I refrained from including Amazon links on The Filtery for years.
The Filtery is all about trying to make the world a healthier place for everyone, and Amazon, well… does the opposite of that. 😆
Now, I am under ZERO illusion that we can have a 100% non-toxic/ethical/sustainable lifestyle. (If you’ve been following my work for any amount of time, you know how strongly I feel about the whole progress over perfection thing.)
So while I certainly never judge anyone for shopping at Amazon, it did seem antithetical to my mission to link to Amazon when recommending products.
But then one day, I randomly asked you, my lovely readers, if you’d want me to start linking to Amazon.
And I was honestly very surprised by the results…
About 90% of you said yes!
I heard from a lot of folks who shop from Amazon for a variety of reasons—living in rural areas, being disabled, simply being overwhelmed with life and short on time, and more. The truth is that Amazon just is one of the most accessible places to shop for a lot of things.
I hear you.
The thing is: I’ve never considered it my job to tell you what to do. Rather, I want to give you the information you’re looking for so that you can decide for yourself what’s best for you.
So, that’s why I started adding Amazon links to my shopping guides (next to the links to the brand’s actual website). And that’s why I put together an Amazon Storefront. I’ll give you the option for different retailers, and then you can decide for yourself where you buy from.
But… alllll that being said, I still believe Amazon is a net negative to the human and environmental health, and I want to support folks who have the desire and capacity to move their dollars away from that company.
And so in that spirit, I’ve put together a list of Amazon alternatives I’ve shopped from that carry more natural, non-toxic, and sustainable goods.
As I will point out several times, these online marketplaces are not perfect in terms of their standards. But they are absolutely better than Amazon and just generally make it easier for people like you and me to buy a bunch of low-tox goods in one place.
These stores also aren’t perfect in terms of their availability of products, either. I want to acknowledge that there are many random things—scotch tape, an ice scraper for your car, an outlet extender—that you kind of have to buy from a big big retailer. If it’s not Amazon then it’s Target, Walmart, etc. But even if there are some things that we still buy from these big box stores, we can still divert a big portion of our dollars to smaller, more sustainable marketplaces that put a larger emphasis on things like safe ingredients, ethical supply chains, and eco-friendly practices.
Here are my favorite low-tox marketplaces:
My Favorite Amazon Alternatives for Safer, Cleaner, & More Natural Products
Gimme The Good Stuff
Carries: A lot! Skincare & personal care, home cleaning, baby/kid care, toys & games, home goods (like mattresses, bedding, etc.), food storage & cookware, air & water filtration, supplements & wellness gadgets
Gimme the Good Stuff is a small, family-run business. Maia, the founder, has been writing about non-toxic products since 2009. What for years was a blog-style website (similar to The Filtery) has now grown into a full blown marketplace for non-toxic goods.
Maia is pretty strict about her ingredient and material standards, so you have to worry less about ‘iffy’ ingredients compared to the other shops on this list.
The team is constantly adding new brands to their shop, too.
They do not have a membership model, so you can just shop like it’s a regular store.
A few of my picks: Clean Caffeine coffee, MitoMIN 2.0 red light device, Naturepedic mattress protector
Truly Free Marketplace
Carries: Personal care (skincare, haircare, cosmetics, bath & body), home goods (bedding, cookware, cleaning), supplements, food (snacks, beverages)
This low-tox marketplace is brought to you by the same folks who make Truly Free detergent. It’s a relatively new marketplace, but they are growing quickly, adding more brands all the time.
They make it easy to sort by what you’re looking for: you can shop by brand, product category, value (non-toxic, cruelty-free, etc.), discount range, customer rating, and more.
They do have a membership model. You don’t have to be a member to shop, but you might as well become one because it’s currently free (at the time of publication). Not only do you get steep discounts as a member, but you also get ‘talents’ with your purchase, which is like their version of ‘points.’ Then you can cash your talents in for store credit.
A few of my picks: Activist Skincare Set, American Blossom Linens bed sheet set, Roots & Leaves electrolytes
Right now you can get a free membership + $10 in store credit with this link.
Thrive Market
Carries: Lots of groceries (including refrigerated and frozen goods), personal care (skin, hair, etc.), cleaning supplies, supplements, pet products, certain home goods (like paper towels, dishwashing brushes, etc.)
This is the best store on this list for groceries.
I put in a Thrive Market order pretty much every month. I have the app on my phone and I just add random things to my cart as I think of them: band aids, Epsom salt, protein bars, olive oil—those kinds of things.
