Didn’t your mom tell you, “Don’t forget to wear sunscreen!”?! A valuable rule to live by, but one usually followed at a cost.
Regular sunscreens wreak havoc on coral reefs, marine life, and sensitive aquatic ecosystems. Lest we forget their effect on human health—disrupting hormone function, vitamin absorption, and more. And with 4,000–6,000 tons ending up in the ocean each year, it’s about time we made a change.
That’s where biodegradable sunscreen brands step in to save our skins and the coral reefs.
To keep the reefs and our content refresh, we’re going to be reviewing these articles in coming months in (sun)light of our new Brand Rating System. This takes our normal criteria and expants them to 22 clear points, like climate action, product performance, and biodiversity impacts. Read more about it here.
We independently research all featured brands and we ask them to confirm their claims. In many cases we personally review recommended products. This post contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you buy something. Learn more here.
The Top Biodegradable Sunscreens For A Sustainable Sun-Kissed Glow
ATTITUDE’s SPF 30 mineral sunscreen is serving up serious ‘tude with its natural ingredients, broad-spectrum protection, and thoughtful packaging.
Stay safe FORAH whole day with a formula packed with powerful antioxidants, soothing oils, and collagen-boosting ingredients without any of the stuff you don’t want. Did we mention it smells great?
Index: Reef Safe & Biodegradable Sunscreen
- Forah Jump to brand
- Activist Jump to brand
- ATTITUDE Jump to brand
- Butter Me Up Organics Jump to brand
- SurfDurt Jump to brand
- Palm & Pine Jump to brand
- All Good Jump to brand
Forah
FORAH’s Reef Safe Facial Sunscreen
We’ve tried a lot of different biodegradable sunscreens and let’s just say we’re all for a purchase from FORAH after trying it. Offering both a tinted sunscreen tin and a standard sunscreen cream in a recyclable aluminum tube, they give you all sun protection you’re used to—with none of the waste.
The tinted Zinc Surf Balm contains a simple combination of non-nano zinc oxide, virgin coconut oil, cacao powder, and beewax.
The Everyday liquid sunscreen, on the other hand, contains a more complex formula specially designed to sooth and moisturize the skin. It includes organic cold-pressed golden jojoba oil, organic sea buckthorn oil, seaweed extract, and biodynamic avocado oil Plus, thanks to the touch of organic sweet almost oil, we can’t get enough of how good it smells while we’re wearing it.
About FORAH
All of FORAH’s biodegradable sunscreens are certified organic, cruelty-free, and non-GMO. None of the products contain gluten, harmful chemicals, parabens, synthetic fragrances, microplastics, phthalates, petrochemicals, or dyes, either. Because they’re based in Canada, there are more rigorous and quality practices when it comes to non-toxic skincare development.
FORAH is another member of 1% for the Planet, giving back to several organizations for each product purchased.
Activist
Activist’s Reef Safe & Biodegradable Sunscreen
Activist’s Avasol line of Zinc Mineral Sun Cream takes a stand against things like parabens, nanoparticles, GMOs, and other synthetic chemicals.
Because they come in a range of tints and contain nourishing ingredients like argan oil, jojoba oil, and coconut oil, they double as organic tinted moisturizer. If you’re not certain which shade is best suited to you, you can request samples like they sent to us to find your perfect match.
We love this water-resistant sunscreen for that fact that it’s tinted and provides fuller coverage than most sunscreens. As such, we’ve found the sun cream in particular it doubles as a foundation, making it perfect for those sunny situations when you always want to look your best—like an outdoor wedding! It also works perfectly well on the body, with roughly 80 minutes of broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection.
Plus, it comes in a lightweight refill pouch that, while made of plastic, yields a super light shipping footprint.
About Activist
The California-based brand is woman-owned, offering refillable, vegan, and cruelty-free organic skincare. Many products come shipped in glass containers, compostable materials, or recyclable refill pouches. The shipping materials are low-impact, recyclable, and or compostable and created using post-consumer waste.
