You never skip recycling your plastic bottles and cardboard boxes. You turn off lights at home when you’re not using them. You even make sure to take the shortest showers possible to save water. But what about your phone case? Did you know an eco-friendly phone case is an important part of a sustainable lifestyle?
As awareness of plastic waste in the environment grows, many people seek eco-friendly phone case options that protect their devices and the planet.
Let’s explore some eco-friendly phone cases:
Why Eco-Friendly Phone Case Choices Matter
Why does having a sustainable phone case matter? Consider this: Most people use their plastic phone case for one to two years. But the plastic waste from that cell phone case remains buried in soil for centuries or breaks down into microplastic pieces polluting waterways and the ocean.
What To Consider in an Eco-Friendly Phone Case
Eco-friendly is a broad term that can refer to many aspects of a product.
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you shop for an eco-friendly phone case:
- Materials: Look for a phone case made from recycled or plant-based, sustainable materials, as well as cases that are free of BPA (Bisphenol A), lead, cadmium, and phthalates
- Distribution: Consider a company that uses green distribution to improve its supply chain
- Disposal: The manufacturer should offer a convenient way to recycle the phone case or break it down as a biodegradable or compostable material
One other thing to keep in mind when considering an eco-friendly phone case is that they tend to cost more than other phone cases. Still, the phone case should be extremely sturdy, well-built, and made to last.
Popular Brands of Compostable Bioplastic Phone Cases
Compostable bioplastic is made from natural materials like oil, straw, and wood. Eventually, it transforms into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass. After completely disintegrating into the compost, no toxicity remains in what becomes nutrient-rich topsoil. It takes between six and 12 months to achieve this, which is a similar rate to vegetable fiber like cellulose.
Home gardens are suitable for some compostable bioplastics. However, other compostable bioplastics may require very high temperatures to break down and so can only be composted in specialized industrial facilities.
The following brands have established themselves as leading producers of high-quality, sustainable phone cases made from plant-based materials:
AGood Company Provides An Impressive Selection of Plant-Based Phone Cases
If you’re looking for phone cases that are not only eco-friendly but also affordable, AGood Company’s range of eco-friendly phone case options provides a smart starting point.
Made in Sweden from the byproducts of locally sourced hemp and flax, AGood Company colors each case with water-based ink. And when you’re ready to replace your phone case, send it back to participate in the AGood Loop™ program, where it becomes a new product.
Agood Company is a Certified B Corporation, which means that non-profit B Lab has certified them as a company that has met several high standards for things like social and environmental impact.
Pela Protects Phones Plus the Environment
Pela designs eco-friendly Canadian-made phone cases for the best-selling smartphone models sold worldwide today.
Founder Jeremy Lang shares Pela’s manufacturing story behind these sustainable phone cases made from what was once regarded as waste: flax straw.
After harvesting flax seed for oil, farmers would burn the leftover material, flax straw, because it would get caught up in their farming equipment. Jeremy used his bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science to research and develop a useful way to transform this organic material into a flexible substance. It’s easy to grip while sturdy enough to protect a phone from a 20-foot drop onto a hard floor.
EcoBlvd’s Sustainable Phone Case Collections
EcoBlvd is an international sustainable phone case company that manufactures products in a family-owned factory in China. They print phone cases on demand with eco-friendly, soy-based ink in Los Angeles, California, which also serves as the fulfillment center.
EcoBlvd’s Sequoia and Laguna phone case collections contain InnoMaize™️, a compostable bioplastic constructed from cornstarch, sugar, and plant-based material.
Meanwhile, the Mojave collection is made with CornBo™, a composite of corn starch, corn sugar, bamboo bark, and bamboo fiber. Not only do these phone cases provide premium protection, but they’re also super stylish.
Brands Offering Eco-Friendly Phone Cases Made From Recycled Materials
Two more ways to reduce plastic waste in the environment include purchasing an eco-friendly phone case made from recycled plastic or recycled wood.
Because so little plastic waste gets recycled, it’s important to support brands that remove plastic waste, such as old fishing nets, from the ocean.
Recycled wood takes that even further by reducing the amount of plastic in the supply chain altogether. Recycled wood is a great choice for an eco-friendly phone case as the material is biodegradable and prevents the destruction of living trees.
So, here’s a closer look at some of the most in-demand eco-friendly phone case options made from recycled materials:
Reduce CO2 & Save With Popsicase
Popsicase makes eco-friendly phone cases made from recycled fishing nets. Based in Barcelona, Spain, their phone cases capture the colors and images of the Mediterranean Sea.
Choose from six total collections including:
- Discover: Biodegradable phone cases broken down by microorganisms within a year
- Mediterranea: Made from recycled fishing nets inspired by natural colors
- Textures of The Earth: Inspired by the work of natural photographer, Yann Arthus-Bertrand
- Barcelona X Stanton: Artist Philip Stanton captures the architecture and colors of Barcelona
- Love Under the Sea: Inspired by love stories of ocean wildlife and supporting NGO Mission Blue Sylvia Earle Alliance
- Love 360: Using the force of love as raw material to create art, these unique designs, inspired by love and the natural world, also support the young artists who created them
Popsicase is a Revivack-certified brand that guarantees you can send the phone case back to them for 100% recovery.
Sustainable Phone Cases from Skate4create
Skate4create makes wooden phone cases from recycled skateboards. The cases have a retro look, made from eight to nine different colored skateboards glued together. The simple, vertical, or horizontal striped patterns appeal to those who like a clean aesthetic.
Skate4create collaborates with skate shops, skateparks, and skateboard communities to collect and recycle older boards into high-quality, unique mobile phone cases and jewelry. Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, the company has recycled broken skateboards since 2014.
Eco-Friendly Phone Cases Made From Biodegradable Materials
With materials that are biodegradable, microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, and algae eat and break down the biodegradable materials. Then, it breaks down into water, carbon dioxide, methane, biomass, and inorganic compounds in less than one year.
Here are two of the top-selling brands for biodegradable smartphone cases:
Wave Aims to Reduce Plastic Waste in the Ocean
Wave makes their cases using a biodegradable product sourced from wheat grass. You can see it in little flecks throughout the material, giving each case a unique character.
Wave is a UK-based brand founded by two British men who have witnessed firsthand the alarming impact of plastic waste in the ocean.
Featuring etched designs of marine wildlife and a handful of vibrant colors, these cases have a smooth yet grippy texture that ensures your phone slides easily in and out of your pocket but not your hands.
MMORE’s Biodegradable Phone Cases Offer Relaxing Natural Aromas
If you love the clean, simple look of minimalist design, you may want to consider MMORE’s Biodegradable Collection of phone cases. The phone cases are made with organic materials such as pressed lavender sustainably sourced from France.
Not only do these plant-based materials provide a unique appearance, but they also emit the calm and relaxing aroma of nature. You can even purchase an extra all-natural scent and apply it to the phone case when the aroma starts to fade.
MMORE has thought about sustainability at each part of the customer journey. Their phone cases ship in boxes made from 100% recycled paper products, and the company encourages customers to recycle the box once it is no longer needed.
Add to a Sustainable Lifestyle With an Eco-Friendly Phone Case
Eco-friendly phone cases help reduce plastics in our environment, especially in our oceans and waterways.
A phone case made from biodegradable, compostable bioplastic, or recycled materials means less plastic waste is entering the environment.
Whether you broke your old phone case or you’re leaning towards a sustainable upgrade, think twice before you toss your unwanted phone case in the trash. Consider recycling through one of the previously mentioned brands and be part of the solution for removing plastic waste from the planet.
