17 Zero Waste Shops In London For Sustainable Living In the Big Smoke
It seems like everyone in business is on a sustainability crusade at the moment, which, for anyone looking for zero waste shops in London is a good thing.
Sustainability used to be a buzzword, but now it’s way more mainstream and viable—and given the current climate crisis, it needs to be.
For a city once at the heart of the Industrial Revolution (the forefather of pollution), the number of sustainable shopping opportunities opening up around the Home of Big Ben are astounding.
We’ve already explored the best London thrift stores and London charity shops (you’ll be mighty impressed), and now it’s time for Londinium residents to check out some of the ground-breaking zero waste stores London offers for your bulk buying needs.
You never know who you might bump into at your local London zero waste shop because even some of the royals are championing sustainability.
Ready for a packaging-free journey through Piccadilly?
Let’s head to the Big Smoke, one of the greenest cities in the world (in a small sense), to see what’s on offer for all you zero waste aficionados out there.
The Full List Of London Zero Waste Shops With Plastic Free Packaging
1. Kilo
About Kilo
To help make the zero waste shopping experience more convenient, female-founded Kilo enlisted the help of Weyify and created a unique app that makes shopping at Kilo simple and quick.
The app remembers the weight of your containers, allowing them to be quickly deducted from the price you pay when you shop.
Don’t forget the jar drop service, which makes reaching your zero waste goal more attainable. Drop off your empty jars and the Kilo team will fill them for you while you get on with something else.
Wherever possible, Kilo sources and sells products from fair trade suppliers and local producers.
What You Can Find
The range in this London zero waste shop is massive and prices are extremely reasonable.
Everything you need is on hand such as herbs, nuts and seeds, cereals, pulses, baking ingredients, beverages, oils, vinegars, dried fruits, and much more—including specialty vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free ranges.
There’s even a no or low-waste selection of frozen and chilled items.
Location: Holloway
2. BYGRAM
About BYGRAM
Just because you’re shopping with zero waste in mind doesn’t mean the experience has to be plain and boring.
BYGRAM takes sustainability and makes it a stylish and trendy event. It stands wholly behind the idea of organic farming and sustainable food systems.
The store’s focus is on small local producers and businesses who share its sustainable mindset and ethical ideas.
As you’ve probably guessed, BYGRAM sells everything by the gram.
If you’re local to the Fulham shop, you can ring in your order and have it delivered by bike the following day.
What You Can Find
You’ll have no issues stocking your store cupboards from this plastic-free packaging store in the UK.
There’s a wide selection of dried goods including pasta, spices, nuts, grains, baking and flour, rice, spices and herbs, vinegars, and oils.
They also stock reusable cups, bottles and containers, bags, toiletries, and cleaning products (including a wall devoted to detergent refills).
Location: Fulham
3. The Refill Larder
About The Refill Larder
The Refill Larder is a West London plastic-free store that’s open seven days a week.
What started as a small pop-up has grown into a high street shop that caters to customers looking to reduce their waste both locally and across the UK.
Home delivery is an option if you live within a radius of three miles, while a click-and-collect service and nationwide shipping is available to everyone else.
What You Can Find
The Refill Larder covers all the essentials for your kitchen, cleaning cupboards, and zero waste bathroom.
In the dry goods section, you can pick from coffee, pasta, grains, cereals, rice, nuts, and more. In addition, there are liquid refills for maple syrup, olive oil, and ketchup.
You can bring along your containers or choose from a selection of plastic-free food storage containers, reusable jars, cups, cloth bags, and wax wraps.
Location: Teddington
4. Zero Waste Bulk Foods
About Zero Waste Bulk Foods
Zero Waste Bulk Foods is just about the most sustainable supermarket UK residents have access to.
The option to use reusable, sustainable food packaging is one feature that makes this shop stand out.
Food is sent to customers in reusable fabric bags and liquids in plastic pouches. The contents are decanted, and the packaging is returned either in person or via mail using the pre-paid returns labels. The bags are washed to a food safe standard and used again for the next customer.
They are Soil Association Organic Certified and products are sourced locally whenever possible, preferentially from suppliers that work in a closed-loop system.
Customers can receive their order via shipping, kerbside pickup, and local delivery within the M25, completely carbon-neutral using electric vans.
What You Can Find
This London zero waste bulk store has a huge variety of organic dry foods along with sustainable beauty and household items.
Location: Leyton Industrial Village
5. BYO London
About BYO London
Drop by the BYO (stands for Bring Your Own) store in Tooting to fill your glass storage containers, Tupperware, and paper bags with all kinds of things.
Taking inspiration from the mantra “Be the Change You Want to See”, shoppers at this small-but-mighty store will find all their zero waste kit essentials to help them do just that.
There is no online option, but the door is open every day except Monday and Tuesday.
What You Can Find
An excellent selection of essentials is on offer including pulses, oils, oats, beans, toiletries, cleaning products, and plenty of fun rotating items.
If you can’t find a suitable container at home to take with you, it’s possible to purchase containers on-site.
