And let me say right now I don’t like supermarkets. They are killing off the local shops and take money out of the community. But for many people they are the only option. So how to make your experience as ethical as possible?
But before you enter those hellish portals please do consider shopping at your local shops. Reasons why here.
Here are some suggestions to make your choice of chainstore shopping more ethical.
I prefer to shop in British owned chainstores if possible. These are my favourites
The Co-op in the UK
Waitrose is owned by staff in the John Lewis Partnership
Will Use Tesco plc, trading as Tesco, is a British multinational groceries
But sometimes of course I have to go where the plastic free products can be found. Like salt in a cardboard box at Lidles. Its always a tradeoff.
Plastic Free News
Waitrose
Waitrose are cutting the use of plastic lined disposable cups in their cafes!
“We’re removing all disposable takeaway cups from our shops by the autumn.You can still enjoy a free cup of tea or coffee when you shop with us; remember to bring your own reusable cup and your myWaitrose card with you.#KeepYourCup 💚
This will save more than 52 million cups, 221 tonnes of plastic and more than 665 tonnes of paper a year.
Find out more: https://bit.ly/2Jwh0d2
The Co-op
Talking of hot drinks the The Co-op are meat to be introducing their own plastic free teabags . Though I have yet to find them!
For those of you who didn’t know, most teabags contain plastic. not just the packaging but actually in the bag.
Morrisons
Starting in May, Morrisons will be inviting customers to use their own containers when purchasing produce from the meat and fish counters in stores, in order to cut down on single-use plastic. Read more here.
Plastic Free Finds
Sometimes supermarkets can surprise you – check out the plastic-free and reduced packaging products here.
Cooperative Supermarket
Read More
Lush plastic free products
Read More
The Range – a chain of home & garden shops
Read More
U.K. Owned Chainstores
Read More
Whole Food Market U.K. Chain
Read More
My Favourite Chains Are…
The Co-op in the UK is owned by it’s members. That’s you. So do use that whenever possible. Sadly they are bad for packaging. Write and tell them.
Waitrose is owned by staff in the John Lewis Partnership and do some excellent plastic free buns and bread.
Will Use
Tesco plc, trading as Tesco, is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer with headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom.[3] It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by profits[4][5] and ninth-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues. It has shops in seven countries across Asia and Europe and is the market leader of groceries in the UK (where it has a market share of around 28.4%),
Wikipedia
Not so keen on
ASDA
Asda Stores is a British supermarket retailer, “headquartered in Leeds, West Yorkshire.[5] The company was founded in 1949 when the supermarket owning Asquith family merged with the Associated Dairies company of Yorkshire. It expanded into the south of England during the 1970s and 1980s, and acquired Allied Carpets, 61 large Gateway Supermarkets and other businesses, such as MFI, then sold off its acquisitions during the 1990s to concentrate on the supermarkets. It became a subsidiary of the American retail giant Walmart after a £6.7 billion takeover in July 1999” wikkipedia
While Sainsburys is a British company
“As of February 2018, the largest overall shareholder is the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, the Qatar Investment Authority, which holds 21.99% of the company.[6] It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
In April 2018, Sainsbury’s entered talks with Walmart about a proposed merger with Asda, which could form the largest UK supermarket company.[7]”
“The Qatar Investment Authority is Qatar’s state-owned holding company that can be characterized as a National Wealth Fund. It specializes in domestic and foreign investment. Wikipedia” and Walmart? No thanks. So while I might be able to get paper wrapped butter at Sainsbury’s (check out the cheese counter), Im not sure I like their politics.
Morrison plc are listed on the London stock exchange. Whilst the majority of investors are British or British companies or pension funds, these investments can be held by anyone around the world.
