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  • Home Blog Easy Ways to Live More Consciously and Sustainably

    Now, more than ever, it’s important to keep sustainability top of mind to care for our planet. In honour of Earth Month in April, we’re highlighting brands making a conscious effort to produce sustainable and eco-friendly products.

    While browsing these products, be sure to make use of our search engine tool, StyList, to keep track of your favourite sustainable and eco-friendly brands. With StyList, you can search multiple stores at Hillcrest and save any items you love to a singular wishlist.

    Read on for some tips on making more conscious choices while shopping, along with some of our favourite sustainable and eco-friendly brands to shop.

    Shop our sustainability edit

    Clean Beauty

    If you’re looking to make some conscious changes to your beauty routine, look for clean skincare and makeup products. Not only are they free of harmful chemicals and toxins that can have negative effects on both our health and the environment, but oftentimes they prioritize using ethically sourced ingredients and sustainable packaging. Tatcha, Fenty Skin and Milk Makeup are all Certified Clean at Sephora, meaning they are formulated without potentially toxic ingredients, and they are all committed to sustainability through the use of recyclable materials, the elimination of excess packaging, and the implementation of refill systems.

    Meanwhile, cult fave skincare brand Paula’s Choice has pledged to have net zero emissions in its operations by 2030 through greenhouse gas reduction, recyclable packaging and recycling programs, and a partnership with Tree-Nation to plant trees to offset emissions from all employee air travel, while OG natural beauty brand Burt’s Bees is Carbon Neutral Certified, uses responsibility sourced, natural ingredients and has committed to Net Zero Plastic to Nature by 2025.

    Shop clean beauty

    angled image of colourful Milk Makeup products lined up in a row.

    Milk Makeup

    Burt's Bees

    Burt's Bees

    Image of five pairs of jeans layered neatly on top of each other on a slight angle. The first three pairs (starting from bottom) are in various shades of blue and show some distressing, the fourth pair is black and the last pair is blue.

    American Eagle

    image of a female model with long brown hair wearing a peasant-style white top with a low, straight neckline and slightly puffy short sleeves. The top flares out slightly in the bottom. She pairs the shirt with a khaki-coloured mini skirt.

    Aritzia

    Sustainable Fashion

    Consider shopping from brands that use eco-friendly materials, such as organic cotton, recycled polyester and hemp, and who are committed to reducing waste and emissions. Patagonia and Matt & Nat both use recycled and sustainable materials, with the latter using 100% recycled plastic bottles for their linings. Additionally, Patagonia offers a “Worn Wear” program for customers to trade in their old Patagonia clothing for store credit.

    lululemon is also committing to sustainability by aiming to achieve at least 75% sustainable materials for their products by 2025, while American Eagle’s Real Good collection not only uses sustainably produced and sourced materials, but also has reduced the amount of water used per pair of jeans by 14%.

    And fashion girlies will be happy to know that Aritzia offers “lower impact styles” (styles made with at least 60% certified recycled materials, organic materials or responsibly sourced wood fibres) while using responsible packaging. Their offices, stores and distribution centres are also carbon neutral.

    Shop sustainable fashion

    Eco-Friendly Living

    Another great way to reduce your environmental impact is by incorporating eco-friendly homeware and lifestyle products into your lifestyle. From reusable grocery and storage bags like the ones from Stasher (available Sportchek), to multiuse water bottles and tumblers like the ones from Hydroflask (available at Hudson’s Bay), YETI (available at Sporktchek) and S’well (available at Hudson’s Bay), there are many sustainable (and stylish!) alternatives available.

    Shop eco-friendly lifestyle picks

    image of three swell products on a light-coloured desk: in the foreground is an open tumbler with a visible tea bag hanging out of it, to its right is a coffee tumbler and in the back is a water bottle. All are white with silver accents. Also in the image is a laptop, some books, a plant and a pen.

    S'well

    Stasher

    Stasher

    image of a jar of honey with the label HILLCREST surrounded by several honey bees

    Our Commitment to Sustainability

    At Hillcrest, we take pride in our growing sustainability program and understand our responsibility in regards to future generations. We are proud to share that from 2017-2020, we received a BOMA Best Gold Certification, which recognizes excellence in energy and environmental management and performance in commercial real estate.

    We have a fully integrated recycling program involving both retailers and customers and offer bicycle racks and car charging for those using more sustainable methods of transportation to visit our centre.

    Finally, our rooftop is the proud home of honey bees. Thanks to the wonderful lush gardens of Richmond Hill residents, our bee population has thrived and swelled close to 70,000.

    LEARN MORE

    Sustainability is a journey and small changes can go a long way in creating a positive impact on the environment. By adopting eco-friendly practices and supporting sustainable brands, we can do our part in creating a better future for the planet.

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