24 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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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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Refill Deutschland is a non-profit initiative that shows where anyone can refill a water bottle with tap water for free: shops, cafés, offices and public buildings put a blue Refill sticker on the…
Alternative to buying bottled water in plastic bottles
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A Repair Café is a free meeting where volunteers help people repair their own broken things: toasters, lamps, clothes, bikes, toys, laptops. It is an alternative to throwing away a broken appliance…
Alternative to throwing away broken appliances and buying new ones, often because repair seems too expensive
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The Netzwerk Solidarische Landwirtschaft is the German association of community supported agriculture (Solawi): farms whose members pay a monthly share of the farm’s costs and get a share of the…
Alternative to supermarket vegetables from heated greenhouses and long-distance imports
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The Deutscher Tierschutzbund is the umbrella organisation of animal welfare associations and animal shelters in Germany. At the end of 2023 it had 785 local member associations in 16 regional…
Alternative to buying puppies and kittens online, often from illegal trade
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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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The Unverpackt Verband (Unverpackt e.V.) is the association of German zero-packaging shops, where customers fill their own jars, bags and bottles with dry goods, oils, cleaning products and cosmetics…
Alternative to supermarket groceries wrapped in plastic
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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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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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Karte von morgen (“map of tomorrow”) is an open map of sustainable initiatives and businesses: organic shops, repair cafés, community gardens, cooperatives, sharing places, places to eat and more, in…
Alternative to commercial map apps that list whoever pays for advertising first
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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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RECUP is a deposit system for reusable cups, bowls and pizza boxes in Germany: customers pay €1 for a cup, €5 for a bowl or €7 for a pizza box at a café or restaurant, and get the deposit back when…
Alternative to single-use coffee cups and takeaway boxes
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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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HappyCow is a guide to vegan, vegetarian and veg-friendly restaurants, shops and cafés around the world, with a map, filters and reviews written by its community, on the web and in an app.
Alternative to general review apps for finding vegan and vegetarian food
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Refill is a free British app and scheme that shows on a map where to fill a water bottle for free: public fountains, cafés, shops and offices that display a Refill sticker in the window.
Alternative to buying bottled water and drinks in single-use cups when out
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The ZQP advice database is a free, ad-free search for care advice services across Germany, including the Pflegestützpunkte, run by the Zentrum für Qualität in der Pflege, a non-profit foundation in…
Alternative to care advice from providers who sell the care
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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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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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Too Good To Go is a free app that sells the day’s unsold food from bakeries, supermarkets, restaurants and caterers as “surprise bags”, at about a third of their stated value. Customers book and pay…
Alternative to bakeries and shops throwing away the day’s unsold food
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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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Workaway is a website that connects travellers with hosts in more than 170 countries: the traveller helps a few hours a day and gets board and lodging in exchange. Hosts are families, farms, hostels…
Alternative to package holidays and paid accommodation when travelling for a long time
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Waste, recycling and zero waste
Repair and do it yourself
Second-hand, swapping, lending and sharing
Mobility, cars and transport
Water and sanitation
Electronics and home appliances
Neighbourhood, community spaces and local networks
Food and community farming
Pets and pet food
Shopping: online, marketplaces and local shops
Household and personal care
Leisure, sport and outdoor gear
Travel and tourism
Restaurants and food delivery
Ageing, end of life and funerals
Health, care and wellbeing
Telecoms: mobile, internet and email
Digital services, software and devices
Office, paper and printing
Work and cooperative economy