Location: Tooting Market
6. The Source
About The Source
The Source has six outlets across London including Crouch End, West Hampstead, Putney, Richmond, Chiswick, and Battersea.
Click-and-Collect orders can be placed on the website and picked up 24 hours later. Alternatively, your order can be shipped anywhere in the UK for a small fee. All items are packed in 100% recyclable and compostable packaging.
The Source website has some helpful tips and hints in its blog and an extensive selection of healthy vegan, gluten-friendly, dairy-free, and nut-free recipes.
What You Can Find
Whether you shop online or visit one of the six London zero waste stores, you’ll find a fantastic array of pantry essentials including flour, rice, pasta, pulses and beans, grains, herbs, spices, and oils.
Countless cleaning, personal care, zero waste tea, and coffee products grace the shelves of these city-wide stores.
Location: Multiple
7. Swop Market
About Swop Market
Swop stands for Show WithOut Packaging, and it’s the product of a collaboration between zero waste crusaders, Jess and Claire. They were tired of seeing all the plastic waste in the UK and wanted to do something about it.
Swop products are all vegan or veggie. The shop’s ethos is to stock waste-free, organic, Fairtrade, ethical, and local products as much as it can.
If there’s something you want and can’t find, make a request and the owners will see what they can do to source it.
What You Can Find
This vegan supermarket in London stocks an extensive list of plastic-free goods in gravity dispensers, including dried loose grains, pulses, nuts, beans, and seeds.
Other items include a selection of coffee beans, loose-leaf tea, vegetables, fruit, unwrapped patisserie, and unwrapped bread.
To help you cut down waste outside the zero waste kitchen, there are cleaning and detergent refills, beauty products, and zero waste shampoos.
Location: Lee Green
8. Re:Store
About Re:Store
Inspired by the earliest London zero waste stores but recognising the need for more, Megan opened Hackney-based Re:Store.
Customers bring their containers such as sandwich bags, jam jars, and old plastic takeaway containers and fill them with a range of products.
However, Re:Store is more than simply a place to shop. The space is available for use in the evenings for events that promote anti-racism or for black and ethnic minority local community groups. There is an anti-racist book club that runs from the shop.
Deliveries for the online store can be made up to 6 kilometres from the shop location and are made by electric cargo bike.
What You Can Find
The sizable product range includes baking essentials, cereals, fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, oils, and vinegars.
There’s also some rarer zero waste finds, such as a peanut butter machine, oat milk refill tap, and package-free frozen goods.
Zero waste shoppers can fill their old containers to the brim with refillable cleaning products and hair and skin care.
They can also choose from a selection of reusable household goods, such as multipurpose cloths, dish brushes, scourers, and bamboo-fibre plasters.
Location: Lower Clapton
9. Jarr Market
About Jarr Market
Jarr Market is a refill and bulk-buy shop that operates in both North and South London.
Jess is the owner, with the mission to reduce single-use packaging waste “one jarr at a time”.
For this zero waste market in London, Jess works with suppliers that have closed-loop systems—AKA the foundation of the zero waste philosophy.
She pays extra to have any leftover packaging properly recycled by the “zero to landfill” company First Mile.
What You Can Find
Jess offers a range of plant-based, organic, and locally sourced food products including grains, cereals, pasta, coffee, tea, nuts, and snacks.
Cleaning products by fill include laundry liquid, fabric conditioner, dishwasher tablets, hand soap, and wash-up liquids. Eco-friendly toiletries and reusable containers can be found in all varieties.
Location: Herne Hill | Newington
10. Fin and Earth
About Fin and Earth
Fin and Earth is a little different from the other London zero waste shops on this list.
There is no physical store to visit and purchases can only be made online.
Sign up for the subscription service to receive a discount of 15% on your orders. The service includes free delivery for your first five orders.
What You Can Find
At this zero waste grocery store, Londoners can find things like grains, dried, fruits, pulses, and organic nuts.
The range of plastic-free products includes various lifestyle items and cleaning refills.
Location: Online
11. Gather
About Gather
Tash, the owner of Gather, aims to help customers find simple swaps that work and help them cut their packaging waste and hopefully save some money too.
Products are sourced as near as possible. The store furniture is repurposed seconds and the shop runs on renewable energy. Gather considers supporting the wider community as important as saving the planet.
You’ll find a book-lending library on site with a selection of books to help you learn about living more sustainably.
What You Can Find
Gather has an expansive selection of food and home products from porridge, peanut butter, and wine to body wash and laundry liquid.
Bring your containers from home and fill them with coffee and tea, DIY beauty ingredients, toiletries, and cleaning products.
Location: Peckham
12. Harmless Store
About Harmless Store
Tami is the passion behind the Harmless Store in North London. The initial aim of the shop was to help the local community switch to a vegan lifestyle and reduce plastic and other forms of waste.
There is no online option for purchases, but the website is full of useful information about veganism, the company ethos, vegan recipes and swaps, and local vegan restaurants.
