The guide to ethical shopping in the UK

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Shopping ethically contributes to a better life for those living in poverty or in exploited communities. Outside of people, ethical shopping with environmentally friendly products creates a better tomorrow for the environment. This can range from sustaining rainforests through the use of recycling paper to reducing pollution with eco-friendly energy providers, like Octopus Energy. This guide gives you a number of options for ethical shopping online in the UK, enjoy!

Ethical food shopping

There is a strong correlation between shopping at a premium supermarket and buying ethical food. According to the Good Shopping Guide, premium shops like Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose are top-end ethical. Obtaining 71/100 on the ethical Company Index Score, they get top marks in People, the environment and Animal Welfare. Iceland got the lowest score. Organic, fair-trade and sustainability sourced food doesn’t necessarily cost the earth. Own brand good can be low priced. For more tips, review the Ethical consumer’s tips and stats report.

GreatDealsMadeEasy tip – Look for yellow discount stickers in the evenings or Sunday afternoon.  A lot of going out off date can be frozen and eaten at a future date. 

Eco-friendly Energy

Home renewable eco-friendly energy is a top place to review your ethical choices and not necessarily be out of pocket. Switching energy providers is a lot easier now, just grab your latest bill (review your energy usage per Kwh and your stand by charges). Most of the Big Six energy companies – British Gas, EDF Energy, EON, Npower, Scottish Power and SSE do now have green electricity tariffs. They do offer several non-green tariffs and generally don’t offer green gas. For the whole green energy package, check out a smaller energy provider. Green energy companies can be affordable, offer top customer services and be ethical.

The best green energy supplier for customer service is Octopus Energy, winning Which? Recommended Provider, for the 2nd year running. 9 out of 10 customers rate them as 5* on Trustpilot, providing 100% green energy. Good Energy and Bulb are highly rated, they all get 95/100 in the ethical company index score, with Shell Energy on the lowest at 35/100. 

If you fancy joining, visit the link and we both get a £50 bonus. For more details on Octopus Energy, read my Octopus Energy review here.  

GreatDealsMadeEasy tip – Check out Octopus Energy for a balance between value, customer service and ethical ratings.

Eco-friendly cleaning products

Clean up your home with a clean conscience. Most chemicals from cleaning products meet Britain’s waterways and cause damage to wildlife and the environment. David Attenborough would agree! Fortunately, there are some top non-toxic affordable alternatives.

For naturally-derived and biodegradable products, Method are a good choice. Method cleaning products are renowned in the natural cleaning space, using lactic acid rather than chemicals to tackle 99.9% of bacteria. A close competitor is Ecover’s cleaning products. T hey have suffered some criticisms. In 2018, Ecover and Method were bought out by SC Johnson, which have a bad record on animal testing. With that in mind, a smaller vegan and no animal testing alternative are Hull-based Bio-D and EcoZone. 

GreatDealsMadeEasy tip – Trial Bio D and EcoZone for your next clean, both 95/100 on the ethical product index, with a surface cleaning from only £2.80.

Eco-friendly bikes

A London zone 1-5 London travel card costs a gobsmacking  £2,400 a year, that’s £46 a week. Spend calories, rather than your hard earned cash, with a commuter bicycle. After an initial outlay, the costs are minimal. Commuting to work on a bicycle can save a fortune. Use the savings for a property deposit, a foreign holiday or a treat for yourself to something indulgent.

Need a boost up those tough hills? Consider getting an electric bike for under £700. On a tight budget? Consider getting a second-hand bike from ebay.co.uk or Facebook marketplace, with deals from only a few hundred pounds. N.B be savvy about stolen bicycles. The warning signs are if the seller needs the bicycle gone in a matter of hours and the price is exceedingly low for the bicycle’s spec. For more tips on cycling to work, read an in-depth article.

GreatDealsMadeEasy tip – Keep your bicycle nice and clean with green bicycle cleaning products with Green Oil.

Ethical broadband providers

There are 4 big players within the UK ISP (Internet Service Providers) market – BT, Virgin Media, TalkTalk and Sky. These ISPs make up almost 90% of the Broadband market. Others big ones, include SSE, Post Office, Now TV, Shell and Origin. They are all fairly similar in ethics. Good news, there are smaller greener broadband providers out there, like Green ISP & Green Net. Their reputations are sound in green energy and carbon offsets, plus prices are from only £14.99/month. 

GreatDealsMadeEasy tip – Check out our broadband comparison table for top broadband deals. Remember to apply your postcode and add the correct filters upfront (calls, TV, Fibre or ADSL) to get the most accurate products to pick from.

This post has covered Eco-friendly bikes, Eco-friendly cleaning products, Renewable home energy, ethical broadband providers and even ethical food shopping. Anything else that would be beneficial, just comment below. 

Want to make some money online? Check out some top money making ideas from home, 20 top saving tips from UK leading money bloggers and also cheap things to do whilst working from home

Out of contract on your mobile phone or Broadband, check out some Broadband deals for the latest deals in the market.



William Pointing

I enjoy watching comedy, learning about new digital marketing trends, helping people generally (including saving money) and completing sport challenges (This year I plan on cycling to Paris from London).

All stories by:William Pointing
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William Pointing

I enjoy watching comedy, learning about new digital marketing trends, helping people generally (including saving money) and completing sport challenges (This year I plan on cycling to Paris from London).

All stories by:William Pointing
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