2022 is shaping up to be an incredible year for EcoVibe. With our new vibe, we wanted to create a place for people who want to make little changes so together we can make a huge impact.
That’s why we’re creating an online community, and filling our website with fantastic resources.
Ever run out of herbs and spices and thought what a waste it is to throw away the jar? Or run out of washing up liquid and thought, I could just refill that? That’s where Find My Eco Shop comes in, our free tool to help you find your nearest refill store, zero-waste store, or eco-friendly store.
What’s Find My Eco Shop?
Find My Eco Shop allows you to search for local, independent businesses across the country. Simply enter your location, set your radius and our snazzy new tool does all the hard work for you.
You’ll gain a list of nearby stores that offer refills, zero waste options, and can help you make eco choices locally.
Why is buying local so important?
Shopping locally can have a massive impact on your carbon footprint, especially if you’re able to access stores without jumping in the car. There are multiple reasons for this. The shops will be smaller so require less heating, they’ll also not have large head offices filled with staff, plus if you can walk there (whether staff or customer) or hop on a local bus service you won’t be using as much fuel.
Additionally, local stores tend to stock local suppliers so the products themselves won’t have travelled as far. The benefit of this isn’t just to the environment, it will probably mean the item is fresher and tastes better, or if the item isn’t food-based you’ll be supporting a local creative.
You’re also supporting the local economy. Approximately 63p of every £1 spent in small or medium-sized businesses stays in the local economy, compared to just 40p at large businesses. This is due to the creation of local jobs such as shop staff, shelf stockers, and delivery drivers.
Plus, when you buy from a small independent business you’ll usually get great customer service. Often the owners of these businesses are people you buy from, so they’ll have excellent product knowledge and want to help you.
What do the green and pink pins mean?
Our wonderful EcoVibe stockists are highlighted in pink. At the pink shops, you’ll be able to access a range of EcoVibe products. This is a great way to get your hands on EcoVibe products without ordering online. This can be great if you want to see an EcoVibe product in real life.
The green pins don’t stock our products at the moment. However, they’ll still have fantastic eco-friendly products for you to access.
Find My Eco Shop is all about promoting accessible ways for consumers to shop in sustainable ways. We also recognise that we’re just one business, and only have a limited (ever-expanding) range of products. We need to lift other businesses up because we can’t revolutionise our environment together.
What are the benefits of refills?
Each year, globally we create 300 million tonnes of plastic, and half of this is single-use, meaning it cannot be recycled. By reusing these items, and refilling them with items we cut out the amount of pointless plastic that is wasted.
As well as plastic filling landfills, it’s been estimated that plastic production and incineration creates approximately 400 million tonnes of CO2 each year so by reducing plastic, you also help reduce your carbon footprint. Every time you reuse a bottle, you save 82.8 grams of carbon dioxide.
You also reduce your waste, especially with perishable goods. A great example is cooking or baking ingredients that you use very rarely. At a refill store, you’re able to buy exactly the amount you need and you pay based on the amount, rather than gaining incentives to buy more or buy bulk. By buying what you need, you’ll throw less away.
My favourite store isn’t on Find My Eco Shop, what should I do?
First off, we love how you have a favourite eco-friendly store!
To build this, we asked our followers to send us their suggestions so a lot of the data we have on our site is crowdsourced. This means that this is something we will always add to and update.
Simply drop us an email or send us a message on one of our social media channels and we’ll get things updated.
We want Find My Eco Shop to not just be owned by us, but the whole EcoVibe community, so get involved!
Ok, I need Find My Eco Shop in my life!
Well, the good news is, it’s live and ready for you to use. If you end up finding a new shop and taking some snaps, make sure you tag us, we’d love to know if you’re using this tool.