25+ Top Zero Waste & Eco-shops in UK
If you, just like me, are a conscious person who loves to do things right, to preserve our one & only planet, you are recycling “the right way”, and trying your best to shop with the minimum footprint.
Because your choice matters.
The Zero Waste Talk
Back in September 2018, I’ve put together an event called ‘Zero Waste Talk” that ended up being a huge success.
We have invited three speakers, each from a bit different industry, to talk about the zero-waste issues.
Besma Whayeb – ethical lifestyle blogger from Curiously Conscious spoke about every day’s essentials a conscious consumer should carry in the handbag.
Emilie Vanpoperinghe – the co-founder of oddBox have tackled the issue with the food waste.
William Brown – a personal trainer, public speaker, and environmentalist – founder of The Active Vegans and The Plantbased Games dived deeper into the issue of nutrition and overall lifestyle, and how the zero waste approach can be implemented in mentioned areas.
The whole event could only happen thanks to that time newly open Zero-waste shop in Brixton – Pipoca, that also serves delicious vegan crepes!
The truth is, the founder of Pipoca is my friend, and we wanted to create a bit of excitement about the new Zero-waste shop opening 🙂 Thankfully, the number of people who came to support the new venture exceeded our expectations (we had over 60 people attend the talk, and even had to gather spare chairs and benches from neighbours!), and we were well happy to see the zero-waste movement has taken off really well!
My childhood memories & Zero waste
Sustainability, recycling, eco-living and zero-waste are very close to my heart. Since I was a child, I have always been educated and pushed to do the right thing, when it came to waste. When I was growing up, there wasn’t so much plastic around (barely any in the food chain). I remember shampoos in glass bottles and regular soap bars. The washing powders were packaged in cardboard. The shaving razors were stainless steel, and the cotton earbuds we DIY – we used the matches and cotton wool.
Majority of drinks were sold in glass bottles, and when finished, we simply took the empty bottles back to the shop to get either small pennies back or a discount from the next purchase. When I go back home these days, I can barely find mineral water in a glass bottle. That’s a huge shame, as it simply doesn’t taste the same – and considering all the xenoestrogens that are leaking into the drink (and causing a variety of hormonal imbalances to our precious bodies), I rather say no to it.
The very same went for milk and yoghurts. Sold in glass bottles, with the ability to return them back to the shops (washed).
Legumes, pulses and grains were sold on weight, and placed in paper bags. Teas were all loose (sometimes sold in tins). Powdered products were all sold in paper pouches, some additionally placed in boxes from thicker paper or cardboard.
There were plenty of small local businesses everywhere and everyone was taking their part in dealing with their waste responsibly. When you bought meat in butchery, it was wrapped in paper. The same with bakeries. Fruits and vegetables didn’t require additional wrappings.
I also remember we had competitions at schools for who brings the most paper to recycle (we had to divide the newspaper and printed magazines and submit them separately). The winner usually won some nice school trip or excursion.
There were no microwaves, and definitely no deep-friers.
Surely, the time has changed.
And together with it the packaging of produce. Luckily, these days we can find more and more small businesses, that are eco-conscious and try their best bringing the zero-waste tradition back. Purchasing zero-waste plastic-free products is healthier and much cheaper in the long run (contrary to what most people think).
Nobody is perfect, I get it, but as I firmly believe in a circular economy, I always do my very best to source sustainably and locally, buy food without the plastic wraps (from farmer’s markets, or bulk stores), refuse plastic, and support the local charities whenever I can (or eco-shops how I call them :)). After all, I have been working with the local charity The Royal Trinity Hospice for over 3 years now, just to say, I walk my talk.
By now, it must be obvious, I am a vivid fan of sustainable eco and zero-waste (low-waste) lifestyle and businesses who share the same values. That’s why I have decided to put together a list of Online Zero Waste shops located in UK, that you can support by buying the products and produce from, without damaging the Mother Earth. I also enjoy researching for amazing eco-products (that’s the fun part!)
Shopping zero/low waste is often much healthier (whether it comes to foods or beauty products), and cheaper in the long run. Win-win!
ONLINE Zero Waste & Eco-shops in UK
Acala
– an online store offering an extensive range of natural, organic and vegan health and beauty products from leading brands. All responsibly packaged; refills, plastic-free and zero-waste packaging. The name Acala is of Indian – Sanskrit origins and means ‘the immovable one’. Acala is here to provide immovable balance between people and planet. It is with this constant equilibrium between us and nature that we can move towards our sustainable future.
