Ethical online shopping combines the best of both worlds—convenience and sustainability so you can leave your eco-guilt behind when you click checkout.
With global e-commerce sales expected to hit $6.3 trillion this year, it’s more important than ever to be conscious of your couch-based consumption.
From carbon emissions to packaging waste to overconsumption (we’ve all fallen down that “suggested for you” rabbit hole), there are a plethora of ethical issues with online shopping.
Thankfully, a growing number of sustainable online shops have your back (and our planet’s). Whether you need general home goods, a new outfit, skin care products, or weekly groceries, these sustainable shopping superstars are putting the ‘eco’ in e-commerce.
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Index: Eco-Friendly Online Stores
- EarthHero Jump to section
- Made Trade Jump to section
- Thrive Market Jump to section
- Etsy Jump to section
- Public Goods Jump to section
- DoneGood Jump to section
- ZeroWasteStore.com Jump to section
- Grove Collaborative Jump to section
- Urbankissed Jump to section
- Ethical Superstore Jump to section
- Azure Standard Jump to section
EarthHero
Price Range: $–$$$
Say goodbye to Prime; it’s EarthHero time. The Boulder, Colorado store stocks over 250 brands, carefully selected using its 5-Pillar Sourcing Methodology to ensure they’re the cream of the sustainable crop—on top of being Climate Neutral Certified and a 1% For the Planet member.
Their massive product range makes them one of the best ethical alternatives to Amazon. You’ll find bathroom and kitchen products, clothing and accessories, baby products, kids’ toys, pet products, office supplies, tech items (like chargers and phone cases), travel items, makeup, personal care products, and heaps more.
They stock many of our favorite brands and products, including Plaine Product’s refillable beauty range (available on Subscribe and Save) and GOTBag, whose recycled ROLLTOP backpack is our go-to for all sorts of adventures.
Made Trade
Price Range: $–$$$$
Woman-owned and family-run Made Trade offers a curated collection of aesthetically chic and exceptionally designed goods from makers all around the world, curated from their North Carolina HQ.
If it’s fair trade, handcrafted, vegan, made with sustainable materials, created by a POC- or woman-owned business, or made in the USA, chances are they have a chic, artisanally crafted version of it. That means anything from clothing, shoes, and accessories to sustainable furniture, rugs, baskets, bedding, home decor, and jewelry.
The Carbon Neutral certified company works with over 130 makers, small businesses, and artisan collectives, like Swahili African Modern whose stunning range of fair trade baskets and hampers add warmth and character to any room while supporting women in Senegal with above living wages.
Thrive Market
Price Range: $–$$
One of the most ethical online shops for REAL food, Thrive Market is a one-stop shop for pantry staples, frozen food, meat, seafood, drinks, and snacks, as well as cleaning supplies, baby items, pet food, and clean beauty essentials. They make it easy to shop by diet and/or values with over 90 different filters (which is super handy if you’re following a special diet or need to avoid certain ingredients).
Although they avoid plastic where possible, any plastic still used for shipping and own-brand product packaging is Plastic Neutral certified through their partnership with rePurpose Global. Thrive Market is a Certified B Corp and a Climate Neutral certified company. Orders ship carbon neutral from one of nine US-wide fulfilment centers, two of which are TRUE-certified as zero waste.
Because no middleman (i.e., giant retailer) is involved, the membership-based marketplace can offer wholesale prices and a price-match guarantee, making it one of the best sustainable online stores for those looking to save money on their food bill.
They give back by providing a free annual membership to a family in need for every one purchased.
Etsy
Price Range: $–$$$$
Global maker-to-peer marketplace Etsy aims to “keep commerce human”. With over 1.9 million active sellers covering dozens of categories, from furniture and home decor to clothing and beauty products, you’ll find pretty much everything you can think of.
Shopping on Etsy means supporting independent sellers and small businesses, including many women and BIPOC-owned businesses. It’s an excellent place to discover all sorts of handmade, bespoke items, as well as vintage clothing and accessories from the likes of Retro and Me.
Eco-minded Etsy powers the platform with renewable energy, offsets 100% of the carbon emissions from each order’s packaging as well as its shipping, and is working towards net zero emissions by 2030.
Public Goods
Price Range: $–$$
Public Goods aims to serve with a huge range of ethically sourced personal care, household, grocery, and pet products shipped carbon neutral in reusable, recycled, or compostable packaging from an unknown location in the USA.
They offer refillable solutions for cleaning and laundry supplies, such as eco-friendly fabric softener and personal care products, including shampoo and bodywash. Their membership model also means you can access everything at wholesale prices, making them one of the most affordable shopping websites for your wallet.
Public Goods products are non-toxic, cruelty-free, and minimalist. Bottles are made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic and paper products are tree-free, but they don’t let that stop them from planting a tree for each order through Eden Reforestation In addition, they donate near-expired products to The Campaign Against Hunger and Valley View Community Foods Banks.
DoneGood
Price Range: $–$$$
You can do some good with your sustainable online shopping thanks to DoneGood, an ethical marketplace offering beauty products, clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories, baby and kids’ items, pet items, travel gear, and all sorts of goods for the home and garden.