Harmless chooses suppliers that meet its ethical priorities. These include products that are vegan, plastic-free, home-grown, independent, palm oil-free, anti-monoculture, and organic.
What You Can Find
You can top up across a range of dried kitchen staples such as polenta, rice, coffee, tea, and pasta. A freezer section can keep you supplied with veggie and meat alternatives, including pies and pizza.
An oat milk machine dispenses cold oat milk and a peanut butter machine is available for freshly ground peanuts.
Get your zero waste coffee supplies, too, with their bulk beans and a grinder to process them before you head home.
Location: Hornsey
13. Naked Larder
About Naked Larder
If you prefer your products to be undressed, visit this UK no packaging grocery store instead.
Phili, founder of Naked Larder, offers packaging-free groceries in a very different way to conventional zero waste shops by operating from their home location. This unique way of working means prices are kept really competitive.
Orders are placed online and collected from them at a pre-arranged time using your own reusable containers. You can collect your order monthly, or less frequently if you prefer.
Customers may use all kinds of reusable containers, such as cereal or bread bags, takeaway containers, or biscuit tins. They love to see how inventive people are! The website gives an extensive list of containers that are acceptable and tips on how to best use them.
What You Can Find
The range of zero waste food products includes cereals, grains, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, beans, pulses, sugar, flour, pasta, noodles, tea, coffee and wine.
Refills are available for eco-friendly cleaning products, body care products, and much more.
Location: Herne Hill
14. Art of Zero Living
About Art of Zero Living
Art of Zero Living might be a small shop in Greenwich Market, but the owners have packed a lot into the space.
Products that fill the shelves are bought in bulk and arrive in recyclable, reusable, or returnable packaging. Typically, the suppliers are local and based in the UK.
Customers can bring their containers or use reusable ones available in-store.
What You Can Find
You can source all the basic kitchen cupboard essentials such as various types of pasta, pulses, oils, spices, and rice, along with a selection of treats and sustainable snacks.
Don’t forget to stock up on hygiene and beauty products, household, and cleaning items while you’re there.
Location: Greenwich Market
15. Unpackaged at Planet Organic
About Unpackaged at Planet Organic
Planet Organic shops began life as health food stores in London, but quickly became the UK’s first organic fully certified supermarket when it opened its doors almost a decade ago.
It also became the first zero edible food waste business. Any leftover food is redistributed to the community via Too Good to Go and the sustainability app Olio.
Inedible food waste is composted and put to good use in regenerative agriculture farms around London.
The Unpackaged range offered in its stores followed a while after, with stations now at almost all stores.
What You Can Find
Planet Organic shops in London have a range of store cupboard essentials that are sold in home compostable, plastic free packaging.
Shop at this zero waste shop in London online or across town to stock up on all the kitchen essentials such as nuts, seeds, dried fruits, rice, grains, pulses, cereals, herbs, flour, tea, coffee, and more.
There’s also a large selection of plastic-free health products, household products, skin care, and beauty products.
Location: Multiple
16. Get Loose
About Get Loose
The original idea for Get Loose was a “project to fund compost”, but it has become so much more. It’s now a champion of the plastic-free movement that’s sweeping the UK and its capital.
The shop has good community connections, with a team of volunteers regularly helping out. Profits are used to fund community waste-saving projects.
They are meticulous about not only tracking their suppliers, but making note of the things each one could improve on.
What You Can Find
Pick from a range of ethical food made by small and local producers (whenever possible) from quite possibly the quaintest zero waste food shop London holds.
Stop by for your eggs, cheese, milk, fresh herbs, nuts, grains, pulses, honey, vinegar, oil, salad veg, and fruit.
Make an afternoon of it by also visiting the petting zoo—which is also perfect for parents looking to get into more sustainability for kids.
Location: Hackney City Farm
17. Greener Habits
About Greener Habits
The owner of Greener Habits was first and foremost a nurse. Following a trip to Bali, where she encountered beaches that had become rubbish dumps, she decided to open a vegan and zero waste grocery store in London.
The shop originally started online, but now you can peruse this zero waste shop’s North London location, too.
Crowdfunding and people power helped Hannah create her shopping space where she specialises in selling sustainable, vegan, and plastic-free home essentials.
What You Can Find
The packaging-free range of items includes dried foods such as rice, beans, lentils, pasta, herbs, and spices. All of these are sourced from ethical suppliers and producers.
You can fill up your containers with oat milk, peanut butter, oils, vinegars, kombucha, and cleaning products.
Location: Walthamstow
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Final Thoughts On Zero Waste Stores London
Much like the zero waste shops in Bristol, this is just a small selection of the zero waste options currently available across the capital. More and more are popping up as the low waste living movement gains momentum.
We hope this list will encourage you to continue your zero waste journey.
If you have friends and family who are about to join you in championing a sustainable lifestyle, please share this list of London zero waste shops with them. The greater the demand for sustainable shopping solutions, the bigger the movement will become.
We’d love to hear about your experiences and whether you have some recommendations to add to the list.