TikTok is home to over 800 million users around the world, many of whom use the platform to share their wisdom, opinions and best tips on all aspects of life.
If you’re looking for ways to live a greener life, it’s a great place to pick up some of the best eco hacks and eco product recommendations - whether it’s ways to reduce your carbon footprint or how to reuse everyday household products to reduce waste.
Curious about the top eco trends on the platform, we analysed TikTok data to reveal the most popular eco-friendly products and the most-watched eco hacks.
The Most Popular Eco-Hacks On TikTok
From how to make your own deodorant to using root veg ends to regrow food, we analysed the number of views for different hashtags relating to over 50 eco hacks, and then ranked them from the most to least viewed to reveal which were the most popular on TikTok. You can also read here about green energy in the home.
Our research discovered the most popular eco-hack is creating plastic eco-bricks, with ‘how to’ videos amassing a whopping 19 million views on the platform. By using empty plastic bottles and filling them with unrecyclable plastics such as packaging, wrapping and plastic bags, you can send them off to be used for construction purposes and help to reduce the amount of plastic in landfill and the oceans.
Banana peel fertiliser is second on the list of top trending eco hacks, with a total of 8.3 million views. As a way of reducing and repurposing waste, you can store banana peel in a jar filled with water, then leave to rest for a week, and start watering your plants and vegetable patches and watch the magic happen.
Also in the top five environmentally-conscious tips are DIY paper envelopes using scrap pieces of paper, followed by reusable jars which have a total of 1.5 million views (and counting).
Top 20 Trending Eco-Hacks On TikTok
| Rank | Description of hack | TikTok hashtag | # Views on TikTok |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Create eco-plastic bricks | Ecobricks | 19,000,000 |
| 2 | Eco-friendly fertiliser from old bananas | Bananaeelfertiliser | 8,300,000 |
| 3 | Grow your own loofah | Homemadeloofah | 3,500,000 |
| 4 | DIY paper envelopes | Diyenvelope | 2,300,000 |
| 5 | Reuse jars and containers | Reusejars | 1,500,000 |
| 6 | Homemade plant fertilizer using coffee grounds | Homemadefertilizer | 1,500,000 |
| 7 | Using root veg ends to regrow food | Regrowveggies | 1,400,000 |
| 8 | Homemade lip balm | Homemadelipbalm | 1,300,000 |
| 9 | Homemade eco-friendly cleaner | Homemadecleaner | 1,300,000 |
| 10 | Regrow lettuce | Regrowlettuce | 1,100,000 |
| 11 | Reusing brine to create pickles | Homemadepickles | 1,100,000 |
| 12 | Reuse old clothes to reuse waste | Upcycleclothes | 1,100,000 |
| 13 | Turn a milk container into a plant pot | Milkcontainerplant | 865,100 |
| 14 | Making homemade vinegar from old apples | Homemadevinegar | 218,000 |
| 15 | Reducing waste by freezing avocados | Freezeavocados | 151,100 |
| 16 | Make your own deodorant | Homemadedeodrant | 148,300 |
| 17 | Make your own oat milk | Homemadeoatmilk | 75,900 |
| 18 | Upcycle candle jars | Reusecandlejars | 71,800 |
| 19 | Homemade beeswax food wrap for food storage | Diybeeswaxwrap | 46,200 |
| 20 | Create your own vegan wax wraps | Veganwaxwraps | 31,800 |
The Most Popular Eco-Products On TikTok
Our research showed menstrual cups are the top trending environmentally friendly product on the social media app, with over 861 million views for the hashtag ‘menstrual cup,’. Natural deodorant comes second with 47 million views and beeswax wraps are third with 32 million.
Menstrual cups are the green alternative to tampons and sanitary products, and were created as an eco alternative to traditional period care products that mostly contain plastic and aren’t biodegradable. The rubber-based alternatives are reusable and often last years, making them more sustainable (and cheaper!) than the throwaway products that are most commonly used. ‘Natural deodorant’ is second on the trending list with a total of 47.3 million hashtag views on TikTok. Unlike regular deodorant that often comes in aerosol cans or plastic roll-on sticks, natural deodorants are taking the internet by storm for being stored in glass jars or metal tins, which make them more environmentally friendly than throwaway packaging. Third on the list are beeswax wraps; an eco-alternative to cling film. You can use them to wrap up food, then wash them up and reuse them all over again. Not only does this reduce the amount of plastic ending up in landfill, it is also thought to reduce food waste thanks to their slightly sticky texture keeping everything fresh. Period pants (underwear designed to be used during your period that acts like a sanitary towel to be washed and reused) are fourth on the list with 24.3 million views, followed closely by the hashtag ‘shampoo bar’ in fifth place with 24 million views.
Top 25 Trending Eco-Products On TikTok
| Rank | Product | TikTok hashtag | TikTok # views |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Menstrual cup | Menstrualcup | 861,500,500 |
| 2 | Natural deodorant | Naturaldeodorant | 47,300,000 |
| 3 | Beeswax wraps | Beeswaxwraps | 32,100,000 |
| 4 | Period pants | Periodpants | 24,300,000 |
| 5 | Shampoo bar | Shampoobar | 24,000,000 |
| 6 | Reusable shopping bag | Reusablebag | 12,000,000 |
| 7 | Swedish dishcloths | Swedishdishcloth | 7,100,000 |
| 8 | Reusable cotton pads | Reusablecottonpads | 6,800,000 |
| 9 | Bamboo toothbrushes | Bambootoothbrush | 6,300,000 |
| 10 | Reusable straws | Reusablestraws | 1,900,000 |
| 11 | Reusable water bottles | Reusablewaterbottles | 1,100,000 |
| 12 | Reusable face mask | Reusablefacemask | 565,700 |
| 13 | Reusable sanitary pads | Reusablesanitarypads | 386,200 |
| 14 | Reusable baking mats | Reusablebakingmats | 366,300 |
| 15 | Deodarant bars | Deodorantbar | 212,800 |
| 16 | Silicone wraps | Siliconewrap | 204,100 |
| 17 | Zero-waste toothpate | Zerowastetoothpate | 196,200 |
| 18 | Reusable food wraps | Reusablefoodwraps | 195,900 |
| 19 | Eco-friendly cleaning products | Ecofriendlycleaningproducts | 189,500 |
| 20 | Bamboo makeup pads | Bamboopads | 165,800 |
| 21 | Reusable coffee cup | Reusablecoffeecup | 80,900 |
| 22 | Reusable tampons | Reusabletampons | 41,100 |
| 23 | Reusable razor | Reusablerazor | 39,300 |
| 24 | Coconut brush | Coconutbrush | 35,400 |
| 25 | Reusable coffee pod | Reusablecoffeepod | 26,200 |
If this has inspired you to implement more eco-friendly lifestyle changes, read up on what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint.
Methodology
We used desk research, consulting TikTok, Instagram and authoritative home, lifestyle and news sites to compile a list of almost 50 key eco-friendly/ reusable products. To rank their popularity in TikTok, we recorded the number of views for each hashtag and then ranked the eco products according to which had the highest views.
We also looked into eco hacks - by watching hundreds of videos on TikTok with the hashtag #ecohack, we compiled a list of the key hacks mentioned in multiple videos. Using the same ranking systems, the popularity of the hacks was ranked by views, from highest to lowest.
All data correct at 16.11.21
