Welcome! My name is Sharon and I’m the face behind The Eco Shopper. My aim is to bring customers the very best in ethical, sustainable and fairtrade gifts and zero waste living. . When you shop with us you can rest assured that as well as buying a quality product you are supporting the people who made it and the future of the planet.
Having owned a bricks and mortar and an online zero waste shop in the last few years, my choice of products is based on thorough research as well as popularity with customers. I hope you enjoy what you find here and if you have any thoughts about future stock I’d love to hear them!
Coming soon – a new physical shop in the heart of Hoylake on the beautiful Wirral peninsular – watch this space!
Our Suppliers
Solmate Socks
I fell in love with Solmate’s whimsical and colourful mismatched socks in 2018 when I first stocked them in my zero waste shop. I have many pairs, all of which are still going strong! They were an instant hit with my customers, making ideal gifts for all ages.
They keep your feet warm, get great comments and make you feel amazing. Solmate socks are perfect for wearing in boots, shoes, wearing to festivals or just padding about the house.
Not only are they gorgeous to look at and wear, they have sound ethical credentials. Here’s what Solmate says:
“Knowing that fashion and sustainability go hand-in-hand, we understand that every action we take today has an impact on tomorrow. This is why we are committed to using sustainably-sourced, eco-friendly fibers in every product we make, allowing you to embrace your individuality without compromising your earth-friendly principles”.
“Working in collaboration with Recover™, we utilize recycled cotton yarns made from remnants from production scraps and used clothing to knit our products. While these scraps would normally go into a landfill, Recover’s Upcycling System allows them to turn regular textile waste into quality, upcycled yarns. These remnants are ground down and re-spun into our own yarns, without adding any additional dyes or colors in this process, keeping them as “clean” as possible. These recycled yarns are also certified by the Global Recycling Standard and Oeko-Tex, making them even that much more awesome and approved for you”.
“In addition to our sustainable production, we take great pride in caring for our employees, valuing people over profit. As ethical practices are paramount to our brand, we pay all of our employees living wages, along with generous medical benefits”.
Namaste Fairtrade
Namaste products, particularly their fair trade hats and gloves from Nepal were always popular in my zero waste shop.
Namaste supports ethically made Fair Trade products, created with the least possible environmental impact. All goods are carefully sourced from eco-friendly, naturally sustainable and recycled materials wherever possible.
It doesn’t stop there! Through close working relationships with selected suppliers, they identify required improvements and work together to make them happen.
They scrutinise their own activities too, with the aim of minimising their use of resources, identifying and implementing ways of reducing consumption and re-using everything they can.
Siesta Crafts
Siesta products were another firm favourite in my shop, particularly their simosa-shaped folding shopping bags made from recycled sari fabric
Siesta has been trading for over 35 years during which time many things have changed. They started importing from Mexico and Guatemala in 1983 when they sold their goods on a market stall. Now they import from many countries around the world and sell both on a wholesale basis to customers throughout the UK and Europe, and through their own shop in Canterbury.
This period of time has also seen the growth in public interest in fair trade and Siesta has been involved in this for many years. Siesta has been a member of BAFTS (the British Association for Fair Trade Shops and Suppliers) for over 20 years and are also a BAFTS recognised Fair Trade importer.
“After many years of trading, we are proud of the fact that we have established good and long lasting relationships with our suppliers. In many cases, we have become good friends with our suppliers – but there is much more to it than that. Most of our suppliers are small family businesses employing only a few people so we try and keep them in continuous work and we also help develop new products with them thus enabling their businesses to grow alongside ours”.
“In virtually every case, we pay our suppliers for orders in advance, thus preventing them from possibly having to borrow money to start the order. We agree on prices with suppliers, rather than imposing prices. We do not allow the exploitation of children nor discrimination against gender. We try to ensure that working conditions are good by local standards and that raw materials are from renewable resources”.
Quintessential
Quintessential
Since 2022 Quintessential have only produced products made of organic, recycled or natural materials. Their ever-popular sustainable and gorgeously soft bamboo socks are always in demand.
