Sustainable Living In Merida: Where To Shop And Eat

Published by Cassie on 21/06/201921/06/2019

Merida is one of the fastest growing cities in Mexico, it’s also currently a very ‘on trend’ vacation destination and living in Merida is currently A Very Cool Thing To Do*. People are flocking to Merida from all around the world; relocating and vacationing. Many of the people moving to Merida from the USA, and elsewhere, are looking to maintain their sustainable, slow, or eco-lifestyle choices here in Merida but are finding it hard to work out how to do this. This article aims to help English speaking residents figure out how to manage sustainable living in Merida.

* except it isn’t cool, it’s about six gazillion degrees hot.

Merida is a pretty green city and there is a lot going on in terms of sustainable, slow and zero-waste living. There are many health stores, eco-stores, vegan restaurants, slow food options, and even zero waste markets. We even have at least one sustainable hotel in town! Obviously, much of this is going on in Spanish so it can look, to the non-Mexican, as if no one cares or no one is doing anything. Actually, Yucatan is one of the most progressive states in the country when it comes to sustainability and caring for our environment. The government has its own initiatives (such as banning plastic bags and straws and running tree planting campaigns) and residents are also working hard to help fix our planet.

On the back of my popular articles about living a sustainable life in Merida and sustainable tourism in Merida, I have decided to compile a list of shops, cafes, restaurants and services that are working towards a greener future for our city, region, Mexico and the planet. If you have any comments or services to add, please do get in touch as I’ll be thrilled to add your knowledge to this list. For general tips for making travel more sustainable, I’ve also got you covered.

This list is not intended to shame anyone or any business (unless we share the hell out of this article and make businesses actively want to get on it!). It is about celebrating our collective achievements in Merida with the knowledge that we can all take steps towards a greener lifestyle. Whether you take baby-steps or massive leaps in your own journey, it’s all fabulous. No one can fix this mess alone. We all do our own little bit and all those bits add up.

Have you explored Merida fully? by the way? This is truly one of my favourite cities I’ve ever been to.

Before I start with the list I also want to mention Cero Basura Yucatan, a local environmental organisation. They work tirelessly to try and improve the sustainable living options in Merida. Over the last year, they have worked with SuperAki, a local supermarket to encourage more sustainable shopping habits. Recently, in Super Ai, I have seen pet food sold loose, a whole shelf full of reusable shopping bag options and even a ‘green aisle’ where people bringing their own shopping bags can skip long lines as a reward for using their own bags. The plan is to keep increasing the number of aisles for ‘green shoppers’. CBY will also continue trying to work with other supermarkets in the city to encourage green practices. Thank you CBY and Super Aki.

Follow Cero Basura Yucatan on Facebook for information about their Zero Waste Markets and workshops.

There may be affiliate links in this article. If you click and make a purchase I may make a small sum at no extra cost to you. This is one of the ways in which bloggers can keep writing for free. 

Recycling In Merida

If you have good quality toys, clothes, household items that you no longer need. there are many options for disposal: the easiest is obviously to leave it outside your front door knowing someone who needs it will pick it up. You can also give to people working for you (my cleaner always knows someone who can use whatever we no longer need). Or Yucatan Giving Outreach has a shop and works with many local organisations. They will always know where can most benefit from your ‘stuff’.

Sustainable Cafes and Restaurants In Merida

What are cafes and restaurants doing to try and create less waste in the world?

• Many cafes and restaurants are starting to make the swap to biodegradable packaging for takeaway (many passing a small fee onto the customer – usually $5 pesos per box or bag), or allowing/encouraging you to show up with your own containers.
• Mexico is clearly on board with the ‘no straws’ (sin popotes), campaign and while they haven’t yet been banned at national level, states and individual eateries are taking their own action. Some are replacing plastic straws with biodegradable ones made from things like avocado, while others are asking you not to use straws at all.
• Some are refusing to offer takeaway at all unless you bring your own containers.
• Real towels in bathrooms rather than paper towels.
• Only serving sustainable meat or seafood.
• Providing glasses of water for free so people don’t need to buy bottled water (the vast majority of restaurants and cafes in Merida offer this – only Mercado 60 and one other have refused me thus far).
• Discounts on drinks when you take your own cup along.

What Can You DO?

• Try to remember to ask for no straw – ‘sin popote, por favor’.
• Carry a reusable straw if you like using one. I have two metal ones for my kids that live in my bag.
• Ask for a glass of water instead of bottled water – ‘agua purificada, por favor’.
• Reuse containers if you’re getting take away.
• Take your own cup.
• Try not to take more serviettes than you need.
• Have your ice cream in a cone or reusable bowl, not a throwaway one.

