85 alternatives
“Que faire de mes objets et déchets ?” is a free website of ADEME, the French agency for ecological transition: typing the name of an object or a type of waste shows how to repair, give away, resell…
Alternative to throwing everything in the bin because you don’t know who repairs, takes back or recycles it
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Refuges LPO is the scheme of the French bird protection league LPO for turning a garden, a balcony, a school or a company site into a refuge for wildlife, by signing a charter and following its…
Alternative to tidy lawns, pesticides and garden-centre landscaping
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The French Ministry of Health publishes the results of the official checks on tap water for every commune, free online, so anyone can see what is in their water before paying for bottles.
Alternative to bottled water bought out of distrust of the tap
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The “Économiser” pages of ADEME, the French ecological transition agency, are free guides to spending less on electricity, heating, fuel, water and everyday purchases. They need no account, carry no…
Alternative to energy-saving advice from suppliers and salespeople who want to sell you something
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An AMAP (association pour le maintien d’une agriculture paysanne) is a group of households that buys part of a nearby farm’s harvest in advance, for a season, and collects a basket each week at a…
Alternative to supermarket vegetables bought at prices that squeeze farmers
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Enercoop is a French network of cooperatives that supplies renewable electricity bought directly from independent producers of wind, hydro, solar and biomass power, rather than through certificates…
Alternative to electricity suppliers selling nuclear or fossil power with green certificates bought on the side
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Énergie Partagée lets savers in France invest in wind farms, solar roofs, small hydro plants, wood-fired heating and biogas units owned and run by local residents and councils. It is both a movement…
Alternative to savings products that finance big energy groups and funds you know nothing about
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Envie is a French network of work-integration companies that collect used household appliances, repair them and sell them again with a two-year warranty valid in all its shops. The first opened in…
Alternative to buying a new washing machine, fridge or cooker
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Gallica is the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) and its partners. It gives free online access to more than 11 million digitised documents (January 2025): books…
Alternative to paid e-book shops and archive services for old books, newspapers and maps
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Kokopelli is a French association that sells organic and biodynamic seeds of open-pollinated varieties: more than 2,000 varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers, many of them old varieties no…
Alternative to F1 hybrid seeds from large seed companies, which cannot be saved and resown
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L’Heureux Cyclage is the French network of community bike workshops: associations where you repair your own bike with their tools and the advice of volunteers or staff, for a small membership fee.
Alternative to paying a bike shop for every repair, or buying a new bike
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La Nef is a French cooperative bank that lends only to projects with a social, ecological or cultural purpose, such as organic farms, renewable energy, shared housing and local shops, and publishes…
Alternative to the big French banks and their investments in fossil fuels
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Mediapart is a French online newspaper known for its investigations, funded only by its subscribers, with no advertising. It is an alternative to free news sites that live on ads, and to media owned…
Alternative to free news sites full of advertising, and media owned by industrial groups
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MIRAMAP is the national network of the AMAP (associations pour le maintien d’une agriculture paysanne), groups of consumers who sign a contract with a local farmer, pay for the harvest in advance and…
Alternative to supermarket fruit and vegetables bought from industrial farms and central purchasing
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Zero Waste France is an independent French association that works to reduce waste at the source: it publishes practical guides for households, schools and towns, investigates the packaging and waste…
Alternative to the advice of the packaging industry, which says recycling is enough
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The Complémentaire santé solidaire (C2S) is France’s public complementary health cover for people on low incomes. It pays what the Assurance Maladie leaves to the patient, for free or for at most €1…
Alternative to a paid mutuelle for people on low incomes
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Citiz is a French network of car-sharing operators, most of them cooperatives. Members book a car by the hour or the day, pick it up from a fixed station near home and bring it back there, paying for…
Alternative to owning a car that stands still 95 % of the time, and free-floating car rental run by large groups
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Cohabilis is the French network of intergenerational home-sharing associations: a person aged 60 or over rents a room in their home to someone under 30, a student, apprentice, trainee or young worker…