You might not be able to do 100% of your grocery shopping done at Thrive, but you can do a lot of it. It’s not just snacks and non-perishables, either—they have frozen meat, produce, pre-made meals, frozen desserts and pizza, and more.
One of the main downsides to Thrive Market is that you do have to be a member in order to shop. But they do have a monthly membership option now ($12.99/mo), so you can just sign up for one month if you just want to try it and see if you like it. AND if it’s your first time shopping with them, you can get 30% off + a free gift with your first purchase with our link.
It’s not as cheap as something like Aldi or Costco, but the prices are generally comparable to places like Kroger or Whole Foods.
A few of my picks: Rao’s Homemade soup (comes in glass jars!), f.a.e. unscented Epsom salt, frozen organic chicken breast
Grove Collaborative
Carries: LOTS of different home goods & essentials (paper products, cookware, storage, and more), cleaning supplies, personal care, baby/kid products, pet supplies, supplements & first aid, and more.
Grove is another pretty good Amazon alternative because of the sheer number of products they carry.
Just like with most of the other stores listed here, their standards aren’t perfect, and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend everything they carry. But they’ve still got lots of good options, and their standards are higher than Amazon, et al. They’ve got a list of “No Way Ingredients” that are never allowed, too.
Grove Co. has a VIP membership option that only costs $29/year, but you do not have to be a member in order to shop from them. They have a mobile shopping app that’s easy to use as well.
A few of my picks: Thorne vitamin D + K2, Honest flushable wipes, Root & Splendor Hush room + body spray
Credo Beauty
Carries: Skincare, haircare, bath & body, fragrance
Credo is for all the Sephora/Ulta lovers—they carry a bunch of skincare and cosmetics brands.
They have an app, too, making it easy to shop on the go and just throw things in your cart before you’re ready to buy.
And if you happen to live in one of these major cities, you can visit one of their physical stores.
Again, not everything they carry is perfectly ‘clean’, but everything does meet a certain set of standards—including being free from phthalates, parabens, chemical sunscreens, and more.
A few of my picks: Ursa Major Golden Hour Recovery Cream, Follain Everything Soap, Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara
The Detox Market
Carries: Skincare, haircare, personal care, supplements, intimate products, fragrances
The Detox Market is actually pretty similar to Credo Beauty, but they go a little bit further by also carrying certain wellness products like supplements, teas, and personal lubricants.
Again, not everything they carry would be considered perfect by the most stringent non-toxic living advocate, but they do have a pretty good set of standards that brands have to meet in order to be sold at their store.
They also have several brick-and-mortar stores in Los Angeles, New York, and Toronto. You can not only shop there but also get services like makeup lessons and skin consultations.
A few of my picks: True Botanicals deep hydration set, Moon Juice Magnesi-Om powder, Innersense shampoo
EarthHero
Carries: Home & kitchen goods (like trash bags, reusable ‘paper’ towels, etc.), cleaning supplies, bed & bath, beauty & personal care products, pet supplies, kids’ products (like toys & clothing)
This is a good place to get a lot of disposable kitchen & cleaning staples—things like dishwashing sponges or trash bags. They do carry a lot of other things as well, though. The main downside that I have noticed in the past is that sometimes they’re out of stock of a lot of things.
This is another relatively small business—they have a team of less than 20. You can check out their 5 Pillars of Sustainable Sourcing here.
A few of my picks: Meliora Laundry Powder, Anact Hemp Bath Towels, Bumbleride strollers
Even more options
These shops don’t have quite a much variety, but depending on what you’re specifically looking for, they’re still worth checking out!
- Beauty Heroes: Another low-tox marketplace for skincare and cosmetics that carries a lot of non-toxic brands
- BLK+GRN: They’re specifically focused on Black-owned brands and they mostly carry skin/hair/personal care and gifts.
- Bookshop.org: The best Amazon alternative for books (outside of your local bookstore, of course!)
- Martie: They mostly carry pantry staples and beauty products. They basically partner with brands to bring you perfectly good surplus inventory at up to 80% off.
- Misfits Market: A good Whole Foods alternative for food. They started out mostly selling produce but they have since expanded to meat & dairy, snacks, pantry staples, pet food, beverages, and more.
- Public Goods: They only carry their own branded products, but they have a very wide variety—personal care, cleaning, home goods, pantry staples, and more. They do have a membership model, but you don’t have to have a membership to buy from them. Here’s my full Public Goods review.
- Uncommon Goods: I get on this site every year when I’m holiday shopping. It’s a great place to find unique gifts!
What’s your favorite Amazon alternative for low-tox goods? Are there any marketplaces you like that aren’t listed here? Let me know in the comments and I’ll consider adding it!
