Zero Waste Shopping Guide to Paris UPDATED 2018



Atelier Souris Verte: DIY makeup, hair, and body product workshops, bring your own containers (online classes available). 
Bio'c'Bon: Unpackaged savon de marseille, best price on baking soda.
Biocoop: Carries the Mooncup in size B and unpackaged savon de marseille.
Beauté au Naturel: Bamboo toothbrushes, menstrual cup, reusable beauty products.
Buly 1803 or Grand Cafe Tortoni: Vegetable oils- apricot kernel, sweet almond, aloe vera macerate, açai, andiroba, tamanu, brazil nut, camellia, daisy, evening primrose, pracaxi, raspberry seed, grapeseed, rosehip, castor, tucum, tea tree, coconut pulp, prickly pear, pomegranate, and gettou. Loose poudres- rose petal, lavender, olive pit, iris root, azuki, walnut shell, rice bran, amla, and yunohana. Clays-green desert, pascalite, white, yellow, blue, pink, rhassoul, red, and illite green. Unpackaged Mount Athos and Palosanto incense sticks, silk Greek and honeycomb sponges, volcanic pumice, wool pumice, alum stone, bukkake powder, siwak (miswak) root, mimi senketsu, and emu oil. Note: Stock subject to availability.
Day by Day: Zao makeup in refillable bamboo compacts, soaps, brushes, scrubs, washcloths, tooth tabs, toothbrushes, menstrual cups (Maison Zero Dechet also has toothbrushes)

Le Comptoir des Savonniers: Unpackaged handmade soaps including apricot, aloe, almond, amaranth, amber, argan, bamboo, salted butter / honey, wood, dead sea mud, calendula, cedar, hemp, honeysuckle, coconut, coral, eucalyptus, orange blossom, gardenia, geranium/rosewood, ginger, olive oil, jojoba / shea, jasmine, fig, iris, lavender, ivy, mentholated marjoram, mango, melon, mint, bee hive honey, musk, black hammam, patchouli, pine, peony, rosemary, petal of provence, sandalwood, anti-acne sulphur, tobacco, tea tree oil, green tea, verbena, vetiver / bergamot, royal jelly, violet.
Le Labo: Cruelty free, vegan; refills perfume and fragrance.
La Maison du Savon de Marseille: Bulk soap.
Grande Mosquée de Paris: Bulk kohl, I read this could contain lead though and get mine at the organic market.
Herboristeries: Pigault-Aublanc for bulk siwak, Hippocrate, Pharmacie des Deux Lions
Le Retour à la Terre: Mooncup, reusable menstrual pads.
Mon Charbon: Activated carbon.
Naturalia: Mooncup size A.
Oh My Cream: Plastic-free makeup by RMS Beauty packaged in metal and glass.
VeganMania: Brush with Bamboo toothbrushes, menstrual cup, unpackaged soap.



Au bout du Champ: Fresh produce and eggs.
Auchan: Bulk selection including biscuits, pastas, grains, cereals, candies.
Bio'c'Bon: Bulk gluten-free cookies, grated coconut, olives, chia seeds, pastas, grains, sables, red lentils, sugar, etc.
Biocoop: Biscuits, sunflower seeds, pasta, muesli, rice, quinoa, green lentils, granola, courgette seeds, flax seeds, oatmeal, sugar.
Bio Shop: Organic produce and bulk.
Bien: Beautiful organic epicerie in the Marais.
Canal Bio: Organic products.
Carrefour: Limited bulk grains at Gare de Lyon location.
Causses: Olives, olive oil, herbs de provence, orange juice, and various spices and cheeses in bulk.
Cinemas Gaumont Pathé: Bulk candy, including M&Ms in every color.
Day by Day Batignolles: Paris' first true dedicated zero waste shop (now there are locations in the 15eme, 7eme, and at Charenton!!!)
Epicerie Fine Rive Gauche: Unpackaged spices, salts, herbs, and teas.
Epicerie Generale: Take-away juice bar, gluten-free foods, and organic produce.
L'Epicerie Végétale: Wildflower florist and organic epicerie, such a beautiful spot!
Épicerie Kilogramme: Dedicated zéro waste grocery / health and beauty shop in the 19eme
En Vrac: Wine, vinegar, spirits (rum, cognac, whiskey, etc.), mustard, and olive oil. Offers make-your-own-wine workshops in French and English.
Heratchian Frères: Spices, dry goods, feta, halloumi.
Holy Planet: Organic produce, salad bar.