Alternative to expensive student rooms, and to living alone in old age
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A cooperative supermarket belongs to its customers: each member buys shares, works a few hours a month in the shop and buys food there at lower margins than in ordinary supermarkets. Only members can…
Alternative to supermarket chains that set prices and margins for their shareholders
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Emmaüs Connect is a French association that helps people who struggle with digital tools: using a phone or a computer, online paperwork, job hunting, and access to rights and health care. A member of…
Alternative to being left alone with online paperwork, expensive phone plans and new devices you can’t afford
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The Energie-Info comparator is the official comparison tool of France’s energy ombudsman (médiateur national de l’énergie). It lists the electricity and gas offers of every supplier and ranks them by…
Alternative to commercial comparison sites paid by suppliers that sell your contact details
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Ethiquable is a French worker cooperative (Scop) from Fleurance, in the Gers, that sells organic fair trade food: chocolate, coffee, tea, juice, rice, sugar, spices and snacks, bought from…
Alternative to supermarket coffee, chocolate and juice from multinational brands
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Framasoft is a French non-profit association, based in Lyon, that promotes free software and runs free online services as alternatives to those of big tech: Framadate for polls, Framaforms for forms…
Alternative to Google Forms, Doodle and the other free services of big tech that live from your data
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France Rénov’ is the French public service for home energy renovation, run by the national housing agency Anah. Its advisers give free, neutral advice on insulation, heating, ventilation and the…
Alternative to commercial renovation companies that cold-call households and sell expensive works
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FUN MOOC is the French public platform of free online courses made by universities and grandes écoles: videos, quizzes and forums on hundreds of subjects, mostly in French, with about one course in…
Alternative to commercial online course platforms such as Coursera or Udemy
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Label Emmaüs is the online shop of the Emmaüs movement and other organisations of the social and solidarity economy. About 180 solidarity shops sell second-hand books, clothes, furniture, household…
Alternative to Amazon and the big online marketplaces selling new products shipped from far away
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Lamazuna is a French brand of zero-waste bathroom products: solid shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and toothpastes, washable make-up remover wipes, rechargeable toothbrushes and menstrual cups. It…
Alternative to cosmetics in plastic bottles, disposable cotton pads and single-use razors
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Lumni is the free, ad-free educational platform of French public broadcasting: videos, quizzes, games, articles and podcasts for learning and revising school subjects, from nursery school to the…
Alternative to paid tutoring and revision books
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Place des Libraires is a French website that shows which bookshops have a book in stock: readers choose a title and a nearby shop, then reserve the book to collect there, or order it if it isn’t in…
Alternative to ordering books from Amazon and the big online retailers
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Ressourceries and recycleries are local second-hand shops, most often run by associations, that collect objects people no longer want, check, clean and repair them, then sell them at low prices or…
Alternative to throwing away objects that still work, and buying everything new
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The SPA (Société Protectrice des Animaux), founded in 1845 and recognised as a public-interest association since 1860, is France’s oldest animal protection association. It runs 64 shelters and…
Alternative to buying a pet from a pet shop, a breeder or a classified ad
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Telecoop is a French cooperative mobile operator, founded in 2020, whose plans encourage people to use less data and keep their phone longer. It uses Orange’s 4G network, and it is an alternative to…
Alternative to the large mobile operators and their incentives to consume ever more data and change phones often
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VRAC organises group buying of organic, fair-trade and local food in low-income neighbourhoods of France and sells it at cost price. Members order and collect their goods, in their own containers, at…
Alternative to discount supermarkets as the only option in low-income neighbourhoods
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Crédit Coopératif is a French cooperative bank, owned by its client-members, that has banked associations and social-economy businesses since 1893 and also offers current accounts, cards and savings…
Alternative to commercial high-street banks that finance fossil fuels
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Le Pari Solidaire is a Paris association that places young people under 30 in the homes of people aged 60 or more, in Paris and Île-de-France. The young person gets a room for a small contribution…
Alternative to living alone in old age and to overpriced rooms in Paris
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Solidarités International is a French humanitarian NGO, founded in 1980, that brings drinking water, sanitation and hygiene to people hit by wars and disasters, along with food aid and shelter. Water…