Acala has proudly teamed up with Offset Earth as part of their ongoing commitment to becoming a carbon positive company. Acala is also a member of Zero To Landfill (ZTL) Loop Scheme.
Acala is one of the companies who kindly provided free goodies for the Zero Waste Talk. Thank you!
Anything But Plastic
– the aim of the company is to bring together as many as possible of the individual brands and companies that produce plastic-free alternative products and provide a platform of convenience for the average consumer to purchase these goods.
I love the company as it provides a very different approach and is extremely informative, and helps to the buyer to make the right decision based on the knowledge of the product. With each product you get 4 sections:
- What does it replace? – explanation of what alternative to plastic does this product provide.
- Why is it better? – explains why this product is better than the plastic item it replaces.
- Is it worth it? – explaining the value of the product and the environmental benefits, along with any other benefits it provides.
- Material ratings – this section explains what the product is made from, whether it is sustainable and environmentally friendly and how ethical it is too.
Atlas & Ortus
– ethical and eco-friendly products for everyday adventure. The mission of the company is making stylish zero waste lifestyle accessories which make it easier to live in a more green way and cut down on the unnecessary plastics in your life.
Atlas & Ortus is another company who kindly provided free goodies for the Zero Waste Talk. Thank you!
Boo Balou
– offers reusable replacements to disposable household products. Section for household, ladies, baby and general eco-living.
The fact I love – for every order placed through Boobalou, the company (actually, the founder Jo – mum of two little boys) plants a tree in partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects. Eden Reforestation projects reduce extreme poverty and restores healthy forests by employing local villagers to plant millions of trees every year in Madagascar, Nepal, Indonesia, Mozambique and Haiti.
Jo also offers a very unique service – a free reusable nappy hire service for anyone living in Surrey or local parents in Middlesex.
Cero
– a family run online zero-waste shop that offers an extensive list of dried produce – dried fruit, nuts, confectionery, baking, sugars, seeds, beans, rice, pasta, cereals, herbs and spices.
You can choose the packaging: either free compostable pouches or an organic cotton produce bag from Turtle Bags. The price will automatically adjust depending on the options you chose.
Cero means ‘zero’ in Spanish. The company founders chose this name as it was whilst in Chile that they realised how sustainable the Chileans live, how most of the Chileans they stayed with lived environmentally friendly and were already ahead of the game. The founders believed they could come back to the UK and start making plans of their own to build our ultimate sustainable life. Their first mission was to reduce the plastic and this is where Cero was born.
Do Lil Things
– Lil is a social enterprise on a mission to make Lower Impact Living easy. Many of the products are sourced from local East Lothian or Scottish producers, some from other social enterprises who also invest their profits in social and environmental good, and all aiming to lower your impact on the Earth.
The company makes a difference and walk their talk by organizing group clean-ups, pop-ups and markets, as well as various educational events.
Offering a wide range of products for household, skincare, and many other essentials. You can also choose to order a weekly Organic Fruit & Veg box.
Earth Bits
– Zero Waste and Plastic Free Shop for beauty and cleaning products among other things. Their extensive range of the products also includes mamas & babies essentials, household products, zero-waste swaps section, and on-the-go section.
You might fell in love with their informative blog! Make sure to check it out.
The Eco Kindly
– The Eco Kindly shop has been found by lovely Eliana, out of necessity when she found herself in the hospital, facing infertility, hormonal imbalances and constant brain-fog. She went onto the path of exploring how our planet being poisoned by the chemicals we use – unable to eradicate the toxic waste that is created by the creams and beauty products we discard. After undertaking training about sustainability and toxicity, it became clear there is much to change in regards to every day’s essentials. By eradicating toxins from her own life, her health has been transformed. And that’s when the Eco Kindly was born.
Eliana is on the mission – to change the world through eco-kindly products and knowledge – one bathroom shelf at a time.
Eco-friendly and plastic-free daily essentials ethically sourced and delivered to your door! Making the world a better place by having in place a non-toxic policy and animal welfare.
The Eco Shop UK
– over 200 ethical, cruelty-free, eco friendly products including kitchen, home & on the go with subscriptions service available.
The company specialises in ‘every day’ eco essentials including cleaning products, skincare, dental, feminine hygiene, shaving, and more. Plus ethical, plastic-free gifts for him, her, kids and mums to be. There is also ever-expanding ethical and toxin-free gift category, offering super ideas for friends and family that they will truly love, such as plastic-free toys, ‘make your own’ gift sets, natural beauty sets, and more.
