You may be surprised, but London is one of the world's most sustainable cities. We've got zero-waste bars, carbon neutral gyms and even ethical enchiladas. But that doesn't make it easy to sort the green from the green-washed. If you want to enjoy the city while reducing your impact, here are the five best places to go to live the good life.
Experimental Perfume Club
DIY fine-fragrance store with minimal packaging
Experimental Perfume Club
All hail Covent Garden’s only carbon-negative perfume boutique, which is reinventing the scentselection process with its planet-friendly, DIY approach. Simply let one of the perfumiers know your aromatic addictions and aversions, and within minutes you’ll have formulated your own personalised scent (you can return your bottle, either in-person or by post, for a refill when you inevitably run dry). Everything EPC makes is PETA-certified vegan, cruelty-free and hand-blended in their London lab, which means they only produce what they sell. Plus emissions are offset with environmental organisation Ecologi, so you can smell good and do good at the same time.
53 Monmouth Street, WC2H 9DG
Covent Garden
experimentalperfumeclub.com
House of Hackney
Maximalist interiors, minimal waste
House of Hackney / Emma Harries
Regardless of whether you’re partial to a bit of William Morris or wouldn’t be seen dead investing in floral wallpaper, a visit to House of Hackney’s sumptuous showroom is a must. We use the term ‘showroom’ loosely; the vibe is closer to ‘weekend at your eccentric great aunt’s townhouse’ with its themed rooms and mismatched prints (which might sound oppressive, but trust us, it’s great). The goingto- extremes doesn’t end with the aesthetics either: this is one of the most sustainable businesses out there with its FSC-certified paper, chemical-free upholstery, low-waste ethos and carbon-neutral status (which they’re projected to upgrade to carbon negative by the end of 2022). In fact, it's even B-Corp certified – which means they meet one of the highest international standards of social and environmental responsibility. So, when are we moving in?
St Michael's, Mark Street, EC2A 4ER
Old Street
houseofhackney.com
The Culpeper
Hyper-seasonal gastropub with a rooftop garden
Veerle Evans
This stylish pub is named after renowned 17th-century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, who once lived around the corner – but don’t worry, the food here is decidedly more delicious than medicinal. The simple-yet-wholesome dishes in its cosy first-floor restaurant are entirely made from seasonal, localingredients (some of which are grown in the rooftop garden using fertiliser made from Culpeper's own kitchen leftovers, which makes them very local indeed). Still, an evening spent in its buzzy groundfloor boozer or on its leafy roof terrace is guaranteedto leave you feeling restored – after all, the cocktails are so curatively sweet and syrupy they might as well be tinctures.
40 Commercial Street, E1 6LP
Aldgate East
theculpeper.com
Glasshouse Salon
Transparent hairdressing
Genevieve Lutkin
They say people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones – so it’s a good job you’d never catch this salon’s friendly staff passing judgement. Yet their laidback attitude belies a rigorous approach to sustainability: all waste is recycled via the innovative Green Salon Collective scheme (who convert colour waste into electricity, preventing it from polluting our water supplies and soil) and Handle (who even use hair waste to stop oil spills), while products are formulated using natural ingredients and absolutely no harsh chemicals. Plus, hairdressers here are fountains of mane-maintenance knowledge, meaning you leave with healthy locks and the tools needed to keep them that way.
139 Mare Street, E8 3RH
London Fields
glasshousesalon.co.uk
Library of Things
Community equipment rental
Library of Things
If this social business gets its way there will be a Library of Things, as well as one of their affordable repair shops (so the equipment you do own will last a lot longer), in every neighbourhood that wants one – and who doesn’t love the idea of being able to rent a power drill (or a Playstation, or a projector, or a pasta maker, or a tent, or a heavy-duty pressure washer) at a moment’s notice? ‘Things’ are hireable from any of their eight locations across London on a daily or weekly basis for a fraction of their retail price and are simply returned to their locker when you’re done, helping to save money and the planet by drastically reducing wasteful, one-time purchases – as well as, crucially for Londoners, saving storage space.
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