The Ultimate List Of Sustainable Retailers
Being an ethical consumer is becoming easier than ever thanks to a rise in sustainable retailers over the past decade. Whether you’re looking for products made from planet-friendly materials or you want to know that the products you are buying are paying the makers a fair wage, we’ve got you covered. Here, we’ve listed the best sustainable retailers out there, so you don’t have to go hunting for them.
Contents
Homeware
Aerende
Aerende sells gifts and products for the home, made by people facing social challenges in the UK. Their range of products is carefully crafted by makers from around Britain who are struggling with regular employment.
Aerende is a non-profit organisation founded in 2016 by Emily Mathieson. She is passionate about homeware that is locally made, practical and also beautiful and wanted to create homeware that was high quality, ethical and stylish.
The Little Market
The Little Market features ethically sourced artisanal products. They’re a nonprofit fair trade shop that showcases the stories of the people who make the products. Their goal is to empower artisans across the globe by helping them distribute their products more widely and supporting sustainable income opportunities. They celebrate the cultural techniques and traditions of the artisans they work with and bring light to human rights and social justice issues faced by their local communities.
Nkuku
Nkuku’s collections are shaped by sustainable methods of production, with a focus on working with recycled and natural materials. They regularly review their packaging and ensure their air freight is minimal. Many of Nkuku’s products are handmade from recycled materials, including waste products from other industries such as cotton from discarded t-shirts, metals, glass, leather and recycled saris. By recycling, Nkuku aims to create beautiful new products with a smaller environmental impact.
West Elm
West Elm lives by the motto: ‘Good for people. Good for the planet. Good for you.’
They focus on sustainable products that don’t harm the planet, sourcing materials that are FSC®-certified, upcycled or recycled, to create less waste.
Tabitha Eve
Tabitha Eve provides eco-friendly alternative household items that can be reused again and again. They are on a mission to make it easy for everyone to switch to reusable rather than single-use household items.
ONE NINE EIGHT FIVE
Founded in 2016, One Nine Eight Five creates collections that bring colour, comfort and joy for spaces to call ‘their own’. Specialising in printed and interior textiles this sustainable British homeware brand creates home accessories consciously designed, sourced and produced with a no-waste philosophy as standard. Immerse in eye-catching bold geometrics, plush printed velvets, tassels and recycled fibre throws in feel good, do good fabrics to uplift the soul. They embrace locally made, good quality, unique pieces that are made to last whilst supporting the British craftsmen who produce our homewares for us.
Benchmark Furniture
A powerhouse of craft, Benchmark are one of the UK's leading furniture-makers. Founded by Terence Conran and Sean Sutcliffe in 1984, the company has a mission to create furniture that contributes to human health and well-being, using natural, sustainable and non-toxic materials. With workshops in Berkshire and Dorset, Benchmark works with many of the world's leading architects and designers on commercial and residential projects. From forest to finished piece, Benchmark is positioned as a leader in sustainable enterprise. Their approach marries forward-thinking design with exemplary levels of craftsmanship and creativity, producing beautiful furniture that exudes natural warmth and soul.
Twisted Loom
Twisted Loom design and handcraft Limited Edition ranges of furniture using thoughtfully sourced, 'hyper-local British materials and skills. The company uses beautiful wool from one of England’s oldest mills nestled in Yorkshire and their wood is sourced from local Forestry Stewardship Commission suppliers. Even their oak and beech legs are designed and hand-turned in our Manchester studio. Central to their mission is the creation of ‘thoughtful furniture’ not ‘fast furniture’ with the aim of making you something special that will last decades. Twisted Loom is delighted to offer a whopping LIFETIME guarantee on most of our furniture frames!
Koffee
We’ve all seen the video of the straw in the sea turtle’s nose. We know that we all need to do better by the earth.
Koffee’s vision for SipCycle is eco-perfection, meaning: both their product and packaging are designed with lifecycle in mind. Their straws are patented for their slim angled design and certified 100% silicone. The #1 sipping straw! Best of all, silicone (just as with your household bakeware) lasts forever (years of repeated use), but when the straw’s ready to toss, just burn it. Once burned, silicone is a bio-inert ash. The Strategist Magazine refers to this as giving your KoffieStraw its very own Viking Burial and National Geographic is impressed 😊.
They’re packaged in a certified home-compostable & marine-degradable NatureFlex material. Mashable Magazine calls it the most metal thing ever!
Dopper
Dopper is a social enterprise on a mission. Crystal clear water, in every ocean, and from every tap. Dopper empowers people to choose reusable over single-use water bottles, to protect our world’s water sources. More specifically, Dopper wants to ban single-use plastic water bottles out of the world by offering a sustainable alternative. The proceeds of the sales of our bottles are used for projects on the three pillars: education, awareness and change. Dopper supports drinking water and sanitation projects in Nepal, initiates big education projects like the Changemaker Challenge and, in 2020, launched the Dopper Wave, a pledge any business or individual can sign where they promise to ban single-use plastic water bottles out of their life.
