Green Living
9 Best Sustainable Lighting Brands To Brighten Up Your Space
The sustainable lighting brands in this guide will help you brighten up any room in your home while supporting artisan crafts — and without leaving a heavy footprint on the planet.
For how we define sustainable lighting, scroll down below beneath the brands!
Where to Find Sustainable Lighting
This guide features an already vetted, pre-curated roundup of sustainable lighting brands that are creating earth-minded, responsible, and beautifully designed sustainable lights.
Hopefully you’ll find a lighting fixture or lamp you’ll love — there are some really incredible and inspiring brands in here!
Looking for more furnishings? Check out our sustainable furniture guide here!
Note that this guide includes affiliate links. As always, all brands meet strict standards for sustainability and are brands we love — and that we think you’ll love too!
1. Lanna Passa
Best for: artisan-made bamboo floor lamps
This Thailand-based shop showcases the artistry and craftsmanship of ethnic hill tribe communities like the Hmong and Lisu. Lanna Passa is committed to sustaining traditional crafts while sourcing from local villages and supporting hill tribe communities. In addition to single rattan lamp shades, Lanna Passa sells string light sets for weddings, festivals, and other outdoor venues.
I have the trio of bamboo floor lamps in my living room and love the cozy, grounded ambience it adds to the space. (Though the bamboo is an open weave, so if you’re sensitive to light, you might prefer a fully covered lamp shade.)
Conscious Qualities: Sustaining Cultural Crafts, Natural Materials, WOC-Owned Business
Price Range: $45 – $420
Shipping: Global
2. Bicycle Glass
Best for: hand-blown recycled glass pendants
Dedicated to transforming “trash to treasure”, Bicycle Glass creates beautiful sustainable lighting out of locally-sourced recycled glass. I was blown away by the detail in their lighting on their product pages, though I think I’d keep to indoor lighting as I might be nervous about the durability of the recycled glass outdoors.
Bicycle Glass’ lighting is all made locally in Minnesota by artisans for each customer. And they deliver —the shop has a 4.9/5 star rating on Etsy with hundreds of reviews.
Conscious Qualities: 100% Recycled Glass, Local Production, Made to Order Model
Price Range: $250 – $1900
Shipping: USA
3. Thai Home Shop
Best for: bamboo pendant lights
Thai Home Shop’s eco-friendly lighting is individually handcrafted in local artisan workshops in Thailand using generations-old crafts. This small business sources their earth-minded materials — like bamboo and rattan — locally in Thailand at a fair price to support their community.
Their pendants add a cozy touch to any living space, and I personally love how a bamboo table lamp has added warmth to my bedroom.
Conscious Qualities: Natural Materials, Locally-Sourced and Produced, Supports Cultural Preservation
Price Range: $40 – $399
Shipping: Global
Use code CONSCIOUSSTYLE for 15% off!
4. Modern Gesture @ 54kibo
Best for: unique architectural ceiling lights
The one-of-a-kind Modern Gesture lighting from 54Kibo truly stands out with its intricate details and unique shape. Based in South Africa, Modern Gesture creates African-inspired, contemporary lighting made from recycled wood offcuts right in their own Cape Town workshop.
And while the selection is more limited than other options on the list, I love that the designs have been inspired by Ndebele African design jewelry — showing how interconnected fashion and interior design can be.
Conscious Qualities: Eco Materials, Traceable Production, Black-Owned Brand & Retailer
Price Range: $428 – $598
Shipping: Contiguous USA
5. Schoolhouse
Best for: well-crafted lighting with character
I have a weakness for mid-century modern interiors and with everything from mushroom lamps and pop lights to linear chandeliers and brass sconces, Schoolhouse has mastered the art of retro-inspired lighting.
The brand’s heirloom-quality lighting is designed to transcend trends and crafted by skilled makers in their Portland-based factory. The brand sources their components responsibly from domestic and international sources.
Conscious Qualities: Made Ethically in Portland, Timeless Design, Lasting Quality
Price Range: $149 – $999
Shipping: Contiguous USA (inquiry for international shipping rates)
6. GOODEE
Best for: ethically artisan made lighting by vetted makers
GOODEE is a mecca for all things artisan-made, including sustainable lighting fixtures, table lights, lampshades and even lightbulbs. You can find both elegant and bold sustainable lighting options made from materials like elephant grass, natural straw, and durable aluminum.
My personal favorites are the colorful woven lamps from Baba Tree made from recycled PET bottles.
