Are you trying to use less plastic? Shopping at refill stores (aka bulk stores or zero waste stores) is a great way to prevent tons of unneeded packaging. The only problem is that you might not know where or even if there are any in your area. So here I’ll share my 10 favorite refill stores in New York City.
Before I get to the list, did you know that at EcoRate we just added refill stores to our sustainability map? So now you can use the EcoRate app to find eco-friendly cafes *and* refill stores near you. After all, the best refill store is the one near you that carries the stuff you actually want to buy. Nobody wants to haul groceries all over town, so you need a convenient location.
The EcoRate app makes this easy because refill stores now show up prominently on our sustainability map. Looking at them all on a map can be a little surprising. There are probably more than you would think. The app also lets you filter for stores that carry the specific item that you’re looking for. Most refill stores focus on either food or cleaning supplies, but some carry both types of goods, and some go even beyond that.
So let’s dive in to the list! This is in no particular order, but I’ll start with dedicated refill stores, then get to other venues with some bulk items for sale.
Dedicated Refill Stores
1. Maison Jar – 566 Leonard St, Brooklyn
When you step into Maison Jar, the store feels spacious and inviting. Larasati, the owner, planned it that way so she could easily adapt the store to host events. I don’t know about you, but my ordinary grocery store is not a place I would be interested in attending events at. But Maison Jar is not your average grocery store. Even setting aside the nice ambiance for a moment, their selection is incredible. They have items, like za’atar, that can be hard to find anywhere, much less at a refill store.
Remember the “take a penny, leave a penny” trays you used to see at stores (what ever happened to those anyway)? Well Maison Jar does something similar with jars. If you want to use a jar but didn’t bring one, you can just use one left by another customer (Maison Jar washes them). That makes it easy to stop by and pick something up even if you weren’t planning on it. Those jars are also pre-weighed, so they really make it easy for you.
2. Precycle – 50 Cypress Ave, Brooklyn
The name “Precycle” is a concise way to put a lot of the environmental benefits of shopping at refill stores. Rather than landfilling, incinerating, or even recycling a pile of packaging, buying bulk items lets you prevent all that waste from ever happening. But Precycle goes even further and lets customers bring food scraps on Thursdays to be composted. That’s a big relief to some in a city that refuses to commit to citywide curbside composting. Precycle also makes a point of getting local, organic, and in-season produce as much as possible. You’ll notice that refill stores often make a lot of effort to run their businesses sustainably, and it often goes way beyond just cutting down on packaging waste.
Precycle does a great job of making the eco-friendly option really convenient too. For many of their smaller loose items like tea and spices, they have pre-measured amounts ready in jars on their shelves so you don’t have to do any weighing at all. They also recently started delivering so now it’s easier than ever to get zero waste groceries in NYC.
3. Earth & Me – 30-38 Steinway Street, Queens
In Queens you’ll find Earth & Me. I heard about this store through a tweet from AOC two years ago. It’s been great to see their incredible progress in a relatively short time. They were previously in a charming but small store space. Now that they’ve moved to a new spot with tons for floor space, and a beautiful courtyard in the back.
This store focuses on cleaning supplies, toiletries, and other household items. If you want to check out Earth & Me, why not go during one of their “Zero Waste Happy Hours”? They’re every Tuesday 5pm-6pm and you even get a 10% discount at those times. They also deliver to Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn for free for orders over $40. The deliveries are even done by EVs on Wednesdays!
4. Package Free Shop – 25 Bond Street, Manhattan
The name says it all! The Package Free Shop really goes all out for sustainability, and that goes way beyond just preventing packaging waste. They also deliver things plastic free, and do their best to ethically source their products. They pursue quite a lot of complementary environmental and social initiatives. You can read more about them on their About Page.
Shopping at places that are in line with your values shows your support for their causes. Voting with your wallet not only keeps the businesses you appreciate in business, it also sends a really powerful message to the whole industry that there is a market and demand for sustainable options.
5. 4th Street Food Co-op – 58 East 4th Street, Manhattan
You’ll find the 4th Street Food Co-op just a stone’s throw from the Package Free Shop. It’s been around since 1995 and is a cornerstone of its neighborhood. In addition to having a wide selection of bulk food items, all of the household products they sell are eco-friendly. The shop also does its best to offer local and organic produce, and they even run 100% on wind power! A recurring theme with refill stores is that many do their best to have a positive impact on their community. As you may have guessed, the Co-op is run by its volunteer members who get a discount on the food their purchases. This ensures that they’re actively working in the best interests of all their members and the community as a whole.
6. EcoBronx – Mobile, Bronx
The EcoBronx refill store goes beyond providing bulk items packaging free. They also want to improve the affordability and accessibility of this type of shopping to the whole borough. Most New Yorker households don’t have a car, so groceries usually have to be bought quite close to home because so many people get them on foot. EcoBronx makes itself more accessible by running a mobile store. They set up in different parts of the Bronx on different days of the week to maximize the number of people that can shop with them. This is particularly important in the Bronx because it has fewer refill stores overall.
Cafes with a Refill Store Side-hustle
You’ve gotta love a cafe with a side-hustle! Here are four spots that, in addition to being great cafes, also sell some bulk items packaging free.
7. IXV – 497c Pacific St., Brooklyn
You may know IXV as a coffee shop, but did you know that they sell bulk coffee, soap, and remade clothing? If you’ve never heard of remade clothing you should go to IXV and ask Jenny the owner about it. Before she opened her sustainable cafe, she had a whole career in the fashion industry.
It’s heart-warming to see the extra effort some shops put in behind the scenes to improve their sustainability. For example, IXV gets their pastries every day without any single-use packaging from their partner bakery. They also compost which is so critical for restaurants and cafes.
8. Demitasse – 973 Columbus Ave, Manhattan
Demitasse is a beautiful cafe in the Upper West Side with a whole shipping container as their outdoor dining space. They also sell coffee as a bulk item, so next time you have a coffee with them, bring a jar and fill it with some beans to take home. Demitasse is a really peaceful spot to enjoy your coffee, and they try to keep it that way with a ban on working on laptops at their cafe. Take a moment to unplug and fully appreciate your coffee break.
9. Floating Mountain – 239 W 72nd St #2fl, Manhattan
It’s not just cafes that have refill store side-hustles. Tea rooms are often a great place to get loose tea to bring home. Floating Mountain in the Upper West Side takes the tea experience very seriously. Customers sit on the floor at low tables and pour over an encyclopedic menu of teas from all over the world. This prices at this tea room are a bit steep, but the tea ceremony and specialty earthenware are second to none.
10. Brooklyn Tea – 524 Nostrand Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11216
Brooklyn Tea is a fun and vibrant tea room with a serious selection of teas. They have special sample leaves set aside for people to smell before they buy. So if you feel a little awash in all the types of tea out there, Brooklyn Tea can be a great place to find one that suits you.
More Refill Stores Than You Thought
I hope this highlight reel of some of the best refill stores in NYC gave you some new zero waste ideas and new spots in town to check out. Once you stop and look, there are probably way more refill stores than you thought. If your favorite refill store isn’t on the EcoRate app’s sustainability map, let me know and we’ll make sure it gets added. Together we’re building a resource to make it a little easier for people to make purchasing decisions based on sustainability criteria. I couldn’t do it without all the support and user reviews of cafes and refill shops, so thank you for your contributions to this group effort!