Plasticfree Finds
But sometimes of course i have to go where the plastic free products can be found. Like salt in a cardboard box at Lidles. Its always a tradeoff. See all our supermarket posts here
The biggest supermarket chains in the UK, by market share are:
Tesco (27.8%)
Sainsbury’s (15.8%)
Asda (15.3%) American
Morrisons (10.4%)
Aldi (7%) german owned
Co-op (6.3%) owned by its U.K. members
Lidl (5.2%) german owned
Waitrose (5.1%)
Iceland (2.1%)
Ocado (1.4%)
from the bbc
If you want to buy from a British chain company, I have listed some HERE
Widely Available At Most Supermarkets
Bread Mixes – Paper
Laundry Powder – Cardboard, no scoop
Fruit and Vegetables – Bulk, take your own bags
Instore Butcher, Deli, Fish Counters and Bakery- Bulk, take bags and containers
Flour, Sugar, Eggs and Oats – Almost always available in paper or card
Frozen Produce in Cardboard – Linda McCartney, Fish (MSC), Potato Waffles Shake box to check there’s no plastic inside
The Rest
Hooray for Louise Bayfield and her “POSTIVE PRODUCTS LIST (UK) a list of High Street and Supermar-ket products that have no packaging or in some way help reduce packaging.”
The List
The original PDF will be updated as Louise shops around so do check back there for updates.
Remember not all stores stock all products. It might be wise to check ahead if you are making a special visit.
There may well be other products that have not been listed.
Feel free to add your finds in the comments box belew.
Once again thank you Louise for such a fantastic resource!
Homesence
Castile Soap, Larger bottles – Packaging varies but mostly plastic
Shampoo/conditioner/shower gel/ Bath – Very large bottles, sometimes organic and glass packaging
Soap Bars, sometimes organic- Beautifully wrapped in paper/card – Good gifts
Candles – Often votives in glass or metal tins with no packaging or cardboard box
Glassware – Recycled water glasses and sometimes goblets, No packaging other than a small sticker to base.
Many home items are unpackaged other than a price sticker. Some items are surplus. A good place to look for
Zero Waste Kitchenalia – Glass Jars, Stainless Steel Water Bottles, Insulated Travel Mugs, Tea strainers/Infusers,
Reusable Silicone Bakeware, Wooden Brushes, Scrubbers, Coffee presses, Wooden Boards, Wooden Bowls etc…
Some will be in cardboard or unpackaged with sticker.
Ikea
Crisp breads – Paper
Kilner style Jars – Good value – Paper and sticker
Loose sweets pick & mix stall with paper bags
Ocado
Cake Mix, Wright’s – Paper
You cleaner refills – A concentrated eco cleaner in small plastic bottles
Poundland
Selection of glass kilner style jars – great for those on a budget
String
Robert Dyas
Borax Substitute, Dri-pac – Cardboard
Staples
Toilet Tissue, Maxima – 100% recycled – Large cardboard box, no inner tubes
Toilet Rolls, 8 pack – 100% recycled – Plastic wrap, recycle at Sainsbury’s
Envelopes, various sizes, business size bulk packs – 100% recycled – Cardboard box
Tea and Coffee – Huge catering size packs, various packaging, shake box to check there’s no plastic inside
T.K. Max
A write up here from Liz Hodge.
Missed Some?
If you have a review of a supermarket please send us a link and we will add it. Leave the link in the comments below.
Which Chain
Here are a few tips to help you choose a supermarket. Some are more ethical than others. or you might want to buy from a British company. Read more HERE>
Shopping Tips
If you want to buy loose, you will need to take your own reusable packaging – produce bags, tupperware even compostable disposables. You can find them here.
The plastic free freak should remember that
metal lids to glass jars are of course plastic lined .
Tin and cans including those for cosmetics are also plastic lined
Paper and foil wraps will be plastic lined.
Choose Well
If you really can’t do without it and you have a choice a plastic wrapped products, choose to buy the one in simple plastics that can easily be recycled
More Ways To Buy Food
Here is a list of food types category with purchase details
Loose Food
Find out if a shop near you sells bulk food loose. This is stuff that that normally comes plastic packaged. A list of towns with shops selling loose food.
Milk
Delivered in glass bottles but double check before you order
Other Considerations
Whole food Market A supermarket case study
How to eat plastic free Buying only from supermarkets HERE.
Buy British and cut those air miles. Some ideas HERE
N.B.
lines changes, products get removed. For more information why not ask the Plastic Is Rubbish FB group for updates. They are a great source of tidbits, personal experience and the latest news. Why not join them and share the plastic free love x