If you’re looking for health insurance, take a look at Mexico Living for their comprehensive policies. I love them because for every  policy purchased they donate to a local charity. 

So which restaurants are making the changes?

• Monique’s Bakery –  Slow food ethos. They use locally grown produce wherever possible and artisan products too. They make their own cheese and incredible vegan yoghurt on site.  Their mission is to reduce their negative impact on the environment whilst offering food that is healthy and ethical (also pet-friendly).  They’re trialling a plate swap scheme during quarantine to try and further reduce their impact on the environment.
• Soco – no paper towels in the bathroom, reusable straws (only for kids) and only biodegradable packaging. Always looking for ways to improve their green credentials
• Bing Bang Kitchen – they recommend you use your own packaging or charging $5 pesos for biodegradable packaging.
• El Colon Sorbeteria – sit down ice creams are always served in smart glass bowls. They do offer takeaway cups though.
• Rincon Vegana (Riot Food) – for offering biodegradable packaging ($5 pesos a box).
• Distrito Vegano – delicious vegan food served in biodegradable packaging made from wheat. Their entire processes is  consciously low waste and use as little packaging as possible.
• El Bull-Pen in Chelem – encouraging customers to use their own packaging, for offering biodegradable packaging and more. They only use agave straws. At El Bull-Pen you can also drop off batteries for recycling.
• Saboreando Comida India And Tapas Bar – As of June 2019, they are even on Uber Eats AND are managing to provide a sustainable take-out service. If you’re ordering a take-out, please take along your own container or use one of their bio-degradable ones. You can purchase glass straws (safe for children over three apparently).
• Thai Bistro, in Chuburna told me that they’re working very hard towards only using biodegradable takeaway products. All their bags are bioplastic and they will keep on searching for the most sustainable products possible. Where possible, they prefer takeaway customers to provide their own packaging or offer biodegradable ones at a small fee.
• Animaya – I noticed that the snack stands are much more eco-conscious than they were. We were served our pizza on a proper pizza tray and were given reusable plates too. Drinks are also sold in returnable glass bottles.
• Bengala – this coffee chain apparently uses Mexican avocado straws rather than plastic ones. Hurrah!

Looking for vegan restaurants in Mérida? We have plenty. You’ll be fine.

photo provided by Soco

Manik Bal: vegan restaurant in Merida

There must be dozens more that I’m missing. Let me know.

Sustainable Shops and Products In Merida

Supermarket Shopping: Not for one second am I telling anyone they should stop using supermarkets. I definitely don’t have time to run around all the small stores to buy my weekly shop. I wish I did but I barely have time for my trip to Chedraui: realism and realistic aims are the focus here. But if you are interested in making small changes (or even large ones), this article will be a good resource.

• Take reusable shopping bags with you, every supermarket sells them, or even go for the traditional Yucatecan bag, the sabucan.
• A recent addition to the world of reusable bags are the mesh bags you’ll see every now and again for fruit and vegetables. I bought mine recently at a pop-up market on my local plaza.

Over the next eighteen months, all plastic bags will be phased out of Yucatecan supermarkets so this is a good habit to start now.

Where Can You Buy Reusable Shopping Bags?

There are plenty of other options for purchasing reusable shopping bags, obviously but here are three if you aren’t sure where to begin.

• Eco Dreams: This is a Facebook store selling reusable cups and straws, reusable cloths, reusable separator bags for the shopping trolley (the owner is someone I know through a school connection).
• Mareba: Mareba is a store in centro that has sold sabucans for over fifty years. This shop is pretty unchanged over the last half-century so purchasing from there not only supports a local business but also gives you a sneaky look into Merida’s past life. Most of the sabucans you see sold around town apparently are purchased here and then resold…why not go straight to source? A bag from here will cost between $12 pesos and $70 pesos. (Calle 54a #506 Centro x65 y67)
• Supermarkets: Every supermarket already sells reusable bags. They may not look super strong but mine are still doing well after almost two years. As noted above, SuperAki is doing a particularly good line in reusable bag selling.

My own sabucan because I don’t have a good photo of the shop, sadly.

What About Local Stores Selling Sustainable Food Products?