They partner with over 120 carefully vetted brands and were recently acquired by Karma Wallet, an ethical fintech platform and Certified B Corp, designed to empower conscious consumers. Karma Wallet uses over thirty third-party data sources to rate brands for their environmental and social impact and is a member of 1% for the Planet.
You can shop by category, by brand, and by eight different values (Vegan, Organic/GMO-free, USA Made, Women or Person Of Color Owned, and more). Karma Wallet members receive free shipping (currently US only) and 10% cashback on each order.
ZeroWasteStore.com
Price Range: $–$$
ZeroWasteStore.com is (no surprises here) one of the best eco-friendly online stores for those seeking to live a more zero waste lifestyle. The Florida-based store was founded by Sarah and JJ, a couple driven by their passion for the environment and desire to make a sustainable lifestyle accessible to all.
From bamboo toothbrushes to reusable paper towels, you’ll find an abundance of zero waste essentials as well as cleaning supplies, pet care, bedding and bath, haircare, beauty, and dental products. Everything is plastic-free (right down to the compostable shipping labels), ethically sourced, and sustainably made. But unlike many of the other eco-friendly online shops on this list, ZeroWasteStore.com doesn’t just collect and sell other brand’s products; they also have an in-house line of their own.
ZWS is a member of 1% for the Planet and supports various environmental and social nonprofits, including Conservation Florida, Rainforest Trust, and Global Citizen. Select the carbon offsetting option at checkout to offset your order’s shipping emissions.
Grove Collaborative
Price Range: $–$$
Partnering with over 200 sustainable brands, Grove Collaborative is a veritable jungle for shopping responsibly made products your home.
This Certified B Corp offers both stringently vetted third-party products and in-house ones made to the highest sustainability standards. That means everything is non-toxic, cruelty-free, and sourced through ethical supply chains, prioritizing plant-based and organic ingredients.
You can buy products individually or join their subscription service for extra affordable sustainable shopping. Orders ship carbon neutral, and while not plastic-free quite yet, their partnership with rePurpose Global offsets the weight of any plastic they sell by removing the same amount from the environment.
Their specialty is eco-friendly cleaning—whether for you or for your house—but they also carry an abundance of products for pets, babies, health + wellness, gardening, and the pantry. Toilet paper, wooden cleaning crushes, fabric softener, and skincare are just a small sampling of some items you’ll find.
Urbankissed
Price Range: $–$$$
Inspired by markets in the South of France, Urbankissed founder Sophie wanted to make the unique offerings of small brands accessible to everyone. The Lucerne, Switzerland-based marketplace is now an online mecca for ethical shopping. Think clothing, accessories, jewelry, and homewares, totaling over 10,000 products from over a hundred independent brands.
From sustainable jumpsuits to lingerie, the platform offers just about every garment type imaginable. You’ll also see an equally wide variety of materials, the most sustainable of which include organic cotton, hemp, linen, Tencel, and recycled polyester. Many garments are OEKO-TEX or bluesign® certified, and the platform aims to offer inclusive sizes (though this depends on the brand).
As the icing on sustainable shopping cake, they plant a tree in their own Madagascar forest for every order.
Ethical Superstore
Price Range: £–£££
Fancy a sustainable shopping superstore? Then UK-based Ethical Superstore is your bag—though orders currently ship only to the UK and Republic of Ireland in recyclable and recyclable packaging, including their Geami WrapPak non-plastic bubble wrap alternative.
With thousands of products under categories like groceries, cleaning, fashion, home and garden, beauty, baby, and pets, they make it super easy to take shop responsibly online. Partner brands, both large and small, are held to strict ethical policies, and many products hold a third-party certification (although they acknowledge these can be tricky for smaller brands, which they are keen to give a platform to).
The selection may be vast, but it’s easy to filter results and shop by your ethics, whether fair trade, organic, vegan, cruelty-free, recycled, and more. They also carry handcrafted, unique items and sweet treats like ethical chocolate, making them an excellent place to shop for gifts.
Azure Standard
Price Range: $–$$$
Food is Azure Standard’s specialty. Originally an organic farm, the Oregon-based company works with like-minded brands, especially independent and family-owned ventures that share their values.
From fresh veggies to ethnic cuisine to chewing gum, they’re a one-stop shot for stocking your cupboards, fridge, and freezer with (mostly) organic and minimally processed items. You can get all your basic pantry staples in bulk (anywhere from 1-50 pounds in compostable paper bags for dried goods and various sizes of bulk containers for liquids and oils). Beyond food, you’ll also find health and beauty products, nutritional supplements, pet items, and various home and garden goods.
The online bulk store delivers orders by company truck to one of its many community drop pickup locations, which are managed by volunteer coordinators. Select goods can also be sent to your door via parcel shipping.
Eco Now in Orange County, CA has some sustainable items like you mentioned too and the cool thing is, if you’re local to the area, they do refilling of your containers with products you need while refilling their own bulk drums. If you can include them in this list, that’d be an awesome resource for people. Check them out: https://www.econowca.com/
Please send info about Gift cards for sustainable goods in Bellingham. Also list of what stores and services accept gift card
Hi KB, I’m afraid we don’t have such granular information for Bellingham. Good luck in your search!