Sustainability is the question every corporate buyer asks now. Distributors get the brief: "What do you have that's recycled, organic, or eco-friendly?" — and most of the answer comes from a handful of supplier brands that have built explicit sustainable lines.
So we ran the numbers. We scanned all 4,000+ products in the Brikl marketplace for sustainability. The marketplace doesn't have a dedicated sustainability field, so this is a name-based read — the count is conservative and reflects only what suppliers explicitly flag in their product naming.
The four categories of sustainable promo
1. Organic-certified fibres
Cotton, linen, and similar fibres grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers. Typically uses less water than conventional cotton and avoids the pesticide runoff that affects local ecosystems.
What's in this bucket:
- Allmade organic cotton tees and hoodies
- econscious organic tees and a baseball cap
- SoftShirts organic tees
- AS Colour organic line — Staple tee, Maple, Mika Dress, Rib Baby Tee, Mini-Me one-piece
- Printful's SOL'S organic raglan and sweatshirts
- Mantis organic denim tote
- Babybugz organic baby bodysuit
- Atlantis organic ribbed beanie and bucket hat
For a corporate gifting program or an apparel store that wants to lead with a credentialed organic claim, these are the products that have the certification to back it up.
2. Recycled content / rPET / Repreve
Polyester or blends made from post-consumer plastic — most commonly recycled water bottles spun back into yarn (rPET) or processed through Unifi's Repreve programme. Diverts plastic waste from landfill and reduces the demand for virgin polyester.
What's in this bucket:
- New Era recycled cuff beanies
- North End recycled polyester polo
- Mega Cap recycled-PET trucker
- Liberty Bags recycled duffels and cooler bag
- Allmade recycled-blend long-sleeve tee
- Under Armour recycled polos (M/W)
- Artisan Collection by Reprime recycled chef's coat
- Port Authority C-FREE recycled backpack
- Holloway Repreve® Eco polo
- Kooziegroup 100% recycled-PET fleece blanket
- Threadfast premium recycled bomber jacket
- econscious organic/recycled pullover hoodie
The recycled-content story is the easiest to communicate to end customers — "this hoodie is made from 12 plastic bottles" is a tangible claim that doesn't require explaining a certification body.
3. Supplier-branded "Sustainable" or "Eco" lines
This is the largest bucket. These are products marketed by the manufacturer as part of an explicit sustainability range — meaning the claim sits with the brand, and the buyer is trusting the supplier's own definition of what "Eco" or "Sustainable" means for that product.
The breadth here is wide:
- Adidas Sustainable — caps, visors, gym sack, sun hat, trucker, performance max, organic relaxed cap
- Atlantis Headwear Sustainable — beanies, bucket, cable knit, neck warmer, five-panel, fine rib, rib cuffed
- Alternative Eco-Jersey, Eco-Fleece, Eco-Cozy, and Earthleisure range
- Holloway Eco Revive Ventura knits and Repreve® Eco polo
- Augusta Eco Revive triblend joggers and hoodie
- Richardson Sustainable trucker, performance, Ashland dad hat
- Cap America USA-made sustainable cuffed beanie
- Jerzees Eco Premium Blend fleece and hoodie
- Next Level Eco heavyweight tee
- Port Authority Eco Cap
- econscious eco fashion and blend tees
- Printful's Bella+Canvas 3001ECO
- SOL'S Eco Raglan, Premium Eco Hoodie, Kids Eco Hoodie
- econscious Eco totes
A note for distributors selling against tighter procurement requirements: "branded sustainable" doesn't always mean third-party certified. If a buyer's RFP requires GOTS, OEKO-TEX, GRS, or similar, you'll want to verify per-product rather than rely on the line name.
4. Rapidly renewable / natural materials
Smaller bucket, but distinct: products made from materials that grow back faster than they're consumed, or that biodegrade.
- Bamboo pen, bamboo stylus pen, bamboo cutting board — bamboo grows in months rather than decades and uses minimal inputs
- Alternative Modal triblend muscle tee — closed-loop man-made cellulosic, lower environmental footprint than rayon
- econscious Hemp Hero full-zip hoodie — hemp uses far less water and pesticide than cotton
- Cork-back coaster — cork is harvested from living trees that regenerate
Niche, but useful for clients who want a story that goes beyond recycled plastic.
What this means for distributors
Build a "Sustainable" filter into your stores. When a corporate buyer asks for sustainable options, you don't want to scroll a 4,000-product marketplace. Build a curated catalog of the sustainable products (or the subset relevant to their use case) and share it as a presentation. That single act — surfacing only the sustainable shelf — turns a vague sustainability conversation into a concrete shortlist.
Match the claim to the buyer. Different buyers have different bars. A small-business client may be happy with "made from recycled plastic." A Fortune 500 procurement team may require third-party certification. The four buckets above map roughly to that spectrum: recycled-content claims are easiest to verbalise, organic-certified fibres carry the most weight in a formal RFP, and supplier-branded "Eco" lines sit somewhere in the middle.
Want to build a curated sustainable store for a corporate client? Start free on Brikl — browse the full marketplace and pull only the products that match the brief. No credit card, no monthly subscription. Just 3.5% when you sell.