Alternative to donating without knowing where the money goes, for clean water in crisis zones
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Artisans du Monde is a French network of fair trade shops run mostly by volunteers, selling crafts, food and cosmetics bought from more than 120 producer organisations in Asia, Africa and Latin…
Alternative to gift shops and chain stores selling crafts and food from unknown suppliers
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Compagnons Bâtisseurs is a French network of associations that helps low-income tenants and owners repair and renovate their own homes themselves, with a building professional and volunteers at their…
Alternative to paying a contractor for every repair when money is short
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The Coopérative Funéraire de Nantes is a funeral home run as a cooperative (SCIC), owned by its members, including families, which pays no dividends and offers funerals around Nantes, with sister…
Alternative to the funeral chains OGF and Funecap
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The FSGT is a French multisport federation founded in 1934, with about 4,200 self-managed clubs, 200,000 people taking part and around a hundred sports, built on the idea that everyone should have…
Alternative to expensive gym chains and commercial sports clubs
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Habitat Participatif France is the national association of co-housing in France: groups of households who design, build or renovate their homes together and share some spaces, and it helps them find…
Alternative to buying a flat from a developer or renting alone
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MonGR is the official website of the GR long-distance footpaths in France, published by the French hiking federation (FFRandonnée), with a map of the trails, themed route ideas, topoguides for sale…
Alternative to Komoot and other commercial hiking apps
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Les Petits Frères des Pauvres is a French association, founded in 1946, whose volunteers visit isolated older people at home, organise group activities and holidays, and answer a free, anonymous…
Alternative to leaving older people alone, or paying a private company for company
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Terra Etica, long known as Café Michel, is a worker cooperative (SCOP) in Pessac near Bordeaux that roasts organic, fair-trade coffee and sells tea, chocolate and sugar bought from small farmers’…
Alternative to supermarket coffee brands such as Carte Noire, L’Or or Jacques Vabre
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Visale is a free rent guarantee from Action Logement that stands in for a personal guarantor: it covers unpaid rent and charges for the landlord, at no cost to either landlord or tenant, for young…
Alternative to paid guarantors, guarantor companies and unpaid-rent insurance
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Datan is a free website that shows how each member of the French National Assembly and each parliamentary group votes, from the Assembly’s own open data. A reader can check an MP’s actual votes on…
Alternative to what MPs and parties say about their own votes
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The Que Choisir mutuelle comparator is the health insurance comparison tool of Que Choisir Ensemble, the French consumer association formerly called UFC-Que Choisir. It ranks complementary health…
Alternative to mutuelle comparison sites run by brokers, paid by insurers, that resell your phone number
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1083 is a French brand of jeans, jackets and sneakers made in France, based in Romans-sur-Isère in the Drôme. Its name is the distance in kilometres between the two towns of mainland France that lie…
Alternative to fast-fashion jeans and sneakers made far away under poor working conditions
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The ADIL (agences départementales d’information sur le logement) give free legal, financial and tax advice on housing in France: leases and rent, unpaid rent, co-ownership, buying a home, loans…
Alternative to paid legal advice and the vague answers of internet forums
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Bienvenue à la ferme is the network of French farmers who sell their produce directly or welcome visitors, and its free website maps them: farm shops, farmers’ markets, producers’ shops, “drives…
Alternative to supermarket fruit, vegetables and meat that pass through several middlemen
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Don en Confiance is a French association that awards a label to charities and foundations that sign its ethical code and accept continuous checks. Donors use it to see which organisations appealing…
Alternative to giving to street or phone fundraisers without checking the organisation
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Les Frigos Solidaires is a French association that sets up self-service fridges outside shops, associations, universities, schools and companies, where anyone can leave food or take some, free and…
Alternative to throwing away food that is still good
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Les Scop is the website of the Confédération générale des Scop et des Scic (CG Scop), the federation of French worker cooperatives (Scop) and multi-stakeholder cooperatives (Scic). In a Scop the…
Alternative to companies owned by distant shareholders, where employees have no say
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Mobicoop is a carpooling website and app that takes no commission and shows no advertising: passengers share the driver’s costs, paid online, and nothing is added on top.
