81 alternatives
ARCHE NOAH is an Austrian association that preserves old and rare varieties of vegetables, fruit and grain, and sells organic seeds and plants of them so that gardeners can grow them and save their…
Alternative to hybrid seeds from the big seed groups that can’t be saved and resown
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Garden Organic is a British charity for organic gardening, and its Heritage Seed Library keeps more than 800 rare and old vegetable varieties alive by sending their seed to members each year.
Alternative to garden-centre seed packets of a few commercial varieties
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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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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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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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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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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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OxfamUnverpackt is the online gift shop of Oxfam Deutschland where each “gift” is a donation: a goat for €28, school books for €12 or clean water for 50 people for €44. The person receiving it gets a…
Alternative to last-minute gifts that end up in a drawer
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parkrun is a free, timed 5 km run held every Saturday morning in parks and run by volunteers. Runners register once online and get a personal barcode that works at every parkrun in the world; they…
Alternative to gym subscriptions and paid races
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Project Gutenberg is a free online library of books in the public domain: nearly 78,000 e-books in March 2026, to read in the browser or download without an account. It is an alternative to buying…
Alternative to buying classics as e-books from Amazon’s Kindle store and other paid shops
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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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Signal is a free messenger for texts, voice and video calls, groups and file sharing, with end-to-end encryption for everything by default, run by a non-profit foundation. It is an alternative to…
Alternative to WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and other messengers owned by advertising groups
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VLC is a free, open-source media player that plays almost every video and audio file, DVDs and online streams without extra codec packs, on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and more. It is an…
Alternative to paid video players and codec packs full of adware
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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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foodsharing.de is a free, ad-free platform run by volunteers in Germany who collect surplus food from shops, bakeries and restaurants and share it, without money, with anyone who wants it, after…
Alternative to shops, bakeries and restaurants throwing away edible food
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Goldeimer is a Hamburg social enterprise that sells recycled toilet paper with the Blauer Engel label and compost toilets for gardens, allotments and camper vans, and puts its profits into sanitation…
Alternative to toilet paper from big paper groups and to chemical camping toilets
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NaturFreunde Deutschlands is a non-profit association for outdoor leisure with more than 65,000 members in over 500 local groups, which runs more than 350 Naturfreundehäuser (simple guesthouses in…
Alternative to commercial tourism, package holidays and private gyms
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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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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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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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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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Khan Academy is a US non-profit organisation that offers free courses with videos and exercises, mainly in mathematics and science, but also computing, economics, history and test preparation, from…
Alternative to paid tutoring and online course platforms financed by advertising or subscriptions
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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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Mastodon is open-source software for a decentralised social network: thousands of independent servers, run by associations, universities, media, public bodies or individuals, connect with each other…
Alternative to X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram and the other advertising-funded social networks
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Open Food Facts is a free, collaborative database of food products run by a French non-profit association: volunteers scan barcodes and photograph packaging, and the app and website then show the…
Alternative to the marketing on food packaging, and commercial food-scanning apps
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Oxfam Shops are second-hand shops in Germany, run by Oxfam with about 4,000 volunteers, that sell donated clothes, books, music, films and household goods. Their surplus funds Oxfam Deutschland’s…
Alternative to fast fashion and new books, and online second-hand platforms that earn on every sale
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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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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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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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The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) is an environmental charity near Machynlleth in mid-Wales that teaches low-carbon building, eco-renovation and renewable energy through free information…
Alternative to conventional building and renovation that ignores energy and materials
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The Community Land Trust Network is the charity for community land trusts in England and Wales: local, member-controlled non-profits that own land so that the homes on it stay affordable for local…
Alternative to speculative housing whose prices follow the market, not local wages
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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 DGE recommendations, “Gut essen und trinken”, are Germany’s food-based dietary guidelines from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung, which since 2024 take the environment into account as well…
Alternative to diet trends, influencers and nutrition advice paid for by food brands
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Dogs Trust is a British dog welfare charity that takes in stray and unwanted dogs at its rehoming centres, finds them new homes, and never puts a healthy dog to sleep.
Alternative to buying a puppy from a breeder or online advert
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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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PDSA is a British veterinary charity that treats the pets of people on benefits for free or at reduced prices, in its own pet hospitals and through partner vets.
Alternative to private vets that people on benefits can’t afford
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PeerTube is free, open-source software for sharing videos, developed by the French non-profit Framasoft, on which anyone can run a video platform that connects with the others, so there is no single…
Alternative to YouTube and its ads, recommendation algorithm and single owner
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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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Quartiermeister is a Berlin beer brand owned by a non-profit foundation: its profits go to neighbourhood projects, chosen by public vote in the cities where the beer is drunk.
Alternative to beer from big brewing groups such as AB InBev, Heineken or Radeberger
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The Ramblers is a British walking charity whose roughly 485 local groups lead tens of thousands of walks a year across England, Scotland and Wales, and which campaigns to protect public footpaths and…
Alternative to paid guided walks and walking holidays
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Reuse Network, called the Furniture Re-use Network until 2018, is the UK umbrella charity of local charities and social enterprises that collect donated furniture and appliances and pass them on at…
Alternative to cheap new furniture and appliances bought on credit
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Shelter is a British housing charity whose free online advice explains tenants’ rights in England on deposits, repairs, rent rises and eviction, with a helpline and webchat for urgent cases and…
Alternative to relying on lettings agents and landlords for advice on your rights
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The Slow Food Genussführer is a German restaurant guide of about 450 places chosen by Slow Food volunteers for regional, seasonal cooking without convenience products, published as a book and an app…
Alternative to sponsored restaurant guides and star rankings
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Weltläden are Germany’s fair trade shops, about 900 local shops mostly run by volunteers, which sell coffee, chocolate, crafts, clothing and gifts from suppliers checked against fair trade criteria.
