The UK Vegan Belts Made From Recycled Materials To Know
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Buckle up in style with my guide to the best vegan belts for men and women. And there’s no fake plastic leather here. All belts featured are made from recycled materials for a more sustainable and eco-friendly take on this wardrobe staple.
With more than a third of adults in the UK now interested in trying a vegan or plant-based diet, there are now increasing options when it comes to shopping for vegan-friendly food products.
And that growth hasn’t just been restricted to food and drink products. More and more vegan clothing and accessories are now available, taking the vegan clothing sector from a niche to a more mainstream audience.
That being said, it can be tricky finding truly green vegan products, such as belts. To help you out, here are the greenwashing tactics to be wary of, and my favourite sustainable belt brands in the UK to know:
The Greenwashing To Be Aware Of When Shopping For Belts
Belts made from vegan leather are marketed as a green alternative. However, most vegan leather is made from or with plastic. And plastic is a non-renewable fossil fuel that helps contribute to the rise in greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.
The use of vegan leather is a better choice when it comes to parts of your wardrobe where there are few alternatives, such as footwear. However, for other areas of your wardrobe, I’d always recommend finding materials with a smaller impact on the environment.
The Best Vegan Belts Made From Recycled Materials
To help you avoid greenwashing, here are my top vegan belts made from more sustainable materials:
Swole Panda
Swole Panda (£34.95 at Debenhams) offers a range of stylish unisex belts, made from REPREVE®, a material that’s made of recycled plastic bottles recovered from the ocean. Its belts contain the equivalent of 7 plastic bottles.
Don’t worry about the leather-look trim. This is made from recycled faux leather trimmings, making this belt fully vegan-friendly.
As well as helping to reduce plastic waste, Swole Panda has also partnered with Ocean Generation, an NGO with the mission to stop plastic from reaching our oceans within a generation. With each belt sold, it donates 5% of profits to help achieve this goal.
I bought my partner one of these belts a few years ago as a birthday gift, and he’s worn it pretty much every day since. It’s really durable and goes the distance.
Elvis & Kresse
Elvis & Kresse’s unisex vegan belts (from £46) are intriguingly made from recycled firehoses.
It’s true. For over a decade, Elvis & Kresse have been rescuing all of London’s retired firehoses. Rather than heading to landfill, the hoses are handcrafted into sustainable luxury bags and accessories.
Elvis & Kresse’s lovely belts don’t just look good. They do good. 50% of the profits from their Fire-hose Collection go to The Fire Fighters Charity. This charity offers specialist, lifelong support for members of the UK fire services community, helping to support serving and retired firefighters with their mental, physical, and social well-being throughout their lives.
Pagura Upcycle
Love cycling? Love recycling? Then you’re going to love Pagura’s vegan belts (£42.50 at Etsy), made from upcycled discarded inner tubes.
All the old inner tubes have been sourced from bike repair shops around the UK. These would have otherwise gone in the bin, making it a truly zero-waste product.
Worried that they might be dirty? Don’t worry. The designers carefully clean the inner tubes, before sewing them into beautiful. The soft texture of the recycled rubber means the belts are comfortable to wear, whilst being exceptionally durable.
Ray’s
Ray’s (available at Etsy for £30.45) gives new life to retired climbing ropes, by repurposing them into belts and other accessories.
Each belt is made by hand in Colchester from retired climbing rope with a matching harness buckle, recycled from retired climbing harnesses. These are made to last, from hard-wearing materials, and a backed up stitch is used to sew the entire belt for durability.
Suitable for both men and women, these jazzy vegan belts from Ray’s are sure to bring a little pop of colour to your outfit.
Fjallraven
Whilst Fjallraven is primarily known for its range of backpacks, it’s a little-known fact that the Swedish company also makes a range of accessories.
Whilst the majority of Fjallraven’s belts are vegan and vegetarian friendly, this stylish unisex Abisko Midsummer belt (£40) is the only one that is made with recycled materials. However, it is a bit of a compromise as this vegan belt is made with 75% recycled polyester, rather than 100% recycled polyester.
I’d love to see Fjallraven expand its range of products made with recycled materials and shift from using partly recycled polyester to using 100% recycled polyester. In the meantime, I’d rate its efforts as a good start.
Patagonia
Finally, looking for a real multi-tasker? Patagonia’s vegan-friendly Tech Web belt (£29.95 from AlpineTrek) is made with 100% recycled nylon webbing.
What sets it apart from other belts is that its tough yet lightweight aluminium buckle is notched – making it able to pry off a bottle cap. Handy if you are out and about on an outdoor adventure without a bottle opener!
The belt is Fair Trade Certified™ sewn. This means that Patagonia pays a premium to the factory that makes its clothing and accessories.
That extra money goes directly to the workers at the factory, and they decide how to spend it. Here, a democratically elected committee of Fair Trade workers decides how the funds will be used, to make it a fair programme.
Workers have chosen to use the premiums to fund community projects, like health-care programmes or child-care centres, or to purchase products they could not otherwise afford, like a laptop computer or a stove. Some opt to take a cash bonus.
More Ethical & Vegan Wardrobe Guides
In need of more ethical wardrobe support?
- Try my guide to vegan clothing brands in the UK for men and women.
- Try my handy guide to vegan wallets.
- And for footwear, try my guide to vegan shoe brands in the UK.
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