Alternative to BlaBlaCar and other carpooling platforms that take a fee on every booking
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Pour bien vieillir is a free website of the French public pension funds that helps retired people stay healthy and independent: advice on physical activity, food, sleep, memory, falls, social life…
Alternative to private retirement-home brokers and the advice of companies selling senior services
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Rezo Pouce is a free, organised hitchhiking network in rural and suburban France: members wait at signposted “arrêts sur le pouce” stops, show where they are going, and a driver from the network…
Alternative to needing a car, or a second car, in the countryside
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SignalConso is the free public service of the DGCCRF, the French consumer protection authority, for reporting a problem with a company, in a shop or online, or asking a question about consumer rights…
Alternative to giving up when a shop or company doesn’t respect your rights
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Social grocery shops (épiceries solidaires) sell food, fresh produce and hygiene products to households on low incomes at 10 to 30 % of the usual price. Customers choose on the shelves and pay at the…
Alternative to food parcels, for households on a small income who want to choose their own shopping
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Que Choisir Ensemble, called UFC-Que Choisir until its renaming in 2025–2026, is the largest French consumer association: it tests more than 2,000 products a year, publishes the results in its…
Alternative to advertising, sponsored reviews and comparison sites paid by the brands they compare
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The Association Végétarienne de France (AVF) is a French non-profit that helps people eat less meat or none at all, with free leaflets on nutrition, recipes, cooking workshops, the Défi Veggie…
Alternative to eating meat every day without knowing how to cook without it
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MAIF is a French mutual insurer, owned by its 4.2 million members, that insures homes, cars, bikes and borrowers. It became a société à mission in 2020 and gives 10 % of its profit to environmental…
Alternative to shareholder-owned insurers for home and car
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Adopte un bureau is a French company that buys used office furniture from businesses, refurbishes it in its workshops in Antony and Albi and resells it, with a 24-month warranty, at much lower prices…
Alternative to buying new office furniture
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The calendrier de l’Avent inversé, or reverse Advent calendar, turns the December countdown around: instead of opening a window each day, the family puts one useful item a day into a box, then gives…
Alternative to bought Advent calendars filled with chocolate, cosmetics or toys
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Camif is a French online furniture and home shop that sells only products made in Europe, 70 % of them in France according to its own figures, and shows on each product page where it was made.
Alternative to IKEA and furniture chains that sell flat-pack furniture made far away
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Écotable is a French label and guide for restaurants that cook with organic, local and seasonal produce, with three levels from “transition started” to “an example for all” and a map of about 300…
Alternative to restaurant guides that say nothing about where the food comes from
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L’Arbre Vert is a French brand of washing-up liquids, laundry detergents, household cleaners and toiletries sold in supermarkets, most of them certified with the EU Ecolabel and made in France.
Alternative to conventional cleaning products and toiletries from big consumer-goods groups
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Manger Bouger is the French public health website on food and physical activity, run by Santé publique France, with the official recommendations and La Fabrique à menus, a free weekly menu planner…
Alternative to diet apps, paid meal plans and food advice from the food industry
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Seconde Chance is a French website that lists animals waiting for adoption in shelters and animal welfare associations all over France, so that people looking for a dog, cat or rabbit can find one…
Alternative to buying a dog or cat online, from a breeder or at a fair
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NosParlementaires is a free website that tracks the work of the 577 French MPs and 348 senators: their votes, amendments, written and oral questions, bills, reports and declared interests. It is…
Alternative to what MPs, senators and parties say about their own work in parliament
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The Fédération FDN brings together about 30 non-profit internet access providers run as associations, almost all in France, plus Neutrinet in Belgium and SNN in Switzerland. Seven associations…
Alternative to big commercial internet providers such as Orange, SFR, Free and Bouygues
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HI France is the French network of Hostelling International youth hostels: about 80 hostels with some 5,000 beds in cities, by the sea and in the mountains, with beds in shared rooms from about…
Alternative to hotel chains and holiday rentals for a cheap night
