Repair Café Algarve
Repair Café Algarve is a project created and organized by Associação Benfazer. Its team of repairers participate in events throughout the Al…
Zero Waste Living
A society without a bin: bulk grocers like Maria Granel, the refill shop Mind the Trash, and Lisbon's Zero Waste Lab. Everyday proof that waste is a design flaw, not a fact of life.
Projects in this focus
Granel Saloio
Granel Saloio is a bulk grocery store in Fontanelas selling certified gluten-free, organic, vegan and zero-waste products. Run by Tiago and …
Do Zero
Do Zero is a Portuguese sustainability platform curating conscious brands, collaborations and a podcast, and organising Cidade Do Zero, one …
O Granel da Sofia
O Granel da Sofia is a Lisbon-based bulk grocery and eco shop selling packaging-free food, natural personal care items and sustainable toys.…
EcoPorto - Porto Ambiente
EcoPorto is Porto Ambiente's centre for urban circularity, running a donation marketplace and home collection service that gives discarded o…
Smart Waste Portugal
Smart Waste Portugal is a non-profit collaborative network founded in 2015 that unites companies, public bodies and academia to advance the …
Green2You
Green2You is a bulk grocery store in Coimbra offering organic, ecological and zero-waste products, from food to eco-friendly detergents and …
ISTO
ISTO. is a Portuguese sustainable fashion brand offering luxury everyday clothing made from organic, natural, and recycled materials, with f…
Jinja
Jinja is a sustainable design brand in Porto, founded in 2012 by Norma Silva. It makes handmade home products from reused industrial textile…
Olivedogma
Olive Dogma, a circular economy project in Ourém, turns olive tree pruning offcuts into natural olive-wood chew sticks for dogs, soaked in o…
Hoooked Portugal
Hoooked Portugal, based in Zibreira, Torres Novas, makes 100% recycled yarn from fashion industry waste. Its yarns are for crochet, knitting…
Ericas
Ericas is a Portuguese company that handcrafts pet toys from 100% natural heather roots using traditional artisan methods. The toys are dura…
Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV)
Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV) is Portugal's leading packaging waste management organisation. Since 1996 it has diverted over 11 million tonnes…
Hippocampus Sabão
Hippocampus Sabão makes natural soap by hand in Tavira, Algarve, inspired by the seahorses of the Ria Formosa lagoon. It is working towards …
LIPOR
LIPOR is the inter-municipal association responsible for sustainable waste management in Greater Porto. It operates recycling, composting, o…
Bialógica – Mercearia a Granel
A bulk grocery in São Brás de Alportel, Algarve, selling organic, natural and ecological products and run on zero-waste lines.
Sugo Cork Rugs
Founded in 2017 by textile designer Susana Godinho, Sugo Cork Rugs handweaves bespoke rugs from cork in Espargo, Portugal, combining traditi…
Mind the Trash
Mind the Trash is Portugal's first zero-waste online store, founded in Lisbon in 2017, and sells sustainable, organic and plastic-free produ…
Goparity
Goparity is a regulated crowdfunding platform connecting investors with sustainable projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goa…
Maria Granel
Maria Granel opened in Lisbon in 2015 as Portugal's first bulk organic grocery store, selling organic bulk food and sustainable accessories …
Atelier Janela Velha
An upcycling atelier in Torres Vedras, founded by Margarida Vieira, that makes handmade jewellery and slow fashion and restores furniture, a…
Leafclean
LeafClean, in Faro, sells EU Ecolabel certified, cruelty-free cleaning products and runs a refill system to cut plastic waste. Its range inc…
Electrão
Electrão is Portugal's largest waste management compliance organisation and the only one managing recycling systems for three waste streams:…
Zero Waste Lab
Zero Waste Lab is an independent hub and NGO in Lisbon that pilots collaborative solutions towards zero waste and circular economy practices…
SENSIHEMP
Sensihemp is a Portuguese regenerative fashion brand based in Póvoa de Varzim, making clothing and accessories from 100% certified hemp, cra…
Zero waste living in Portugal
Portuguese shopping habits made this easier than it looks: the mercearia, the market stall and the wine bottle taken back to be refilled were normal within living memory. The refill and return model revives an old system rather than inventing one.
Maria Granel opened the first bulk organic grocery in Lisbon in 2015 and Bialógica does the same in São Brás de Alportel. Mind the Trash sells refills online, Rizoma runs a cooperative storefront in Anjos, and Zero Waste Lab pilots collaborative solutions across the city.
Start with the two or three items you buy most often; nobody converts a whole household in a week. See also plastic-free alternatives, recycling systems and minimalism and conscious consumption. Dated activities from these projects are listed in our events calendar.