Bring your cutest canvas bag, handy glass jars, reusable containers and packaging bags with you during a day of shopping and grocery shopping at these plastic-free shops in Rotterdam and its surroundings. Hurray for sustainability!
I try to contribute wherever possible. For instance, I use many products made of bamboo instead of plastic, I always bring my own bag and I recycle bottles, cans and glass. I also like to buy second-hand clothes and furniture, shop at thrift shops and flea markets, and regularly buy fruit and vegetables from the market. Join me?
Do you know these sustainable shops in Rotterdam?
1. Gimsel
Gimsel in the Groene Passage. Photo by @marionro.cks
In De Groene Passage you will find supermarket Gimsel, an organic supermarket with many products like nuts, cereals, olive oil and soy sauce which you can tap into your own containers.
So besides the fact that the groceries, care products and fresh produce you buy here are fair and ecological, you have the option of plastic-free shopping.
I also mentioned Gimsel in my article with the best vegan and fair trade shops in Rotterdam, also fun to read!
Address
Mariniersweg 9, 3011 NB Rotterdam
2. Ekoplaza
In Rotterdam Centrum/West, Kralingen and Noord (Hillegersberg), shop at Ekoplaza, a supermarket with a wide range of packaging- and plastic-free products. The changeable products come in glass deposit jars that look nice too!
Address
Nieuwe Binnenweg 236-242, 3021 GN Rotterdam
Lusthofstraat 97, 3061 WL Rotterdam
Bergse Dorpsstraat 92, 3054 GG Rotterdam
3. Pieter Pot
You don’t visit a Pieter Pot store, but you order groceries from them. The products are delivered to your home, in glass jars.
So Pieter Pot’s service is completely plastic-free. There is a deposit on the jars, they are also collected again and Pieter Pot offers new products every week.
Address
Kratonkade 25, 3024 ES Rotterdam
4. Albert Heijn XL
Packaging-free grocery shopping has been possible at Albert Heijn XL in Hillegersberg since 2022. This supermarket is the very first branch where this concept has been introduced.
For example, you buy couscous or quinoa, tea, nuts or muesli by tapping it into your own jar or bag.
Address
Argonautenweg 1, 3054 RP Rotterdam
5. Potjes en Deksels – Zero Waste Shop
Foto door TM Overboom.
Potjes en Deksels (meaning Pots and Lids) is a packaging-free shop on wheels. Here you do your shopping in your own jars, trays and bags, by having them filled.
The bus (named Evie) travels through Rotterdam in the even weeks of the year, Capelle aan den IJssel in the odd weeks and stands several times a month at Rotterdamse Oogst; the most fun market on Noordplein.
Address
Multiple locations, view overview.
6. Odin
Odin is an organic and biodynamic supermarket, located in many cities in the Netherlands. Around Rotterdam you will find a number of branches, for example in Dordrecht and Delft.
Odin aims for ‘no waste’ operations and the first step towards that is low waste grocery shopping. In the supermarkets, (almost) all vegetables, fruit and bread are available loose. Customers can buy this packaging-free.
Address
Transvaalstraat 250, 3312 EX Dordrecht
Papsouwselaan 7 13, 2624 AE Delft
Treubplein 19, 2251 CV Voorschoten
Aert van der Goesstraat 35 37, 2582 AJ Den Haag
7. Dille & Kamille
Tapping your own detergent and washing-up liquid? You can at Dille & Kamille!
Think of products such as washing-up liquid, black soap, detergent and fabric softener, which you can easily tap into a swing-top bottle (made of glass) or bottle made of recycled plastic, or a bottle you bring yourself. A bottle will last about 1.5 to 2 months.
Address
Korte Hoogstraat 22-24, 3011 GL Rotterdam
8. Ecomondo
It won’t surprise you, but at Ecomondo you buy ecological, zero waste products. They have both a webshop and a shop, where you can find products like body care, gifts, detergent, food and drinks, clothes, things for your home and garden, coffee mugs and much more.
Address
Dovenetelstraat 25a, 3053 JD Rotterdam
9. Evermore
Tea, coffee and chocolate, but responsibly. This family-run business specialises in the highest quality single origin products, which can also be bought without packaging. Bring your own trays, bags and jars to have them filled.
Also nice to know: Evermore delivers products weekly in Rotterdam Centre and West, by bike. Good for the environment!
Address
Coolhaven 158A, 3024 AM Rotterdam
10. Rotterdamse Centrummarkt
If you go to the market more often, you know that there are thousands of plastic bags hanging around. Terrible, if you ask me. Yet this is a perfect location for plastic-free shopping.
When I go to the market on the Binnenrotte, I take about three canvas bags that I fill completely with fruit and vegetables without plastic or packaging. Also nice is that prices are low and you can score food for several weeks for a tenner.
Address
Binnenrotte 101, 3011 HB Rotterdam
Small effort, packaging-free shopping, right? Will you soon be standing in the supermarket with your own tupperware or soaking pots? Together, we will give the environment a helping hand towards less plastic and more joy.