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MesAidesVélo is a free French website that lists the public subsidies for buying a bike: after entering where one lives, it shows which aids from the town, the intercommunality, the department and…
Alternative to searching every town hall and regional website for bike purchase subsidies
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Spareka is a French website that helps people repair their own household appliances: free fault diagnosis, more than 900 free tutorials, video help from a professional technician and spare parts for…
Alternative to throwing away a broken appliance or paying for a call-out
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Visorando is a French hiking website and app listing tens of thousands of walking routes in France, its overseas territories and abroad, each with a map, duration, elevation and step-by-step…
Alternative to paid hiking guidebooks and American apps such as AllTrails
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Wimoov is a French non-profit network of mobility centres for people who struggle to get around, mostly people in social and professional integration: a personal mobility assessment, advice and…
Alternative to losing a job or training for lack of transport
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Jean Bouteille is a French system of reusable deposit glass bottles for liquids sold loose in shops, such as oil, vinegar, wine, beer and detergents: customers fill the bottle from a dispenser and…
Alternative to single-use bottles of oil, vinegar, wine and detergent
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Olvid is a French end-to-end encrypted messenger that needs no personal data at all, no phone number, e-mail or name, and never asks for the address book; contacts are added directly, person to…
Alternative to WhatsApp and messengers that upload your address book
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Qwant is a French search engine that says it keeps no search history and shows ads without profiling users, and that is building a European search index with Ecosia; Qwant Junior is a version for…
Alternative to Google Search and its tracking of what you search
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Vilac is a French wooden-toy maker in Moirans-en-Montagne, in the Jura, that has turned, sanded, lacquered and decorated toys in its own workshop since 1911, using beech, hornbeam, alder and box from…
Alternative to plastic toys from global toy groups
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“Énergie moins chère ensemble” is the group purchase of electricity and gas run by UFC-Que Choisir, France’s largest consumer association, through its subsidiary Que Choisir Ensemble. Households…
Alternative to negotiating alone with energy suppliers, or staying on an old, expensive contract
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Geev is an app and website for giving things away between neighbours: furniture, clothes, toys, appliances and food that would otherwise be thrown away. Givers post an ad with a photo, and the…
Alternative to throwing away furniture, clothes and toys, or buying them new
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Imprim’Vert is a French environmental label for print shops, created in 1998, which nearly 2,000 production sites hold; it checks how they dispose of hazardous waste, store dangerous liquids, replace…
Alternative to print shops with no environmental commitment
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INCI Beauty is a French app and website that reads the ingredient list (INCI) of a cosmetic from its barcode, colours each ingredient by its level of concern and gives the product a score out of 20.
Alternative to choosing cosmetics on the brand’s own claims, without reading the ingredient list
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Donnons.org is a website and app for giving objects away between private people in France: you post an ad for something you no longer want, or pick up for free what someone nearby is giving. Its…
Alternative to taking usable things to the tip
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PAP, short for De Particulier à Particulier, is a French property listings site and magazine where private landlords and sellers advertise homes directly to tenants and buyers, without an estate…
Alternative to estate agents and their fees for renting or selling a home
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Waste, recycling and zero waste
Repair and do it yourself
Second-hand, swapping, lending and sharing
Garden, seeds and biodiversity
Water and sanitation
Energy and heating
Household and personal care
Food and community farming
Neighbourhood, community spaces and local networks
Work and cooperative economy
Banking, insurance and pensions
Political participation and citizens’ initiatives
Electronics and home appliances
Culture: books, music, films and streaming
Education and training
Mobility, cars and transport
News, media and knowledge
Health, care and wellbeing
Renting and tenants’ rights
Ageing, end of life and funerals
Shopping: online, marketplaces and local shops
Digital services, software and devices
Telecoms: mobile, internet and email
Law, consumer protection and advice
Drinks: coffee, tea, wine and beer
Search engines, social networks and messengers
Housing, building and renovation
Cosmetics and hygiene
Children, family and toys
Pets and pet food
Donations, volunteering and non-profits
Celebrations, gifts and holidays
Leisure, sport and outdoor gear
Travel and tourism
Clothing and mending
Nutrition advice and recipes
Office, paper and printing
Furniture and furnishing
Restaurants and food delivery