The Earth Shop
– Everything sold in The Earth Shop is 100% vegan and cruelty-free. All of the products are plastic free and either zero waste, compostable or reusable. The founder has sourced products made in the UK as much as possible to reduce the shops’ carbon footprint. The company is also powered by 100% green renewable energy at their premises.
You might be happy to hear, that The Earth Shop donates 10% of their total profits between two amazing animal charities. They are so pleased to be supporting the Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norfolk, and South Essex Wildlife Hospital in Orsett. They also plant a tree for every order through One Tree Planted!
Ethicale
– gorgeous ethical and sustainable, plastic-free British brands brought together under one roof. Beautifully presented, stocking various collections from Baby, Beauty & Grooming, Cleaning & Laundry, Feminine care, Kitchen products, Slow Fashion, and even section for pets.
All products are carefully packaged in eco-friendly plastic-free packaging and delivered straight to your door and the company proudly donates a percentage of their profits to NHS Charities Together Campaign.
Fillable
– at first, only local refill shop located in Buckinghamshire, now taken online, where it offers sustainable alternatives to everyday items.
From food refills like pasta, rice, cereals, dried fruit & snacks, pulses, and chocolate, to liquids refills like shampoos, conditioners, and cleaning products.
Friendly Turtle
– eco-friendly shopping for simple swaps to green products that help you reduce waste and live more sustainably. Featuring sections of skincare, bathroom, kitchen, outdoors and gifts.
Apart from sourcing locally and supporting small businesses, plus banking with an ethical bank, the company donates 5% of all profits to charities or social enterprises that carry out incredible projects around the globe.
Kick Plastic
– Kick Plastic aims to bring you a range of carefully selected and researched replacements to single-use and short life plastic items and reusable eco products for the whole family, all delivered in plastic-free packaging. The company promises thorough research and tests of all their products and only stocks items they are happy to use themselves.
– find products for beauty, home, out and about.
New Footprint
– All the eco-friendly shopping you could ever need in one place. Because saving the world should be convenient.
New Footprint connects eco entrepreneurs across the UK with eco conscious consumers.
Find a variety of products from categories like kitchen, bathroom, homeware, jewellery, beauty products, mum & baby, stationery, clothes & accessories and more.
The goal of New Footprint is to put an end to lack of knowledge and help consumers to make little changes that make a big difference. An interesting fact is that WWF has kindly allowed the company to use their facts about animals but the information you find on single-use plastics is based entirely on their own extensive research and fact-checking.
Bonus: Free Delivery on everything!
The Kind Store
– The Kind Store offers a handpicked collection of vegan, natural and sustainable everyday essentials, helping you to lower your impact on our planet.
The company tries and tests every product in-house and stock over 100+ independent and zero waste brands. They are transparent in everything they do, post your parcels plastic free, are vegan owned and operated and donate 10% of their profits to Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary.
I love that they prioritise working with small independent businesses who make their products by hand in the UK.
A longer term aim of their business is to become a net zero emission company. Their HQ is currently powered by renewable electricity.
No Plastic Shop
– Based in the wilds of Dartmoor, the No Plastic Shop focuses on carefully selected plastic free essentials for the home, including the best that Devon and Cornwall have to offer.
Shop for products in categories: beauty, kitchen and bathroom.
Peace With The Wild
– a small family run business that works closely with over 100 brands who are focused on creating natural, eco-friendly and sustainable products with you and our environment in mind. Their aim is to make sustainability simple whilst becoming closer to nature. The founders work closely with small independent brands like themselves, using only the best natural ingredients handmade here in the UK, packaged in reusable/recyclable/biodegradable materials for a greener future.
Find anything from skincare, haircare, make-up, bathroom, kitchen and homeware to on-the-go, mama & baby, gifts & kits and food & drink.
The very special brand they sell is the Purity for Men – a luxury plastic-free skincare for men made in UK.
The Plastic Free Shop
– a go-to online resource of over 75 brands selling carefully selected plastic-free alternatives to everyday products.
The Plastic Free Shop is a proud member of 1% for the Planet – a global network of businesses, nonprofits and individuals working together for a healthy planet, as well as a proud member of the Surfers Against Sewage 250 Club. The 250 Club is their business membership scheme and it’s a chance for The Plastic Free Shop to be part of a powerful network of leaders, driving forward a movement for change.
Plastic Freedom
– 2000+ plastic free, vegan & natural alternatives. The company plants a tree with every order. You can find a special section ‘Vegan Shop’, plenty of skincare products, make-up, household essentials, clothing, travel essentials, a separate category for men, on-the-go and cleaning products.
Truly a beautifully presented online store you will instantly fell in love with!