Beds & Bedding
Naturepedic
Naturepedic is an organic mattress and bedding manufacturing company. Since 2003, Naturepedic has been on a mission to transform the lives of their customers through safer, healthier sleep. By eliminating materials like flame retardants and polyurethane foam from their line of certified organic natural mattresses, Naturepedic supports an organic holistic lifestyle while protecting the environment. As a family-owned business with an excellent reputation for quality products and great customer service, Naturepedic is proud to offer the very best in sleep products. When you buy a Naturepedic mattress, you can be assured that your bed was crafted by people who care.
Silent Night
Silentnight – the UK’s most trusted bed brand
For over 75 years, Silentnight beds and mattresses have been handmade in the UK and tried & tested to the highest standards. They make beds that work for everyone, every need, want, shape, size and sleeping position, because everyone is unique when it comes to sleep. There’s a reason why 1 in every 5 beds sold in the UK are Silentnight.
Silentnight is dedicated to having a positive impact on the planet through sustainable product development. In the past 5 years, Silentnight’s eco-friendly mattress collection has saved over 225 million single-use plastic bottles from entering oceans or going into landfill. By taking the plastic bottles, recycling and transforming them into high performance and breathable Eco Comfort Fibres™, they can offer sleepers a refreshing sleep that doesn’t cost the earth.
Plover
Plover produces textiles using top quality 100% organic cotton. All of the organic fibres they use meet the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), which certifies fibre and textile handling and production.
The organic cotton Plover uses is grown in soil free from pesticides, cytotoxins and herbicides, to protect the ecosystem.
Natural Bed Company
Operating for over 40 years, Natural Bed Company produces wooden beds using timber from sustainable sources. They ensure never to use endangered tropical hardwoods, instead sourcing their pine from Scandinavia and their hardwoods (ash, oak, maple, cherry, walnut and beech) from Northern Europe or the USA.
Their motto is to keep it simple, keep it different and make it perfect. And they
Avocado Green Mattress
Avocado Green Mattress is the world’s only Climate Neutral Certified® bedding and mattress brand, providing mattresses and bedding that are non-toxic and organic. They use sustainable products, including GOLS organic certified wool, cotton, latex and kapok fibre. They aim to be one of the world’s most sustainable brands. And their factory and workshop in LA are powered entirely by renewable energy, as well as being GOTS organic and FSC® certified. They donate 1% of their revenue to nonprofit environmental projects as part of the 1% For The Planet initiative.
Groceries
Wild Oats
Wild Oats is an independent health store based in Bristol. They’re packed full to the brim with everything from natural foods and natural beauty products to vitamins and eco-friendly products. Their huge range is down to the fact we’ve been open since 1981, which means they’ve tried and tested all the health trends over the years and have only kept the health products and wholefoods on the shelves that they’re happy to use ourselves. Pop into their store if you’re ever in Bristol or shop online today.
Beyond Meat
Beyond Meat creates plant-based meat products. They believe that by shifting from animal to plant-based meat, we’ll have a positive impact on animal welfare, human health, climate change and the planet’s natural resources.
Skincare
Lovegrove Essentials
Created in 2015 by a mother and daughter duo, Lovegrove Essentials is an award-winning, COSMOS approved, cruelty-free, natural and organic skincare brand. Handmade in Dorset, using ethically sourced natural ingredients of the highest quality that cleanse, balance, hydrate and replenish all skin types.
Products are bursting with skin-loving essential oils - rose, neroli, pomegranate seed, witch hazel, jojoba, mandarin, shea butter and lemon to ensure that your skin is receiving the best in aromatherapeutic care and antioxidants. Working with nature rather than against it, sustainability is at the heart of the business and our products are produced with eco-friendly practices always in mind.
Accessories
Wearth London
Launched in 2017, Wearth partners with independent brands in the UK that make contemporary ethical and eco-conscious products, making it simple for you to live and shop more consciously for you to shop and live more consciously.
From zero waste items to natural beauty products and jewellery made from recycled silver, their online marketplace provides a wide range of high quality, sustainable and stylish products.
Pela
Pela creates everyday products without everyday waste (tm), starting with the world's first compostable phone case. As a Certified B Corporation, member of 1% for the Planet, and Climate Neutral brand, Pela is on a mission to eliminate 1 billion pounds of waste from the global waste stream. When you are ready to make the switch from plastic to Pela, they'll even recycle your old case for you through their 360 Program. Beyond plant-based cases for your devices, Pela is parent to a biodegradable vision line of sunglasses and blue light frames, as well as zero-waste care brands Habitat and Barxby. Pela's latest innovation, Lomi is a countertop composter that can turn household waste into soil for your plants in under 24 hours. To learn more about Pela's sustainable products visit www.pela.earth or follow @pelacase on Instagram.
Jackie Tyburski dives deep into the stories and true essence of the Vivida Lifestyle brand, ethos, and mission. She believes the right words illuminate our purpose and capture life's moments in pure, imperfect, and poetic form. Travelling, cooking, yoga, and paddle-boarding are a few of Jackie's other favourite things, alongside being a mom and wife to a few awesome humans.
