Sustainable shopping - suppliers

Part of becoming a bashful activist has been reforming my consumption habits. I'm working on minimising consumption as much as possible, but clearly it's not possible to eliminate buying food, household stuff, clothes etc. etc. Below is what I hope will be a helpful list of suppliers of sustainable products in London and online (UK-based). It's pretty limited at the moment, as I'm only including places I've tried myself, but it will grow.

Physical shops


Groceries/Household/Toiletries


Unpackaged, 197 Richmond Rd London, Greater London E8 3NJ
Almost all products here are sold unpackaged, to encourage you to bring your own containers (BYOC). Including: Organic fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, store cupboard staples, dairy items, wine, spirits, toiletries. Plus adjoining cafe.

Earth Natural Foods, 200-202 Kentish Town Rd London, Greater London NW5 2AE
Loose: Organic, locally-sourced produce, select store cupboard staples inc. tea, coffee, nuts, seeds, wholegrains. Paper bags available for loose produce, as well as plastic.
Non-loose: Organic dairy products, fresh yeast, toiletries and household products, baby-related items, gourmet ingredients, frozen foods section, cheese counter, take-away food (cakes, hot food, bread etc.)

Godfrey’s butchers, 7 Highbury Park, London N5 1QJ
Family-owned butcher in Highbury, selling meat that is free of additives, humanely reared, and fed a natural diet. Chris Godfrey, who I have emailed to check, says they are fine to do BYOC, though I haven’t done this yet.


Supermarket chains


Wholefoods (Camden branch)
Great on the organic front, but guilty when it comes to air miles and packaging, despite their bulk-buying/self-service options. Weird that they don't do BYOC, as they do in the US.

Morrissons (Holloway Road)
Sell Andrex recycled, and massive boxes of ecover washing powder.


Markets


Archway market
Unsprayed English fruit & veg, cheese, baked goods, and various other offerings, slightly cheaper than usual farmer’s markets prices. Ted’s Fruit & Veg store particularly good value, and not much more expensive than supermarket prices (often less).

Parliament Hill farmer's market
Huge selection of vegetables and fruits, pretty good value if you buy seasonal. Also the ubiquitous bread and cake stalls, gourmet burgers etc., but that stuff is rather more expensive.


Technology


CeX, various branches around London
Second-hand technology, gaming, and computing chain, with branches in Camden and Tottenham Ct Road, as well as many more in the suburbs. Recently bought my Samsung ultrabook there for half the original RRP, almost unused.

Online shops

Coming soon! 

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