1. NU Grocery
With multiple in-person stores in the Ottawa region, NU Grocery is a great place to start your sustainable shopping journey. They sell all locally sourced produce, preservatives, eggs, milk, frozen food, grains, candy and homemade goods as well. Everything is local, sustainable and zero waste. They have household items like compostable toothbrushes, locally made shampoo and soaps, beeswax wrap, silicone baking mats, etc. all in compostable packaging. Shoppers are encouraged to bring containers like mason jars, washed out yogurt containers, reusable bags and other easily accessible containers. They also provide compostable bags if you don’t bring your own. You can get your zero waste groceries delivered to your doorstep or you can shop in the store for a look into what sustainable shopping is all about. Check out their website here: https://nugrocery.com/
2. 4Ocean
This ocean-friendly jewellery and single use alternative store is making a difference on plastic waste worldwide. For every product that they sell, they remove one pound of garbage from the ocean and they have collected over 2 million pounds of plastic since 2017. The business, founded by surf-loving brothers from Florida, sells jewellery made from recycled ocean plastic, apparel, reusable bags, water bottles and gear for clients to be able to clean up their own neighbourhoods. They also donate at least 1% of their annual earnings as a company to ocean-friendly charities. With clean up crews in Bali, Guatemala, Florida and Haiti, this organisation is a great option if you are looking for a sustainable jewellery business with a real global impact. Read about their story here: https://www.4ocean.com/pages/our-story
3. Up Front Cosmetics
Have you ever stopped to think about how much waste is involved in your morning or nighttime routine? Shampoo, conditioner and soap alone require quite a bit of packaging, not to mention all the not-so eco-friendly ingredients used to create the products. Up Front Cosmetics has made it their mission to make sustainable and affordable shampoo, conditioner and soap bars so that everyone is able to practice environmentally healthy hygiene. Their products are rich in nutrients that are beneficial to skin and hair while also being vegan, sulphate free, cruelty free and paraben free. They strive to use simple ingredients and help their customers understand the importance of using environmentally friendly materials. The company has donated $20, 000 to charities and makes sure that all packaging is compostable. Each shampoo or conditioner bar replaces 3 plastic bottles from ending up in our ecosystems. All their products are handmade in New Brunswick. Check them out here: https://upfrontcosmetics.ca/
4. Honourable Mentions
Patagonia (clothing), Girlfriend Collective (activewear), Tentree (clothing), Flosspot (dental hygiene), Earth’s Own (plant-based milks) and Terra 20 (everyday products - based in Ottawa)
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