Like many other brands on our list, Activist is a member of 1% For the Planet, donating upwards of 5% of revenue to various organizations, like Outdoor Afro.
ATTITUDE
ATTITUDE’s Reef Safe Biodegradable Sunscreen
ATTITUDE gives normal sunscreens the side-eye by crafting high-quality mineral-based sunscreens that contain non-nano zinc oxide, which protects against harmful UV rays, according to EWG experts. Other natural ingredients, like coconut oil, shea butter, and organic sunflower oil, help keep the skin moisturized in dehydrating summer conditions.
ATTITUDE’s hypoallergenic sunscreens are suitable for all skin types, including options for damaged, oil, and sensitive skin. Skin irritation aside, they’re also free of PEGs, parabens, endocrine disruptors, oxybenzone, or other coral bleaching agents.
They’re not 100% natural products, as there are a few synthetic compounds, but all the reef safe compounds are verified by EWG Skin Deep.
Some of the brand’s products come in plastic tubes, but most of the zero waste sunscreen catalog is packaged neatly in stylish compostable cardboard tubes.
About ATTITUDE
The Canada-based brand has a wide range of products for your bath, beauty, home care, and mom or baby needs.
As part of PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies program, ATTITUDE doesn’t test any products on animals and is completely vegan. Although some products contain palm oil, ATTITUDE opts for RSPO-certified Mass Balance sustainable palm oil.
Items come from a responsible factory, they don’t support conflict mineral sourcing, and for every item you buy, they will plant a tree through organizations like One Tree Planted and Eden Reforestation.
Butter Me Up Organics
Butter Me Up Organics’ Biodegradable Sunscreen
Butter Me Up Organics stands by the belief that sunscreen doesn’t need harmful chemicals to be effective. Instead, they developed some of the best reef safe sunscreens that are entirely plastic-free and suited for babies, kids, and adults.
Ingredients include coconut oil, shea butter, mango butter, non-nano zinc oxide, grapeseed oil, vitamin E, and beeswax (though there’s an option without, too). The mineral formula is almost 100% certified organic, minus the non-GMO rapeseed oil and zinc oxide.
Butter Me Up offers reusable glass containers or compostable cardboard tubes for packaging. One option includes a recyclable plastic BPA-free tube, but we prefer the other options for obvious reasons.
We’ve tested both the tube and glass jar of their Organic Sunscreen. It’s completely unscented and goes on light and smooth, with no real texture differences between the cream and stick. We keep the cream at home to apply before going out and the tube with us for replication. Plus we love that both only contain six simple ingredients.
About Butter Me Up Organics
Butter Me Up Organics is a unique shop that combines traditional holistic healing techniques with modern sustainable skincare necessities, all without any animal testing and most without palm oil.
Most of their products come in packaging that is good for the environment, such as glass, tin, or compostable cardboard. Despite the extra cost of that, they still manage to contribute to causes that support animal welfare and organizations that are fighting wildfires in California and leukemia.
SurfDurt
SurfDurt’s Biodegradable Sunscreen Reef Safe
Hitting the beaches of Cancún to catch some waves?
SurfDurt makes “extreme adventure sunscreen” with surfers in mind. Whether it’s biodegradable sunscreen for Mexico, Costa Rica, or California, their formula is designed to last, prioritizing ingredients like beeswax for an effective SPF 30 solution lasting 80 minutes in the water.
This means the lotion isn’t vegan, but the beeswax is sustainably sourced from West Africa, vetted by a third-party agency, Koster Keunen.
Many of the organic ingredients are certified, including cocoa butter, coconut oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, carrot seed oil, and raspberry seed oil.
The ultra-portable Original Sunscreen and other formulas are shipped in aluminum-lined reusable bamboo tins produced in the United States using 100% solar-powered equipment. The aluminum inner lining can be split away from the bamboo and recycled, while the bamboo can be composted.
About SurfDurt
Two California girls and their chemist father from Hawaii are the Original DurtHeads behind the sunscreen brand. All three of them have a love for warm days by the beach, so they set out to create an ethical, biodegradable sunscreen formula.
