Top Eco-Friendly Shops in Denver + Online Sustainable Stores

Sustainable Stores In the Denver Metro Area

I've written about my sustainability journey before, starting with knowing nothing about sustainable living, and now I'm visiting refilleries, using cream deodorant and toothpaste tabs!

Living in the Denver Metro area means I have multiple options for shopping at sustainable stores. In this post, I will cover where to buy bulk herbs, sustainable products, refillable products, sustainable stores, and there's even a low-waste grocery store that makes the list!

At the bottom of this post, I have mapped out all the sustainable stores so you can easily see exactly where each is located. This post covers stores I have personally visited, there are others that I haven't yet made it to, so they are not on this list.

Using Angie's Sustainable Stores List

Below, I share Denver Metro and online sustainable stores that I like to shop at, I wanted to clarify how I came up with my review criteria.

• Offers Sustainable Products: I consider sustainable products "hard line goods" - something like Poppy & Pout Lip Balm - it comes ready to buy & is sustainable.

• Offers Refills: Can I take an empty container and fill it up with something?

• Refills Available: What types of things are available to fill my jars?

• Quick Review: Overall feel of the store, employees & website functionality

I intend to give you a great idea of what to expect before visiting these sustainable stores.

Denver Metro Refilleries (Sustainable Stores)

• Joyfill - 4340 W. 35th Ave., Denver, CO 80212

  • Offers Sustainable Products: Yes, about half the store

  • Offers Refills:  Yes

  • Refills Available: Soaps, shampoos, deodorant, lotions, laundry items, cleaning products, body care, dog treats, essential oils, teas - pretty much everything

  • Quick Review: Love the bright, open store. The workers are friendly, and there is enough variety of scents to satisfy most people. Many "hard line goods" to choose from. The website doesn't directly show what refills are available, but I did find a list on their site for refills. I'm not sure when/if it's updated, but it will give you a great idea for refills that are typically available.

• Refillery - 19501 E Parker Square Dr., Parker, CO 80134

  • Offers Sustainable Products:  Yes, limited, maybe 1/4 of the store

  • Offers Refills:  Yes

  • Refills Available: Primarily laundry care, cleaning products, limited: body care, lotion, oral care

  • Quick Review: Smaller than Joyfill, but clean & organized. So many products packed into this small space. Wish the website had a search function, but easy enough to click through the categories to find what they offer. Also, sourdough is available on Fridays - so how can you go wrong?

Apothecaries In The Denver Metro Area

• Little Herbal Apothecary - 210 S Public Rd, Lafayette, CO 80026

  • Offers Sustainable Products: Yes, hard to say how many, but they have many "hard line goods"

  • Offers Refills: No, but offers a bulk apothecary for herbs

  • Refills Available: Yes, bulk ingredients & bulk herbs only.

  • Quick Review: For a little corner store, Little Herbal Apothecary fits many items into a small space. The amount of bulk herbs they offer is astonishing. Want to make your body care items? This is the spot for you! Buying herbs by the ounce saves you from having to buy an entire bag of something when you just need a little bit. I'm looking at you, cocoa butter. Same thing on the herb side - want to try turmeric or stevia? You can buy just a little! Their website is amazing - you can search for a specific product, note that their bulk ingredients & bulk herbs are separate pages.

Shopping Sustainable At Other Stores

• ZeroMarket - 2501 Dallas St, Aurora, CO 80010

  • Offers Sustainable Products: Yes, most of the store

  • Offers Refills: Limited, but many herbs!

  • Refills Available: laundry soap

  • Quick Review: A tiny but mighty store! Their website says 1,200+ items. I personally feel that is a bit high. Their bulk apothecary is perfect for an herbal remedies I may need. The site shows what herbs are available which is great!

• Aura Luna Collective - NE Aurora, CO

  • Offers Sustainable Products: Yes, including bracelets

  • Offers Refills: No

  • Refills Available: No

  • Quick Review: Thoughtfully curated online only shop. The collection includes items from other small businesses. Nearly all products are sustainably packaged.

• Nude Foods Denver - 3538 W 44th Ave, Denver, CO 80211

  • Offers Sustainable Products: Yes, limited products, but many of their grocery items are in jars, so nearly all of the store is technically sustainable

  • Offers Refills: Yes

  • Refills Available: Small selection of typical refillery items (5 or fewer items). Spices, nuts & a few other dried goods available as fill your jar.

  • Quick Review: Interesting concept. All items are packed in glass jars, and there is a jar fee that you can get back when you bring the jar back. One of my biggest issues is their refills of food items; for example, oatmeal is by volume and not by weight. I know for a fact that if 5 people measured 1 cup of oatmeal into a jar, there would be 5 different weights. I’m sure it’s just a few pennies, but I don’t like that practice. They are also quite a bit pricier than other stores, which is understandable. I’m personally not there yet.

• Sprouts - 405 S. Chambers Road, Aurora, CO 80012

  • Offers Sustainable Products: Limited

  • Offers Refills: Yes

  • Refills Available: Spices, nuts, candies, flour - pantry items

  • Quick Review: Being a grocery store means I can shop and grab some stuff from the bulk bins while I’m there. They provide plastic bags for the items and many spices to choose from. Bulk spices are generally on an end cap. Just write the time # on the bag, fill it, and head to checkout.

Mapping Out Apothecaries & Sustainable Stores In The Denver Metro Area

As promised, below is a map of the sustainable stores covered in this post. Hopefully, this makes it easy for you to find the closest store to you.

Denver Metro Refilleries will be in green

Apothecaries In The Denver Metro Area will be in orange

Shopping Sustainable At Other Stores will be in purple

Be sure to read all the posts in my Low Waste Life Series - I cover everything from how to start living sustainably, my favorite sustainable stores, products and more!

What sustainable stores are missing from my list? Have you visited any of these stores? Let's start a conversation in the comments below or on social media!