• Monique’s Bakery – the best fresh breads in town, kombucha,  kefir, vegan yoghurt, saurkraut  and more for sale. Take your own glass jars along for the kombucha. Calle 79 #191A entre 36 y 38 Montes de Ame. You will also find Monique’s products in the Slow Food Market on Saturdays where she sells bread, kefir, yoghurts, peanut and almond butter and vegan foods.
• Colectivo Muul Meyaj – 100% chemical free food products bought from local communities. Head here for seeds, sugars etc all bought loose so take your own containers. Calle 45 #499 x58y60, Santa Ana.
• Vida Sustenable – a health food shop with local and national products sold in bulk (but you can purchase as little as you need). Take your own containers with you or use her returned glass jars. Mexican olive oil is available here. Also refillable shampoo available. 548a Calle 55, x70 y 72 Centro.
• Expendio de Lecha Pura de Vaca – here you can buy fresh milk and milk-based products, take your own containers. Calle 69 #542, x66 y68, Centro.
• Carnico in San Antonio Cinta – use your own plastic containers. Local meat sold (except the Angus, obviously).
• Puras Cosas Buenas – A whole little micro-plaza of goodness including a health food store and an Italian cafe, which is delicious but refuses to provide purified water. The cafe isn’t included above for this reason. Avenida Jose Diaz Bolio 103, Merida.
• Aromas Organicas Y Naturales – for an organic home delivery service. Tel: 9994426019. Send a WhatsApp and they send a weekly list of what can be delivered with prices. The delivery options include eggs, chicken and veg, all sourced from local and organic farms.
• Ya’axtal Montejo – Also provides an online store. Selling organic and health food products as well as household products. Prolongacion Paseo Montejo #109 x23 y 25.

During the great pandemic quarantine of 2020  I also discovered small farm cooperatives that  deliver products to your home:

• Ay Granel – delivering ecofriendly products. Send them a message via FB to get their delivery list. They are very responsive and friendly.  I used them for delivery of bathroom products and will be returning for grains etc.
• Woolis Market – I haven’t yet used this small farmers’ cooperative but I will be trying them out in the near future.
• Kuxtal Market – not yet up and running in June  2020 but advertising heavily on Facebook and Instagram (in English) is this  new online sustainable market.

Kombucha for sale at Monique’s Bakery

If you’re searching for information on living in Mérida then you will absolutely want to check out my book, Moving To Mérida as it’s packed with useful information that will make your move so much smoother.

Markets In Merida

Obviously, the local markets are also a great place to shop if you’re looking to purchase sustainable and responsible food products. Any of the local markets will do.

• The biggest is Lucas de Galvez and San Benito (next door) in centro.
• You will also see people along the side of the road selling fruit. Currently (June 2019), by my house I can buy limas, limes, and a variety of other fruits from the back of a van. I can also walk ten minutes to a more formal roadside fruit stall to buy seasonal fruit.
• Slow Food Market every Saturday in Merida. Chuburna also has a slow food market of its own.
• Manik Bal (vegan restaurant mentioned above) has its own vegan market on Saturdays.
• Get ethically raised meat from the Lamb Woman (really Rancho Haltun Xiki) at the Slow Food Market. I visited their farm in the summer of 2018 to learn about how they ethically raise (and slaughter) their lambs and pigs.
• Purchase good, clean sausages from the Sausage Lady (correct name) at the Slow Food Market. The food is slow and clean. According to Marco, part of The Sausage Lady team, every sausage is made with meat, fat and spices and nothing else. All the meat (pork) is certified TIF. The sausages are also organic pelon pig and are guaranteed to have no hormones or nasties.

Lucas de Galvez market, Merida

What About Local Stores Selling Sustainable Household and Beauty Products?

• Alternativa Cero – A0 makes solid and powdered shampoo, toothy tabs and more. You can purchase the products through Facebook, in Casa Bonita or Colectivo Muul Meyaj (mentioned above).
• Casa Bonita – This shop is 100% Yucatecan, offering Mexican designs, clothing, jewellery and sustainable products including shampoo bars and refillable shampoos. Calle 51 504b x60 y62 Centro.
• Green Shine – For refills of cleaning products. Calle 21 104B Antiguo Poblado De Chuburna De Hidalgo x22 y 20.
• La Consciencia De Caro – a “Zero Waste store” selling natural products such as toothbrushes made from avocado stones and natural kitchen scrubbers. You can buy cloth diapers, menstrual cups and all sorts of fabulous products here. Av Cupules #115 x22 y 24.
• Botika Essentials – soap, deodorant, skin care products. Products can be purchased at Cafe Organico, Ya’axtal, El Arbol y Biorganicos. You can also purchase directly through the Facebook site. A website will be added soon.

Botikia products (gifted to me when I asked for more information about them) – I love them btw.

Photo provided by A0 and used with permission

Please do get in touch if you know of other services, shops, restaurants, cafes or anything else in Merida that should be added to this list. And please, please, do pin and share this article so we can spread this information as widely as possible.