Hi there !
See you today for a new section of eco-friendly addresses in Paris! If you've always wanted to know where to get supplies and where to work in an eco-responsible atmosphere in the 19th arrondissement, open your eyes wide!
1- Hélou , 33, rue de la Villette, 75019
This place is charming, and the welcome of the friendliest. The creators of this place are a mother, Hélène, and her daughter, Louise: hence the name Hélou!
Both passionate about eating well and followers of organic and small gestures for the planet, they opened this coworking space in December 2019. Hélène is used to changing projects every 10 years or so, and she has already been owner of restaurants in the South of France. Louise was a web developer, which guaranteed her financial comfort. But she was not fulfilled in her work. She then wondered: "What would be my ideal working environment, me who loves to eat?" She then realized that few co-working spaces offered real meals.
So she started with her mom, and opened this place at the crossroads between restaurant, co-working space and nap corner.
The restaurant offers good value for money, with brunch formulas at 23 euros on Saturdays and vegetarian menus with vegan and gluten-free options. For a starter dish dessert formula for example, it will take 16.5 euros. The vegetable curry at 8.50 euros is always a great success!
The menu changes almost every day with mostly organic, seasonal and local products. It is a cuisine with mixed flavors that the two women offer, based in particular on herbs and spices.
They also work to limit waste, using cloth napkins, buying their ingredients in bulk and making compost. They chose a renewable energy supplier, Enercoop. In addition, the cleaning products they use are natural and their packaging is 100% recyclable!
Our reporter Annabelle Ploix particularly appreciated this relaxed atmosphere, especially the nap area where the music bewitches you and makes you want to doze off in the hammock. The toilets are also very pleasant (and we all know that the toilets are always indicative of the quality of the place). To encourage generosity and well-being, emergency hygienic protection is available to you!
So if you are looking for a place to work in complete serenity, or simply to recharge your batteries far from the Parisian hubbub, go there with your eyes closed!
2- Kilogram grocery store, 10, rue de Meaux, 75019
This organic grocery store was created two years ago by Iris and her partner Xavier. The aim is to offer healthy products, bought in bulk, which are not harmful to the environment and which taste good, being in season.
It is therefore an ecological approach but also an economic one: they seek to sell at the right price, as much for the consumer as for the producer. Xavier is a grocer by trade and Iris is trained in natural cosmetics. They are both passionate about cooking and rich in advice, especially on how to make a successful transition to zero-waste or how to consume with your health and the environment in mind.
This grocery store aims to be a place of awareness, and as such offers DIY workshops so that people learn to make recipes with grocery products, or to make their own cosmetics. A catering system is also available with an offer of bread, pastries, sandwiches, cheeses.
This project took two years to complete, from the idea to the opening of the store. It's an independent store, and its founders expect it to stay that way: Iris said she prefers to see many independent stores in Paris rather than chains.
Contact with the customer is much more privileged in a small structure, and the salespeople know the products like the back of their hands. Besides, she considers it a whole other job to run a chain of boutiques, and that's not what she's looking for. She appreciates the fact that small grocery stores reflect the soul of its creators, their personality.
Do not hesitate to discover this local business!