One of the real joys of buying #plasticfree is sourcing the stuff in local shops. The excitement when you see milk in glass bottle in the newsagents is beyond words.

But sometime you have to buy on line. And then you come up against the prickly problem of packaging

There is nothing that enrages plastic activist in me more than researching a product that claims to be plastic free and environmentally friendly, purchase online, wait eagerly only to find it comes plastic packed.

Plastic free and plastic reduced products are of course a great step forward in the battle against plastic. But when I am buying a product I want to know how the product is packaged. There is little point buying a wooden comb if it comes in a plastic bag.

If it comes via an online, postal service, onward packaging needs to be stated. I want to know how the product will be packed and the more information the better. Down to what kind of tape is used (whether it is plastic or not) and whether the invoice will be in a plastic bag on the front of the box.

Which is why I like he following companies who offer plastic free products but also consider the onward packaging.

N.B. But no matter what I say, check and double check for yourself. One mans plastic free is another’s little bit of sticky tape.

These guys are super keen plastic free suppliers

Loose Foods

This is stuff that that normally comes plastic packaged like beans, dried fruit and pasta.

While there are an increasing number of shops selling loose food they are still few and far between, not everyone has local shops and supermarkets love plastic packaging. Don’t despair if there is nowhere near you selling rubbish free food, you might be interested in this option. It is possible to buy food online loose and plasticfree. You can even use your own cotton produce bags for some things. Read more here

N.B. You can see if a shop near you sells food loose via this list of towns

General, Household & Personal

Some great shops here

Toys & Crafts

Myriadonline

for toys and craft supplies. Use cardboard and paper packaging including paper parcel tape.

A really lovely shop full of wooden toys and wool felt balls. Recommend you have a look HERE

Makeup

Nuturissmo
“where I get my makeup from, their packaging is all compostable and they sell things like kjer Weiss refillable makeup. Lots of plastic bottles on there too but overall they are a good company.”

I haven’t had time to research this site but it looks interesting and they do consider their packaging. So while not plastic free I have included them as make up is very tricky to find. See for your self HERE

And read more about makeup HERE

Other Online Products

Find by product. Most of the products featured on the blog have an online option to buy. It is always worth contacting businesses and asking if they can post you product plastic free. Offer to cover the costs of a cardboard box if needs be.
Look here for individual products.

We a try to link directly with a business we know and have used but we cannot always do this.
And sometimes cost considerations mean we want to offer a range of options in different price brackets. In these cases we try to find other more affordable on Amazon.

Amazon is a very dirty word at the moment and I thought long and hard before suggesting them. No we are not happy with Amazons recent history. However, we have always found their service to be good and their packaging usually cardboard and so compostable. Though of course this cannot be guaranteed. You can read more of our reasons in the post.

Amazon catelogue here.

More Here

For reviews of some products featured above and other categories for #plasticfree online shopping including food… yes #plasticfree food on line. And I don’t just mean vege boxes!

Some Reviews Here

Anything But Plastic Online Shop

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Cleaning Liquid Refills

ECOVER do all of these products and you can get your plastic bottle refilled. To find where Ecover have a refill ...
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Fabric Offset Warehouse

Offset Warehouse is a social enterprise which brings together a huge range of hand-picked eco fabrics and haberdashery, ideal for ...
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Greencane Tissues/ Paper Productsd

A while ago a company called Greencane sent me some tissues through the post. Not just tissues but toilet paper and kitchen ...
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Handwash

I know a lot of people like a liquid hand wash. Personally I prefer soap but whatever. So this hand ...
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Hodmedods - British Grown Beans, Grains & Pulses

Did you now you can get homegrown British beans, lentils (soon) and even Quinoa. Many of them organically grown…. Introducing ...
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Loose Food On Line

One of the joys of living plastic free is mooching round the local shops seeing what you can source. You ...
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Online shops for General and personal products

One of the real joys of buying #plasticfree is sourcing the stuff in local shops. The excitement when you see ...
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Soap hard/bar

I use soap to wash my body (I don't like using soap on my face so I cleanse with oil and ...
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Live Free Here

Our enormous index of #plasticfree products and lifestyle hacks has been updated. Have a look

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

And before you go…

If you have found the #plasticfree information useful, please consider supporting us. It all goes to financing the project (read more here) or