We’re a small shop, so we won’t claim to be saving the planet. What we can do is buy and sell in a way that creates as little waste as possible.
START WITH LESS
The biggest piece of packaging we use is designed not to become waste at all.
From mid-November, every order is wrapped in a Japanese cotton furoshiki cloth. Instead of tearing open a box full of disposable packaging, you receive something that can be used again and again, whether as a gift wrap, bag, travel cloth, lunch wrap or simply kept for another day.
It’s one less thing thrown away and one more thing kept.
WHAT WE STOCK
We choose things that are made well enough to be used for a long time, or used up properly when their job is done. We don’t follow seasons and we don’t clear stock through sales. Nothing we buy is intended to be replaced next year simply because something newer has appeared.
HOW WE BUY
We buy in small quantities and try to bring each brand’s order in a single shipment rather than parcel by parcel. Some of what we stock is made a long way from the UK, and some of it comes by air. We think the right object can be worth moving across the world, and we’d rather be honest about that than pretend otherwise.
REPAIR BEFORE REPLACE
If something breaks, we’ll always look at repair before replacement, unless you’d rather have a replacement or refund that you’re entitled to under UK consumer law. You can read more on our Care & Repair page.
PACKAGING
Where additional packaging is needed, we keep it simple. Orders are protected using recyclable paper materials and packed in cardboard boxes made from recycled or responsibly sourced board. We seal them with paper tape. We don’t add plastic void fill or tissue of our own, and everything we use is suitable for normal kerbside recycling. A few products reach us wrapped in tissue by their makers, and that is recyclable too.
KEEP US HONEST
We’re always looking for better ways to do things.
If you think there’s something we could improve, we’d like to hear it. Email us at hello@laatu.store.
Last reviewed: October 2026.