Famille Mary: Three types of honey in bulk.
La Louve: Co-op.
La Pistacherie: Bulk açai, Goji berries, dried fruits, sesame, nuts, wasabi peas, tea.
La Récolte: Fresh, organic food straight from the producer.
La Recyclerie: Bulk wine.
La Tête dans les olives: Bulk pasta, olive oil, almonds, citrus fruits, cinnamon, herbs, takeaway lemonade, Italian specialty items.
Le Baron Rouge: Bulk wine.
Le Garde-Manger des Dames: Lovely cantine and epicerie specializing in local producers (within Ile-de-France).
Le Retour à la Terre: Wide bulk selection, including chocolate chips.
Maille: Mustard flavors on tap include vin blanc, chablis, ancienne chardonnay, and truffle.
Marché President Wilson: Olives, bulk prepared foods, cheese, milk in returnable glass bottles, nuts, aperitif snacks.
Marché Raspail Bio: Milk in returnable glass bottles, bulk chocolate, nuts, olives, fresh pasta, lentils, quinoa, grains.
Mille et Zim: Whiskey.
Naturalia: Limited bulk selection in select stores, generally quinoa, rice, and one or two other grains.
Puerto Cacao: Bulk fair-trade chocolates and Nutella-type hazelnut paste in parfait jars.
Quatre Saisons Cler: Limited bulk legumes and grains.
Sur les Quais: Salt, herbs, spices and spice blends.
Tortilleria Mil Amores: Fresh gluten-free tortillas made every Saturday
Outside Paris: Jean BouteilleDay by Day.
Bulk tea is available from many places in Paris, the best of which is Mariage Frères. Mariage Frères is to tea what Dreiser was to race relations or Mahler to romantic Austro-German symphonic works. Remember when Eleanor Waldorf brought Blair the most amazing Lapsang Souchong from Mariage Frères? 



Graine de Coton: Consignment shop dedicated to wedding attire.
Guerrisol: Secondhand chain with shops all over Paris.
La Compagnie des hommes: Men's luxury secondhand.
Le Depot Bobo: Designer and gently used baby and children's clothing, accessories, furnishings and toys.
Les Recuperables: Upcycled fashion brand.
Madre & Figlia: Well-priced, edited depot-vente with friendly owners.
Boutique Comete: Charming owner stocking pristine designer items; prices negotiable but they're already good.
Violette & Leonie: No receipts, no price tags. Secondhand and designer labels at reasonable prices.
Vintage Bar: No receipts or price tags. Prices negotiable. Designer and runway items.
To borrow clothes: L'Habibliothèque (clothes library) and C'est Ma Robe (vintage / designer dress rental)


Au Grand Magasin: Vintage papers, pens, notebooks, folders, and art supplies.
Carton Plein: Moving materials.
Emmaus: The Rue Riquet outpost is the best.
Famille Mary: Unpackaged blocks of beeswax.
Hamon: Mercerie for unpackaged sewing materials.
La Droguerie: Ribbons, buttons, sewing notions, yarn, zippers, trims, fabric, leather elbow patches, embellishments, knitting needles, and more.
La Petite Rockette: Upcycled household items and clothing.
La Trésorerie: Utensils, cookware, bakeware, sheets, napkins, reusable shopping bags, utility items.
Marché Saint-Pierre: Fabrics and sewing notions.

I'm sorry to say I've seen nails, screws, pet toys and treats, even fishing hooks and wire unpackaged at lots of places in Paris, without noting names or streets. I'll update this post as I find things. Most markets and fromageries let you put produce, cheese, meat, and fish in your own containers (I like a stainless tiffin for meat and fish, cloth bags for bulk grains/nuts/etc., swing-top glass for juice, wine, and zero-waste sparkling water). Just hand them reusable bags and say, "J'ai un objectif zéro déchet."  As Allegra says, you kind of can't take no for an answer! Am I missing any of your favorite sources?

Paris to Go


  1. Such a handy guide you put together!

    1. Thanks! I hope this and the Bulk Locator App save people some footwork...

  2. That's an impressive list! It must have taken you so much time to compile these addresses! I'll share it on my Facebook page as I am sure some of my Parisian readers will find it useful.

