Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Did you know that glitter make-up has plastic in it? At Ecotopia, a fairly new addition to Leeds city centre (Central Arcade off Briggate), you can buy guilt-free, compostable, biodegradable glitters for your nights out. As well as also selling a wide range of reusable drinking bottles, food containers, wrappers and cutlery, Ecotopia stock dry foods, teas and coffees which can be bought by weight and taken away in your own container as long as it is “clean, dry and sealable”. As well as the many things you can buy in their city centre store and online, their store accepts plastics that are not widely recycled, such as crisp packets and toothpaste tubes for terracycling schemes.
Our students TEDx Talk about the Leeds Beckett Allotment
If you’re looking for a little something extra to make your student digs a bit homier this is a great place to start. Among a huge selection of furniture, Emmaus have appliances, kitchen and dinnerware, as well as loads of second-hand boardgames, DVDs and computer games.
Got an art project or looking to upcycle some furniture? On Kirkstall Road opposite Radio Aire is Seagulls Paint, an environmental social enterprise. They reuse leftover and unwanted paint and resell it, avoiding waste and saving you money! They also sell their own brand of new paint and offer bespoke colour mixing.
If you’re a bit crafty or if you, like many of our students, enjoy a bit of fancy dress, Scrap has everything you could ever want and a few things you might not have heard of! From wigs to fabric and ribbons you’re certain to pick up a bargain. It’s a bit further out as it’s in Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley but Scrap is an Aladdin’s Cave of treasures that constantly changes, as all the products are excess stock and discontinued items saved from going to landfill. You need to be a member, but membership is free.
Buying locally made/sourced goods not only reduces the carbon footprint of your shopping (international freighting is one of the biggest concerns for environmentalists) but also adds an extra feelgood factor, because you are often talking directly to the makers who get a real buzz out of you buying their products. It’s win/win.
A family-run business, this store opposite the Corn Exchange, specialises in organic, fair trade, eco friendly, local and special diets. As well as food there are eco-friendly and cruelty-free toiletries and a zero waste cleaning product refill station.
If you live in Headingley you don’t even have to go as far as town for your specialist shopping (cutting down on that carbon footprint in the process). After 30 years of trading the Natural Food Store cooperative is also Leeds’ oldest and greatest whole food shop and it’s easy to see why. This little shop packs a lot in. And, if you shop there regularly it’s worth joining their loyalty scheme to get money off your future shopping.