Plastic Free Pantry
– UK’s first online plastic free food shop. As a social enterprise, the company is focused not on profit but on reducing the amount of single-use plastic littering the planet. The enterprise offering whole foods and pantry staple items which they buy in bulk and pack into plastic-free packaging.
Plastic Free Pantry also roasts fine speciality coffees in really small batches and grinds to order, so you get the freshest possible coffee.
Another very impressive product is their Heritage Grain Pasta. The company takes organic British grown and milled heritage grain flours and make them into nutritious and delicious air-dried pasta. Wow!
The Re-store
– ethical, zero-waste, and vegan essentials selling beauty, bathroom and kitchen products.
The company believes it’s important to take care of our local environment and those around the world. To do their bit, they are getting involved in a very important cause by making regular donations to The Coral Reef Restoration project.
Thoroughly Modern Grandma – TGM
– from the blog to shop, the founder Frankie has done a great job! TGM shop offers many zero-waste, plastic-free products including lots of handmade items in small quantities from wonderful UK based producers.
Find products in the following categories: personal care, hair care, dental hygiene, natural cleaning, on-the-go, kitchen, mum & baby, stationery and Christmas!
Wearth London
– Wearth now partners with over 200 independent UK brands that make contemporary eco-friendly and ethical products, making it easier for you to shop and live more consciously. 80% of their products are made here in the UK.
From natural beauty products, zero waste essentials to jewellery made from recycled silver. On their online marketplace you can also discover a wide collection of sustainable products hand selected by their London team with quality and style in mind.
An interesting feature of this innovative shop is shopping ‘by values’.
- plastic-free
- made in UK
- vegan friendly
- refillable
- handmade
- natural ingredients
- organic
- recycled materials
- social contribution
Worth Whyle
– the Worthwhyle provides simple, ethically produced, cruelty free goods at fair prices. their products are also zero waste, plastic free and vegan where possible.
Find products for home, bathroom, kitchen, health & beauty, kids section, as well as gifts sets and kits.
The founder – Ashley hopes to provide an online space that makes it easier for you to live an intentional, more sustainable lifestyle, by purchasing from a store that aligns with your values from start to finish. Ashely works with a lot of small businesses and like-minded makers who are doing fantastic things and creating gorgeous eco-friendly products because it’s what they truly care about! Most of them are based in the UK, although some come from farther afield.
Zero Waste Bulk Foods
– plastic-free UK bulk store with over 170 products from vegan and organic ranges to eco-friendly household items. Everything is packed to order in recyclable paper bags or biodegradable, home compostable 100% plant based bags.
The mission is to make zero waste and bulk foods shopping accessible to everyone through the online store, and reduce your food waste – you only buy what you need of your lesser used products (if you know you eat a lot of a particular product, you can buy in a larger quantity, which will reduce the cost per 100g).
A perfect destination to buy your bulk foods, as well as essentials for the kitchen and bathroom.
Zero Waste Club
– Zero Waste Club is a company with innovative zero waste products (check out the Modular Dish Brush made of aluminium with replaceable head made of bamboo and natural sisal plant bristles – love it! And the pencils made with 100% newspaper waste? Wicked!).
The founders started their own journey to produce truly sustainable, beautifully designed, ethical and vegan essentials at affordable prices.
Zero Waste Club team care about who makes their products and if they are happy making them. So they disclose who made the products and how much they were paid. As well as the working conditions. That’s what I call transparency.
Ah, and did I mention the company plants a tree with every order? Can it get any better? 🙂
Zero Waste Path
– a company that isn’t zero waste and sustainable only in the final packaging, but all along the production chain as well. One of the founders, Bianca studied Environmental Sustainability in Edinburgh and is madly in love with sustainability topic. The company is transparent, and they share all of their waste, practices and decisions on their Instagram and Facebook pages, as well as on their website!
I truly am in love with their products and have tried a few! I love the fact that they don’t outsource anything – this small company (actually a young couple) manufactures all of their products in their workshop, they also carefully select their suppliers and take care of every aspect of what they do.
Here you go!
28 sustainable, eco, zero-waste, plastic-free companies to reach to, when on the hunt for the next environmentally friendly product! We all have to do our part – even if we change one item a time. For ourselves, our future generations, and for our planet.
I will do my best to update this article when more and more eco-brands come on the scene!
If you have your favourite Eco & Zero Waste shop, please, let me know in comments, so I can add it to the list!
Also, don’t forget to share this post with your friends who love eco-products!
Keep Shining!
Coming next:
Best Eco-Beauty Brands – Skincare
Best Eco Gifts for Christmas Everyone Will Love
Stay tuned!
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