9 ways to shop ethically and help the environment

Introducing nine eco-friendly companies that offer sustainable products
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4 August 2022

From buying sustainable bras to car sharing, here’s how you can make ethical choices and adopt a greener lifestyle.

Upgrade your tech in a sustainable way

Reboxed

Reboxed® is an online platform that allows you to buy and sell pre-owned tech, and is currently on a mission to rehome 100 million used and refurbished devices in order to fight e-waste. The world generates around 50 million tonnes of electronic waste every year and reboxed is dedicated to changing that. Its circular business model — rebox, rehome, repeat — is designed to not only make a positive impact but to provide customers with value too.

Devices are up to 40% cheaper than new ones, come with a 12-month warranty, 30-day money back guarantee, and are all quality-checked by the company’s 70-point TechCheck® certification process.

Reboxed is B corp-certified; it also plants five trees for every device it rehomes. Use the code STANDARD20 to get a £20 discount when you upgrade or trade-in your tech at reboxed.co (min spend £200). Offer valid until 31 December 2022.

Start your day with comfy and sustainable underwear

Stripe and Stare

Female-led Stripe and Stare offers sustainable knickers and loungewear made from 95% TENCEL Modal and 5% elastane. TENCEL Modal is a soft, natural fibre made from renewable wood sources – fibre manufacturing company Lenzing creates this through carbon-neutral processes in Austria. TENCEL is 100% biodegradable and comes from non-protected and regenerated trees.

Working with leading factories around the world, Stripe and Stare aims to provide women with super-soft knickers, which don’t compromise on comfort, sustainability and style.

The company puts women at the forefront with every decision, with 98% of customer reviews describing the knickers as “the most comfortable” they’ve tried. Discover the collections and get 20% off using the code ES20 at stripeandstare.com. Offer ends on 31 July 2022.

Build an eco-friendly timber frame house

Avrame

Avrame was founded in 2016 by Indrek Kuldkepp, who has more than 20 years of experience in producing and selling wooden houses. Avrame’s mission is to make houses that serve people, and A-frame houses offer a solution to rapidly increasing prices, as they’re durable and easy to build. Thanks to the house’s energy-efficient flat truss system, the heating and cooling energy consumption is likely to be lower than in a regular house. 

Avrame houses are suitable for year-round living and people can also go a step further and install solar panels on the roof to make the house self-sustainable.

The company has become a flagship for supplying A-frame houses globally, and its houses can be found in the USA, Canada, Japan, the UK and elsewhere. Find out more at avrame.com.

Discover breastfeeding clothes with a difference

Human Milk

Human Milk creates high-quality, ethically and sustainably produced tops designed to drape and stretch comfortably for breastfeeding, while remaining key pieces for years after.

Human Milk also works to inform and empower women throughout their breastfeeding journey, communicating what to expect and just how remarkable women’s bodies and their milk are.

The company holds events and signposts new breastfeeding mothers to supportive communities and resources, as the team appreciate that early motherhood can feel isolating and confusing at times. Profits fuel the company’s ‘Human Milk, Tailor-Made for Tiny Humans’ non-profit education movement, working with healthcare professionals all over the globe to support the lives and wellbeing of women and infants. Visit shop.human-milk.com for more.

Opt for comfort and style with a sustainable bra

Molke

Molke bras are ethically made in Scotland from organic cotton jersey — and they’re made to last. As well as being sustainable, extra-supportive and breastfeeding-friendly, these non-wired bras come in all kinds of bright and colourful designs. Products cover a wide range of sizes (up to a 54-inch band and M cup), with styles to suit different tastes and body forms.

Free UK returns and exchanges are available if you find that your selected bra is not the right fit. Molke also offers a range of other products, from leggings to period pants.

Independent and female-led, the company is an accredited Real Living Wage employer. Discover its playful bras at molke.co.uk.

Look for a certification when shopping for wool items

Woolmark

One of the key aspects of sustainable living is buying less and buying better. If you’re searching for quality garments built to last, look for the Woolmark logo. Every product accompanied by the logo has gone through a rigorous five-step process to earn the endorsement.

The Woolmark-certified apparel edit showcases high-quality wool garments that not only look good, but also stand the test of time (all of which can be bought online).

Whether you’re looking for base layers, luxury fashion, home interiors, knitting yarn or wool care products, use this certification programme as your guide to choosing the most sustainable product. Think high-performance cycling jerseys, classic crew-neck jumpers and stylish trench coats, all made of fine wool. Shop the edit and learn more about the certification at woolmark.com.

Help keep roads quiet by using a car-sharing service

Karshare

Karshare connects car owners with renters through peer-to-peer car sharing. Using a similar approach to Airbnb, the company helps people rent out their cars to vetted drivers within their community — fully insured and covered for breakdown.

Every rental is keyless and takes place using the Karshare app. Sustainability is at the heart of the company’s mission: it aims to reduce the number of cars on the road by encouraging drivers to share cars that already exist.

There are about 38 million cars currently parked on roads and driveways in the UK, sitting idly most of the time. Owners can turn their idle car into an asset and potentially earn up to £650 a month. Use the code ES15 and get £15 off your first rental at karshare.com. Offer valid until 1 September 2022.

Choose sustainable bamboo nappies and baby wipes

Mama Bamboo

Mama Bamboo produces nappies, nappy pants and baby wipes. Products are created with 100% sustainably certified bamboo, with nappies also including 100% compostable corn starch, and wipes containing 99.4% purified water, aloe vera and coconut extract. Bamboo is a sustainable crop, grown organically without pesticides, fertilisers or false irrigation, so products are kind to delicate skin as well as the environment. 

Mama Bamboo has committed to donating 20% of net profits to charitable organisations, along with nappies and wipes, to In Kind Direct to support less advantaged families in the UK.

Subscribe at mamabamboo.com and get 10% off your first order, using the discount code FIRSTORDEREXTRA, until 31 August 2022. Standard 20% subscription discount applies to all subsequent orders.

Discover premium CBD products made of natural ingredients

Excite CBD

Excite CBD has been created to provide customers with a wide range of high-quality CBD products at affordable prices. All products are lab-tested for purity and potency. The company offers a range of oral CBD oil drops, as well as CBD gummies — which are made with natural ingredients such as organic fruit juice, raw honey powder and pure CBD extract.

These little candies, which serve as a CBD version of the classic gummy sweets, come in various flavours, strengths and forms: from cola bottles and neon rings to teddy bears and fruit dome pastilles.

The gummies contain 25mg of a broad-spectrum hemp extract. Vegan, 10mg CBD gummies are also available. For more information visit excitecbd.co.uk/shop.

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