Meaning & use
sustainably made
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Produced in a way that causes little or no damage to the environment and can continue over time.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: a sustainably made product. It can also follow a linking verb: The product is sustainably made.
Patterns
- sustainably made + noun
- be sustainably made
She only buys sustainably made clothing from small brands.
The furniture is sustainably made from recycled wood.
They claim their packaging is sustainably made and fully recyclable.
Common combinations
- sustainably made products
- The store sells only sustainably made products.
- sustainably made clothing
- Sustainably made clothing often costs a little more.
- sustainably made furniture
- They specialize in sustainably made furniture.
- sustainably made goods
- The label helps shoppers find sustainably made goods.
- sustainably made from
- The bags are sustainably made from old fishing nets.
Synonyms and how they differ
- eco-friendly
- Eco-friendly means not harmful to the environment, but it does not always suggest the product can be made long-term without using up resources; sustainably made often implies both.
- green
- Green is a more informal, general word for environmentally friendly; sustainably made is more specific about the production process.
- ethical
- Ethical focuses on fair treatment of workers and animals, while sustainably made focuses on environmental impact and long-term resource use.
Word family
- sustainable adjective
- Able to continue over time without damaging the environment.
- sustainability noun
- The quality of being able to continue without harming the environment.
- sustainably adverb
- In a way that can continue without damage.
Commonly confused: sustainably made or sustained?
sustainably made vs sustained
Sustained means continuing for a long time (sustained effort) or experiencing something (sustained an injury). Sustainably made is about how a product is produced.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'sustainably made' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 1 is correct because 'sustainably made' follows the linking verb 'are' and describes the shoes. Option 0 is wrong because 'sustainably made' cannot come after the object 'shoes' as a verb phrase. Option 2 repeats 'made' awkwardly. Option 3 has the phrase after the noun but before the verb, which is not natural English word order.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sustainably made”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.