Culthread is an eco-conscious fashion brand conceived in London, a city loved by most for its rich culture, much-celebrated heritage and the wonderful people who live and visit here - we love it so much we even named our styles by the different neighbourhoods of the city! Implementing changes to lead a sustainable life isn’t likely to be something that can be done within a day: it takes small steps, practice and building a routine in order for it to be fully integrated into our lifestyle. There are multiple ways for us to start being more sustainable whilst living in the city, check out our culthread tips below!
1. Shop smart
There’s an increasing amount of zero waste/plastic-free shops popping up in different boroughs of London that aim to lower the use of single-use, disposable packagings and we are here for it! In these stores you can find anything from fresh produce to nuts and grains, oils, vinegar, frozen fruits and vegetables, pet food and even personal care products - all plastic-free! You can bring in your own containers (or they have ones available at the store) to fill up with goodies and pay by the weight!
Some venues are also official drop-off point for hard-to-recycle waste streams, running in partnership with Terracycle UK. Terracycle uses only circular methods (reuse, upcycling or recycling) for repurposing the hard-to-recycle plastics collected through their programs such as baby food pouches, crisp packets, and beauty care packaging and will never landfill or incinerate your waste.
Here are some of our favourite zero waste stores around London:
Bulk Market: Arch 6 Bohemia Place, Hackney London, UK E8 1DU (Closed on Mondays)
Harmless Store: Blue House Yard, 5 River Park Rd, Wood Green, London N22 7TB (Closed Mondays and Sundays)
Hetu: 201 St. Johns Hill, London SW11 1TH (Closed on Mondays)
Bring Your Own Nunhead: 147 Evelina Road, London, SE15 3HB (Closed on Mondays)
BYO Tooting: 21-23 Tooting High St, Tooting, London SW17 0SN (Closed on Mondays)
Re:store Refill: Hackney Downs Studios, 17 Amhurst Terrace, London, E8 2BT (Closed on Mondays)
(Photograph: BYO London)
2. Eat & Drink Local
Remember when the milkman used to be delivered to the front doors? Well… they still do! There are even companies who make nut milks (almond, oat… you name it) and deliver to you in reusable glass bottles.
Oddbox, a delivery company which delivers boxes of fruits and vegetables from local growers that are not of store display standard to homes, helps reduce food waste and gets it straight to your doorstep in sustainable packaging!
3. Refill, refill, refill!
Thanks to the Refill programme, you can now refill your bottles in over 65 businesses in London including Costa Coffee, LEON, Pret and Tate Museums. Find refill locations using the free app here and you can also log your refills, see the number of bottles you’ve saved as well as the carbon emissions saved from plastic production. Oh and the best bit? For every Refill logged in the app, 13 pence will be donated to Refill to help fund City to Sea’s vital campaigning work to tackle plastic pollution at source. Basically, the more you fill up, the greater your contribution is!
The #OneLess campaign is a rapidly growing movement striving to reduce the amount of single-use plastic water bottles entering the ocean from the city of London. You can find their fountains predominantly in tube and mainline train stations, shopping centres, markets and recreation grounds.
(Photograph: Luke Garratt/Greater London Authority)
4. Use public transportation
The best way to get around London is without a doubt by public transportation. With options from underground to buses, hopping onto public transportation is so much more efficient than getting a taxi - there’s a train every 100 seconds on the Victoria line!
5. Be fashionably smart
Do you have clothes lying around in good condition but no longer worn or used? Donate your clothes to charity shops, give it to family and friends or use platforms like eBay or Depop to resell your items so they don’t go to land fill!
If you can, invest in statement pieces over buying by trends in fast fashion. By choosing clothing that are versatile across trends and endures wearing conditions will last longer will prolong the lifespan of items and keep them out of land fill for longer!
Our jackets such as the Hampstead are made with a completely recycled fabric shell and have an interchangeable faux-fur collar which you can mix and match depending on style; plus its Thermore Ecodown, a 100% recycled fibre-down insulation will keep you warm throughout winters.
Note: culthread no longer uses Thermore EcoDown, but rather Mirea, which can be sourced directly in Vietnam, reducing our carbon footprint.