Alternative to department stores and online giants for gifts, coffee and chocolate
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The Wohnprojekte-Portal is a free German directory of about 890 co-housing projects and groups, run by the non-profit Stiftung trias, where people can find a shared housing project with room for them…
Alternative to looking for a flat alone on commercial property portals
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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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abgeordnetenwatch.de is a German website where anyone can put a question to a member of parliament in public and read the answer. It also shows how each member voted in important roll-call votes and…
Alternative to political news shaped by spin and party advertising, and politicians who are hard to reach
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Aeternitas is a German consumer association for funerals and cemeteries, the “Verbraucherinitiative Bestattungskultur”. Its website explains how burial works in Germany, what each part of a funeral…
Alternative to funeral homes that sell expensive packages to grieving families in a hurry
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The Deutscher Mieterbund (DMB) is the umbrella organisation of more than 300 local tenants’ associations (Mietervereine) in Germany. Members of a local association get personal legal advice on rent…
Alternative to facing landlords alone, or paying an expensive lawyer for every dispute
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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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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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Medito is a free meditation app for iPhone and Android with no ads, trial period or premium tier, published by Stichting Medito, a non-profit foundation registered in Amsterdam in 2020. It is an…
Alternative to paid meditation apps such as Headspace or Calm
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The Mietshäuser Syndikat is a German network of self-organised housing projects that buys buildings and takes them off the property market for good. It is an alternative to renting from investors and…
Alternative to renting from investors and real estate companies that resell for profit
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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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The ANE Elternbriefe are 46 parent letters from the Berlin association Arbeitskreis Neue Erziehung, sent by post from a child’s birth until its eighth birthday, each explaining what parents can…
Alternative to parenting apps and commercial baby magazines full of advertising
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Compassion in Dying is a British charity that helps people plan their care at the end of life, with free living will (advance decision) forms, guidance on lasting power of attorney and a free…
Alternative to paying a solicitor for a living will
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The Deutscher Alpenverein (DAV) is the German mountaineering association, with more than 1.6 million members in over 350 sections, which runs 325 mountain huts and 220 climbing facilities, maintains…
Alternative to commercial mountain guides, gear rental and tour apps
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The Good Gifts Catalogue is a British charity gift catalogue: instead of an object, the buyer pays for a specific item or service for a charity project, such as a goat or seeds and tools, and…
Alternative to gadgets and presents nobody needs, and to charity gifts that go into a general fund
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Love Food Hate Waste is the UK campaign against household food waste run by the charity WRAP, with a portion planner, an A–Z of how to store each food and a fridge temperature tool, free on its…
Alternative to throwing away food that could have been eaten
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The Natural Death Centre is a British charity that gives free, impartial advice on natural burial, do-it-yourself and environmentally friendly funerals, and on consumer rights when arranging a…
Alternative to conventional funeral packages
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TASSO is a German non-profit pet registry where owners record their dog’s or cat’s microchip number for free, so that a vet, shelter or finder can trace the owner when the animal is found.
Alternative to paid pet registries and to searching for a lost animal on social media alone
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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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Which?, the UK consumer association, rates private medical insurers by what their customers say after making a claim. Price comparison sites rank policies by price and are paid by the insurers they…
Alternative to health insurance comparison sites and lead generators that sell your details to brokers
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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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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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Tierheimhelden is a German website that brings together animals from shelters looking for a home, so that people who want a dog, cat or small animal can search many shelters at once instead of…
Alternative to buying a pet from classified ads or a breeder
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Viva con Agua is a Hamburg charity for drinking water and sanitation that also has its own mineral water brand, sold in German supermarkets, whose licence fees and profits fund its projects.
Alternative to mineral water brands owned by food multinationals
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Waterwise is a British not-for-profit organisation that gives free advice on using less water at home, with figures for each use, a water calculator and guides, and campaigns for water efficiency…
Alternative to water-saving gadgets sold with marketing claims
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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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Garden, seeds and biodiversity
Food and community farming
Neighbourhood, community spaces and local networks
Electronics and home appliances
Second-hand, swapping, lending and sharing
Work and cooperative economy
Repair and do it yourself
Mobility, cars and transport
News, media and knowledge
Celebrations, gifts and holidays
Donations, volunteering and non-profits
Leisure, sport and outdoor gear
Health, care and wellbeing
Culture: books, music, films and streaming
Education and training
Water and sanitation
Waste, recycling and zero waste
Search engines, social networks and messengers
Telecoms: mobile, internet and email
Digital services, software and devices
Restaurants and food delivery
Household and personal care
Travel and tourism
Renting and tenants’ rights
Ageing, end of life and funerals
Pets and pet food
Children, family and toys
Shopping: online, marketplaces and local shops
Nutrition advice and recipes
Clothing and mending
Housing, building and renovation
Political participation and citizens’ initiatives
Drinks: coffee, tea, wine and beer
Furniture and furnishing
Law, consumer protection and advice
Banking, insurance and pensions
Energy and heating