  3. Thank you! It didn't take very long actually- just listed where I shop. Hopefully your readers will help me find other bulk sources! Thanks again :)

  4. Hi Ariana,
    It's me again!
    I went to Buly to other day, hoping I would find some unpackaged siwak but they said they won't have them until next year. I really wanted to try it and get rid of my toothbrush...
    Do you know another place where I could find it?
    Best regards,

    1. Librairie SANA 116 rue Jean Pierre Timbaud 75011 carried it years ago... I'm not sure if a) they still have it or b) it's unpackaged though. That's too bad! Thanks for the update- mine is almost used up :( Bisous Pauline!

  5. Hi,
    Thanks for your answer. I haven't gone there because I'm pretty sure they have it packaged... :(

    1. Oh no... well, I hope Buly starts carrying it again soon! Haven't stopped by yet this year.

  6. OMG!!! So incredible! I had no idea that there are such zero waste shops in Paris! I hope that someday I could go there! Regards!

    1. Hi Mildred, I hope you visit too! It is really much easier to go zero waste here than in many cities. We are very lucky!

  7. Hello. Im finding so much inspiration from your blog. You are my Zero waste bible blog lol. It also comes extra helpful since I have just moved to Paris from New York so thank you very much for your effort!

    I would like to ask if you could recommend me of any school supply store or maybe vintage stores that would sell school supplies - I dont know if that's a thing. I have been taking notes on the back of old papers that I found but I dont think it will be enough. I have also purchased notebooks from Muji which say that are made from recycled paper, any thoughts on them? Would you happen to know of any other place that sells 100 percent recycled stationary/school items? I have been researching but havent fund anything and most things I find say the item is "recyclable" (Elba kraft paper brand from BHV and Gilbert Jeune) but I don't feel confident buying it as it does not state where it was recycled in the past, which I am guessing it was not.

    I know I did see you posted on your experience in school but I dont like walking around with my computer in Paris. I once had my iphone stolen from my pocket when I took out my hand to open the metro door while I was listening to music when I first studied here two years ago so I am a bit traumatized lol.

    One last thing, I went to Bully yesterday and they still dont have the Siwak. The lady said something along the lines that because it comes from Morocco it will be hard to order. I also went to the Herboristerie Pigault-Aublanc last Saturday and they did not have any Siwak either. I will try the other place you recommended in the comments and try to find a Moroccan store that sells goods but is there another place you have purchased them from.

    Sorry for the long comment and so many questions. I started this journey a few months ago in New York so I am trying to get everything organized here Paris! Thanks in advance. :)

    1. Hi Jessica! Welcome to Paris, how awesome. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on how Paris compares to NYC. Hopefully you see this before you trek out there, but the other place I recommended, a Muslim librairie, no longer has unpackaged siwak I think (well, I hear mixed things. One person told me it was packaged and another said they were unpackaged in a jar, in a span of a year). Sometimes in Belleville you can find it at the market or in some of the little shops; you can find it at some La Vie Claire, Biocoop, and Naturalias, unfortunately I don't have any specific addresses. I haven't been to Buly all year so thanks for letting me know!

      I think my whole comment will be totally unhelpful but this shop sometimes has eco-friendly school supplies:

      As long as they have an EU ecolabel on the back, they adhere to pretty high standards when it comes to recycling. FSC and PEFC labels are fairly trustworthy, and Anges Bleu or APUR labels are even better. Clairefontaine, Esquisse, and a few other brands you can find at Monoprix or Office Depot have responsibly recycled products. For vintage school supplies, the flea market and bric-a-brac stores around Village Popincourt or in the 18ème always have amazing stuff. When I lived at Lamarck Caulaincourt I was always finding deadstock shops with vintage erasers, rulers, pencils, etc. Unfortunately I didn't mark addresses. I keep saying I'm going to make that a weekend mission sometime because a few people have asked. Anyway, I'm going to ask some people from the Zero Waste Bloggers Network in Paris what they recommend and if they say anything different I'll get back to you. Some of them have kids and some just finished school so hopefully they have more specific ideas.

      I am so sorry to hear you got pickpocketed. That is traumatizing! You're smart, it's better to be safe than to risk it. One time someone tried to attack me in Paris, he pulled me into an alleyway, and I hit him over the head with my computer and walked away. My computer has a dent in it now and when I brought it home it had blood on it :( I wonder now if he did that because I had a computer in my bag. I don't mean to say this to scare you- Paris is still very safe! That was four years ago on the Left Bank and I think it was because I looked every bit of a tourist and like an easy target.

    2. Jessica, I just remembered, Tombées du Camion has lots of vintage school supplies!

    3. oh no. I would be terrified if that ever happened to me. I think I probably looked like a tourist as well.