SurfDurt uses “the most ethical sources possible” for their beeswax and ingredients that are free from palm oil, conflict, and animal testing. They give back to numerous non-profit organizations helping the world’s coral reefs, like Coral Gardeners, while others support Trees for the Future and Water for People.
Palm & Pine
Palm & Pine’s Biodegradable Sunscreen SPF 50
Palm & Pine will help you watch the palm trees sway by the poolside without forgetting sun protection. Their reef safe face sunscreen is available in liquid or solid plastic-free bars, both sold in entirely recyclable aluminum materials.
The liquid sunscreen is SPF 30, designed to protect against broad-spectrum UV rays (A and B), without any harmful ingredients. Instead, it includes shea butter, echinacea, calendula, and lemon balm.
The solid container comes with an additional SPF 50, but both formulas include zinc oxide, avocado and jojoba oil, iron oxide for color, and vegan sunflower wax for water resistance.
Neither formulas contain harmful chemicals that damage coral reefs, like oxybenzone and octinoxate. Instead, the paraben-free sunscreen is perfect for everyday use, suited for normal, oily skin, and sensitive skin types.
About Palm & Pine
Palm & Pine creators Ross and Sarah sought to design an effective sunscreen after moving to western Portugal. They named their company Palm & Pine after some of their favorite activities, surfing, snowboarding, sunshine, and hiking.
The founders needed a high-quality product for all this time outside, so they designed a vegan, cruelty-free, and 100% natural formula. None of the products contain harsh chemicals, UV filters, palm oil, or synthetic fragrances.
All Good
All Good’s Biodegradable Reef Safe Sunscreen
All Good’s catalog of regular and tinted biodegradable suntan lotion is suited for sensitive skin types and all skin tones.
The SPF 50 Zinc Sun Butter offers broad-spectrum protection from UV rays for upwards of 80 minutes. The formula doesn’t contain any ingredients leading to coral bleaching, instead using only six certified marine ecosystem-safe ingredients. The sunblock isn’t vegan, but the beeswax comes from a Certified B Corp that ensures its bees have the best conditions.
Some products are packaged in plastic tubes, pump-action bottles, or aerosol containers, but we suggest choosing their sustainable tin packaging. Not only does it reduce waste, it’s easier to carry around.
About All Good
Woman-owned All Good’s journey began back in 1997 when the owner, Caroline, created the very first product. Now their product range has grown to include more healing formulas, natural lip balms, deodorants, and lotions.
The Certified B Corp is Leaping Bunny and PETA-certified cruelty-free, and products are Oregon Tilth Certified Organic. All Good is also Green America-approved and a member of Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
All Good doesn’t use any ingredients containing GMOs, only works with fair trade suppliers, and does its best to minimize excess waste by incorporating recycled and recyclable materials whenever possible. As a member of 1% for the Planet, they donate a portion of their revenue to various organizations like United Plant Savers.
Why Choose Biodegradable Sunscreen?
Non-biodegradable sunscreens are abundant on drugstore shelves and with harsh chemicals, like methylisothiazolinone, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, paraffinum liquidum, and other mouthfuls. Many of these chemicals prevent the body from absorbing vitamin D and disrupt natural hormones and endocrine systems, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
But what is biodegradable sunscreen and how do you know what sunscreen is biodegradable?
It starts with being free of these harmful compounds, some of which are:
- PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid)
- Octinoxate
- Avobenzone (a key active ingredients in conventional sunscreen)
- Oxybenzone
- 4-methyl benzylidene
- Camphor
- Butylparaben
Biodegradable alternatives don’t contain these ingredients, as they can devastate marine life and sensitive ecosystems. The National Ocean Service states many of these ingredients can build up in coral, inhibit algae growth, damage reproduction in fish and sea urchins, and more.
In response to this environmental disaster, some areas have made it a legal requirement that beach-goers only use reef safe sunscreen, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands included.
