Bestselling cookbook author Melissa Hemsley shares her guide to the best stores for plastic-free bulk-buying in the UK. Read about how to get started with bulk-buying here.
To get involved, try zerowastehome.com – which lets you put in your postcode – and out pop your local spots
Here are some great shops at a glance:
BulkMarket, reopening soon in Hackney with a compost scheme to boot! (see my article on Grow Your Own)
Hetu, Clapham Junction
BoroughWines, 9 stores over London for refillable wine
StoreCupboard, every Saturday at Crystal Palace market
TheSource bulk foods, Turnham Green
TheHarmless Store, Wood Green
Planet Organic, ‘Unpackaged, concept at 4 shops in London
The Grain Grocer, in Margate (if you watched my old TV show, I went & bought baking ingredients from their old site)
Charlotte’s Cupboard– the UK’s first packaging-free shop on wheels in their electric van ‘Peggy’, looking after Sussex ( I love the videos of them rapping from inside their van)
Waste Not, Brighton
Bamboo Turtle, Hertfordshire
Dash Vegan, Nottingham
The Clean Kilo, Birmingham
Waste Not, Yorkshire
Jarfull, Harrogate
Unwrapped, Sheffield
Loose, Gloucestershire
Cut The Wrap, Cumbria
Zerogreenbristol.co.uk, Bristol
Lesser Litter, Taunton
Nourish of Topsham, Devon
Earth.Food. Love.,Totnes
Gillian’s Larder, Cornwall
Refill Store, Cornwall
Cariad Wholefoods, Dorset
Waste not Want Not Bridport, Dorset
Wild Thyme Wholefoods, Portsmouth
Happy Planet Green Store, Pembrokeshire
Natural Weigh, Wales
Viva Organic, Cardiff
Locavore, Glasgow
New leaf coop, Edinburgh
ONLINE ONLY
Roots
Zero
Waste Club
Worthwhyle
No
Plastic Shop
Plastic
Free Pantry
Steenbergs – Herbs & Spices and great curry mixes, many of their herbs and spices are fairtrade and organic and they now do package in paper bags on request
Ecover, refill your ecover products
PLUS, look up these great companies that can bulk deliver grass fed organic meat or organic seasonal vegetables so you can freeze and cook when you fancy: Farmison; Riverford; FarmDrop. For fish, try MSC certified fish boxes like Stickleback and FishBox.
There are plenty more out there to enjoy and support. Check out these fabulous people for more zero waste living tips and comprehensive resources:
My friend Kate Arnell Eco Boost’s vlogs
Pebble Mag – a sustainable lifestyle magazine
The Zero Waster – the ‘zero waste Queen’ and creater of the amazing invaluable app to find your local bulk buy shop
And finally, sign-up to the Eco-Age newsletter where we’ll keep you abreast of all the best brands and businesses working to make it easy to live better.