Conscious Qualities: Artisan-Made, Ethical Production Practices, Black-Owned, Natural or Recycled Materials
Price Range: $189 – $3000+
Shipping: USA & Canada
7. Graypants
Best for: contemporary design-forward lighting
Who knew recycled cardboard could look so chic? Graypants is an eco-friendly lighting brand that creates striking pendant lights (which they call “scraplights”) from repurposed cardboard. The sustainable lighting is manufactured in the US.
Like Bicycle Glass, pieces are made to order, so build in some lead time rather than expecting immediate shipping.
Conscious Qualities: Recycled Materials, Responsible Manufacturing, Made to Order
Price Range: $385 – $10,000+
Shipping: Contiguous USA
8. Healthier Homes
Best for: natural non-toxic lighting
The sustainable lighting on Healthier Homes meets high standards in both sustainability and non-toxic materials.
The pendants, sconces, table lamps, chandeliers and other lighting fixtures are made with natural materials (like coconut shells) or durable materials (like metal) tested for toxic substances. Another element I love about Healthier Homes’ lighting is how the organic shapes soften the room.
Conscious Qualities: Natural, Non-Toxic Materials
Price Range: $84 – $1140
Shipping: Contiguous USA | contact for international shipping
9. Chairish
Best for: vintage lighting
Chairish has a treasure trove of sustainable lighting with their carefully curated collection of gently used, vintage, and antique pieces. Uncover items like a pink floral crystal globe beaded chandelier or a 1920s Italian blown-glass “harp” chandelier with twisted glass.
With prices going in the several tens of thousands, the secondhand lighting from Chairish is not your thrift store lighting — and is certainly outside of my budget — but if you’re excited to invest in an heirloom piece, this is the spot.
Conscious Qualities: Vintage & Used Lighting
Price Range: $15 – $72,000 (looks like a typo, but yes that’s really the variance of prices on the platform!)
Shipping: USA & Canada
What is Sustainable Lighting?
Ok so what exactly is sustainable lighting anyway?
The most obvious is using lower impact, efficient LED lightbulbs. LEDs that are ENERGY STAR-qualified (a US government backed standard for energy efficiency) use just a fraction (20%–25%) of the energy and last 15 to 25 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs. (Source)
But let’s go beyond the lightbulbs and talk about the lighting fixtures themselves.
Materials
Beyond the bulbs, you can source environmentally and socially-responsible lighting fixtures and lamps. Some materials to look for include:
Reclaimed and Recycled Materials
One of the most sustainable lighting materials to use are those already in existence! Some repurposed materials in lights might include recycled glass or reclaimed wood.
Natural and Locally-Sourced Materials
This might include materials like bamboo, rattan, and sisal grass.
Many artisan lighting brands will source these sorts of materials, and as you’ll see, the material varies based on the region where the artisan groups are based. While bamboo might be the most sustainable and accessible material for one group, sisal grass may be the best material for another.
Durable Heirloom-Quality Materials
While natural materials can be sustainably sourced, they may not always last the test of time the way that more durable materials like copper or infinitely recyclable aluminum do.
There is sort of a tradeoff here because the initial production of metals involves a significant environmental impact due to the mining involved. But, quality-made metal lighting can last for generations if kept up well.
So, if you are going to purchase metal lighting, I recommend sourcing from a high-quality brand that really designs their products to LAST!
Production Practices
Another key element to sustainable lighting is how people and planet-friendly the production practices are.
Here are some questions to ask regarding a brand’s supply chain:
- Does the brand produce lights locally? Does the brand source their materials locally?
- Does the brand state where production takes place? What details do they give?
- What sort of relationship does the brand have with the manufacturing facilities or artisans? Is it a true partnership or does the brand just outsource in a race to the bottom for the cheapest price?
- Does the factory have any certifications or other assurances of its sustainability and ethics?
These are just some starter questions to be asking.
If you can’t find the answers to these questions, don’t be afraid to email the brand and ask — if they are a transparent and responsible brand, they should have no problem answering you honestly.
More Sustainable Home Guides:
Beautiful Ethical Home Decor Brands to Curate a Conscious Space
Your Ultimate Guide to Eco-Friendly & Organic Bedding
21 Best Sustainable Furniture Brands for an Eco Home
The post 9 Best Sustainable Lighting Brands To Brighten Up Your Space appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
9 Best Sustainable Lighting Brands To Brighten Up Your Space