      And I have yet to go and check any of the stores cause I have have been bombarded with a lot of school work this week. I will check out the recommendations tomorrow. Thank you very much.

      And to answer how Paris compares to New York - I do feel more comfortable shopping here than I did back in New York. I lived in Westchester which is a suburb county outside of New York City and people would always give me the strangest looks when I did not want to take a plastic bag or when I brought my own bag to load my bread in or for bulk items. There was always this awkward linger of silence from the other person reflecting and clearly puzzled by what I was doing. Once someone thought I was trying to steal their bread because I brought my own bag. I even had an ex-boyfriend label me crazy cause I forgot to bring my own bag once to the supermarket and I chose to carry items to the car instead, which was just a few feet away. The worst situation was actually at a farmers market that I went to this past summer. I was looking to buy some bread. This tent/stall owner was already annoyed that I tried to grab a some bread myself because she was sitting on the other side. Then she quickly came and scolded me and began to grab a plastic bag. I quickly and politely told her I don't need a plastic bag, which she responded yelling at me that she needs it to grab the bread. I was bit frazzled so I left and said no thank you. Instead of using a food clamp, this lady takes a new piece a plastic bag to pick up the bread to put it in another plastic bag and was completely annoyed that I just wanted to use my own bag. But on the other hand, I did go to another stall further down and there was this man who complete understood what I was doing as everything he used for packaging was recycled and compostable paper. I think in New York it's a mixed vibe when it comes to being environmental. People will try to make you feel inadequate because you go the extra mile to not have any waste. I've also had friends themselves tell me why I am making such a big deal of such little things. I do not think its their fault. Its more the consumerist culture we are fed because I was like that once. I mean I was not rude about it but it took me a while to come to term with my unessesary waste issue. But in Paris I feel completely comfortable; people understand and do not question when I have my own bag. That being said I have noticed a significant rise in the plastic culture here, especially in comparison to my last time studying abroad here. I notice many plastic bags in the metro and the streets and that they're being offered for free. It has been a it disappointing for me to see that especially since Ive had this romantic notion of Europe being such an environmentalist utopia, which I do think it is stronger in theory countries like Germany where I have friends who take cardboard boxes to the supermarket to carry their groceries.

      In New York city itself it was was easier as no one every questioned me there either. It was always in the smaller, suburban cities where I had the problems.

      Given Paris is still much better comparing it the the US but I am afraid Paris is heading in that direction. I hope I am wrong.

      And thanks again for your respond and I will definitely check out all your recommendations and if i find anything else I will let you know. I think the best way is to just explore and see what I find. :)

    4. This was such a beautiful comment, I hate that bread lady though! I do think in the suburbs there's this idea that not using plastic is dirty and doing anything outside the norm is perceived as crazy and threatening. People were like that when everyone started eating gluten-free though and now it's turning around, so hopefully they will change their attitude towards zero-waste.

      Paris is definitely transforming to more of a plastic culture- this year I saw so many people carrying groceries in plastic bags when they used to wheel around with little carts, and there are a lot more packaged convenience foods available now than when I first got here. Cashiers are programmed to grab the plastic bags and even starting to double bag items now, my husband commented "It's just like Walmart!" when this happened the first time, he was so shocked.

      Germany is way ahead of France for sure. I read France is one of the largest producers of waste in the EU, I think it was #3 whereas Germany didn't even make the top ten list. My husband's family in Germany composts on their balcony and maybe produces one small grocery bag of trash a week, but here, I try to compost with the other residents in the building and the landlord threatens us!

  8. I just moved to Paris and am thrilled to find this guide! Thanks so much!

  9. What a list !
    You probably know this one but it's not in your list : Le Kilo-Shop (

  10. Bonjour, merci pour cette liste utile. Serait-ce possible d'indiquer l'arrondissement de chaque magasin svp ?

  11. This is a great list. I agree that adding arrondissement would make it much easier to search by. Also, many places overlap between food & clothing & health so lots of duplicates.

    There are many others that I frequent : Welcome bio Bazar 75011, La vie Claire (many), Less is More 75010 Aroma-zone 75006 & 75008, La Maison du Zéro Déchet 75010. Technically many of the soap stores are zero waste and I love using shampoo bars ! So, Lush and Un Savon de Marseille. As well as many e-shops ! Even better is just buying the base ingredients and making your own products which is what I do :-) I include many of these shops plus great recipes in English and French including local shopping instructions on my instagram @schaeba