact can be just as sticky when it's tightly connected to the product and easy for customers to understand.

The buy-one, give-one structure is the reason many shoppers remember the brand. Socks and underwear are high-frequency basics, but they aren't naturally exciting. Bombas turns each purchase into a contribution tied to items shelters need. That makes the repeat purchase feel more meaningful without requiring the customer to learn a complex impact model.

The advocacy effect

What Bombas does especially well is give customers a story they can retell. That's where loyalty starts to overlap with advocacy. People don't just rebuy because the product is useful. They talk about why they chose it.

Some sustainability programs create better margins. Others create better word of mouth. The strongest brands find a way to do both.

This matters for any merchant selling basics, replenishable goods, or giftable items. A cause-linked purchase mechanic can increase emotional attachment, but only if the program is specific and credible. Vague giving promises don't travel. Clear ones do. That's also why impact-led brands often benefit from a stronger brand advocacy strategy.

There's still a trade-off. Premium basics always face comparison against cheaper commodity options, and customer experience can vary by product type. But Bombas is a strong example of how businesses that practice sustainability or adjacent social responsibility can turn every order into a loyalty signal. The customer isn't just buying socks. They're reaffirming an identity.

Visit Bombas.

7-Brand Sustainability Comparison

Brand	Implementation Complexity 🔄	Resource Requirements ⚡	Expected Outcomes ⭐📊	Ideal Use Cases 💡	Key Advantages ⭐
Patagonia	🔄 High, purpose-locked governance + repair/resale systems	⚡ High, trust, repair centers, reporting, legal setup	⭐📊 Very strong, sustained environmental funding and industry circularity benchmark	💡 Established brands aiming for mission-driven ownership and full circularity	⭐ Best-in-class circular programs and transparency
Allbirds	🔄 Medium, product LCA + resale marketplace (ReRun)	⚡ Medium, LCA work, material R&D, resale ops	⭐📊 Moderate, verifiable carbon labels and material adoption	💡 Brands seeking credible climate metrics and material innovation	⭐ Clear footprint transparency that drives trust
Rothy's	🔄 Medium, knit-to-shape manufacturing and recycling pilots	⚡ Medium, certified factory, recycling pathways	⭐📊 Moderate, very low material waste and durable products	💡 Apparel brands optimizing manufacturing waste and durability	⭐ Low-waste production and easy-care product benefits
Seventh Generation	🔄 Low–Medium, transparency, certifications, retail distribution	⚡ Medium, ingredient testing, reporting, wide distribution	⭐📊 High, strong household trust and habitual purchases	💡 Consumer goods brands prioritizing ingredient safety and scale	⭐ Early-mover credibility in safer chemistry and disclosure
Grove Collaborative	🔄 Medium, curated marketplace + VIP membership model	⚡ Medium, logistics, membership tech, refill systems	⭐📊 Moderate, higher retention via membership and consolidated purchases	💡 DTC or marketplace operators wanting to centralize sustainable buying	⭐ One-stop curated selection with membership retention tools
EILEEN FISHER Renew	🔄 Medium, nationwide take-back + resale/upcycle operations	⚡ Medium, reverse logistics, cleaning, repair, resale platform	⭐📊 Moderate, extended garment life and recurring customer credits	💡 Fashion brands launching circular resale/take-back pilots	⭐ Simple, brand-operated resale that reinforces product longevity
Bombas	🔄 Low, buy-one/give-one donation model	⚡ Low–Medium, donation logistics and B Corp compliance	⭐📊 High, measurable social impact tied to each purchase	💡 Basics brands wanting direct social-impact differentiation	⭐ Strong emotional loyalty from a clear social mission

Weave Sustainability Into Your Loyalty Strategy

The best lesson from these brands is that sustainability works when it changes customer behavior. Repair programs bring shoppers back. Resale creates a second entry point. Refills create cadence. Transparent product information lowers hesitation. Cause-linked purchasing gives customers a reason to talk about the brand after the order arrives.

Operational proof matters more than slogans. UPS offers one of the clearest examples. After rolling out ORION, UPS reports that the system saves about 10 million gallons of fuel per year and cuts roughly 100,000 metric tons of CO2 annually. For merchants, the point isn't to copy route optimization specifically unless logistics is your world. It's to understand the pattern. Sustainability creates durable value when it improves an operating process customers can indirectly feel through reliability, convenience, or trust.

That same discipline applies to finance. According to the same Regreener summary cited earlier, companies with top ESG ratings had about a 10% lower cost of equity and up to 20% lower volatility than lower-rated peers. You don't need to be a public company to use that logic. Build sustainable programs that are measurable, repeatable, and connected to unit economics. If the initiative doesn't affect customer confidence, reorder behavior, product longevity, or operational efficiency, it probably won't become a strong retention asset.

Start smaller than most brands think they need to. Add a trade-in reward for one category. Highlight one material improvement clearly on product pages. Tie one loyalty redemption to a donation or repair credit. Then watch whether repeat purchase behavior changes.

If you're evaluating ways to improve retention with loyalty apps, focus on tools that let you reward actions beyond buying. That's where sustainability starts to become a real loyalty system. Toki is one option for merchants who want to connect points, tiers, referrals, memberships, and advocacy mechanics to a broader retention strategy.

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If you want to turn sustainability from a brand value into a repeat-purchase system, explore Toki. It supports loyalty mechanics like points, memberships, referrals, and advocacy programs that can help merchants reward trade-ins, refill habits, and other retention-driving behaviors inside the customer journey.