The temperatures are dropping, which means it’s time to pile on the layers — so, here’s your guide to ethical and sustainable winter gloves, hats, and scarves for staying cozy through even the chilliest days.
This roundup features plenty of winter accessories for any cold-weather activity, whether you’re going on a hike in the mountains or just running to your car to get some errands done.
Note that this guide includes affiliate links. As always, all featured brands meet high standards for sustainability and are brands we stand behind!
1. Patagonia
With sustainably and ethically-made hats, headbands, gloves, mittens, and scarves, Patagonia really has it all. Their collection of sustainable winter accessories is mostly made with recycled materials and to ensure maximum life of their products, Patagonia offers repairs and has a buy-back program where you can get store credit for trading in your used pieces.
Conscious Qualities: Eco Fibers and Production, Circular Model, Some Fair Trade Production
Price Range: $$
2. Organic Basics
Eco underwear label Organic Basics has sustainable winter accessories for staying ultra cozy in good conscience. Their eco-friendly gloves, scarves, and winter hats are made from GRS-certified recycled cashmere (from well-worn cashmere garments) or from 100% recycled merino wool.
Price Range: $$$
3. Eileen Fisher
Leading sustainable fashion brand Eileen Fisher has soft, cozy, eco-friendly scarves, gloves, and hats. Their winter accessories are made from fabrics like organic cotton and recycled cashmere. And completing the circular loop, Eileen Fisher also has a take-back program where they renew and resell used clothing.
Conscious Qualities: Eco Fibers, Circular Model, Ethical Production
Price Range: $$$
4. Coyuchi
While originally an organic bedding and lifestyle brand, Coycuhi has expanded into other categories, like winter accessories! Their regenerative scarf is made from Climate Beneficial wool and their eco-friendly beanie is made with GOTS-certified organic cotton in fair trade conditions.
Conscious Qualities: Eco Fibers, Ethical Production
Price Range: $ – $$
5. Tentree
Tentree will be your go-to for sustainable winter hats and beanies. The brand has plenty of cute (and also cool, if that’s more your style) beanies made from 100% organic cotton or a 50/50 merino wool and recycled polyester blend. As the name suggests, Tentree also plants 10 trees with each purchase.
Price Range: $
6. Ten Thousand Villages
For unique ethical winter accessories made by artisans and weavers, look no further than Ten Thousand Villages. The Fair Trade pioneer has plenty of hand-knit and handmade fair trade gloves, scarves, hats, and more for staying warm in style.
Conscious Qualities: Ethical Production, Some Natural Fibers
Price Range: $$
7. Makwa Studio
Instead of purchasing accessories with designs “inspired” (and probably appropriated) from Native Peoples, buy authentic Native-designed pieces created by Indigenous artists. And you can do just that with Makwa Studio, a label founded by artist Maggie Thompson of the Fond du Lac Ojibwe Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Conscious Qualities: BIPOC-Owned, Natural Fibers
Price Range: $$
8. Shupaca
Shupaca’s ethical scarves, hats, and gloves are hand-woven from locally and responsibly-sourced alpaca wool using centuries-old traditional techniques. Partnering directly with South American artisan groups, Shupaca ensures that artisans are paid fairly (and directly).
Conscious Qualities: Ethical Production, Slow Made
Price Range: $$
9. Fibershed Marketplace
Fibershed Marketplace curates brands and makers using regenerative and localized practices for their online shop. The site has plenty of regenerative sustainable winter hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves made from climate beneficial wool and natural, locally-harvested dyes.
Conscious Qualities: Eco Fibers, Local Sourcing, Slow Made
Price: $$
10. The North Face Regenerative
The North Face has ventured into regenerative materials! Sourcing Climate Beneficial wool from Bare Ranch in California, the brand calls their collection “Cali Wool”.
Conscious Qualities: Eco Climate Beneficial Fibers
Price Range: $$
11. Hemptique
Made from 100% hemp — an eco wonder fiber — these are among the most sustainable winter hats you’ll find anywhere. Hemp is a temperature and moisture regulating fiber, meaning these hats will keep you warm without making you feel sweaty.
Price Range: $
Check Out Hemptique on EarthHero
Use CONSCIOUSLIFE for 10% off your order at EarthHero
12. Krochet Kids
On a mission to provide maximum transparency and celebrate the makers behind the items they sell, each Krochet Kids’ product has the name of the maker who made it. You can then look up the name on Known Supply to “meet your maker”. A great destination for fair trade gloves, winter hats, and scarves.
Conscious Qualities: Ethical Production, Some Eco Fibers
Price Range: $
13. Minna
Minna’s elegant scarves are made by artisan weaving co-ops who set their own wages for their work. Slowly woven with heritage techniques, Minna’s scarves are pieces you’ll treasure for a lifetime.
Conscious Qualities: Ethical Production, Slow Made
Price Range: $$$
14. Naadam
Naadam believes in doing cashmere better — they can trace 100% of the supply chain of their cashmere products, have high standards for the farms they source from, and have taken measures to protect against desertification. The company also donates unsellable returned and damaged products (instead of destroying it, which is quite common), uses carbon-offset shipping, and their dyeing facilities have closed-loop water filtration systems. Read more in Naadam’s Impact Report.
Price Range: $$$
Knit Your Own Sustainable Winter Accessories
15. We Are Knitters
We Are Knitters has beginner, intermediate, and advanced kits for making cozy essentials like sustainable winter scarves and beanies. Their yarns are made of only natural fibers that are ethically sourced from Peru.
Conscious Qualities: Ethical Sourcing, Natural Fibers
Price Range: $$
16. Wool and The Gang
Another great resource for knitting and crochet kits is Wool and The Gang. The UK-based business has kits to make Hats & Beanies and Scarves & Snoods! Not all of their fibers are eco-friendly, but about 1/3 are recycled and 2/3 are natural.
Conscious Qualities: Many Eco Fibers, Safe Dyes
Price: $$
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