I’m starting off my blog with a little information as to why I chose sustainable products as the basis of my online store. As consumers, we make many choices when shopping: affordable or luxury, plastic or wood, disposable or reusable, etc. Typically, we want cheap, efficient, convenient, and care-free stuff meaning we take valuable raw materials, make products, use and then discard them. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation refers to this as the “take-make-waste” linear model which is why we now deal with mountains of trash that are not only hazardous to human health, but also to the environment. It’s also unsustainable as a process as we use more natural resources so fast that the planet cannot regenerate them quick enough to keep up! There are many working on solutions to this; Ellen MacArthur and her team have developed a new, circular economy model to help keep those precious raw materials in play as long as possible. In other words, after the products have been used up, what’s left goes back into the process loop to become new products thus eliminating waste.
The paradox about sustainable products is that there’s very little about making, selling and buying any manmade product that is good for the environment. However, we’ve built a society and an economy around a vast marketplace for things we need or want to sustain our lifestyle. That said, we can still make every effort to do as little harm as possible with the choices we make every day. We can choose reusable items over disposables, recycled products and materials over new, renewable materials like the bamboo in our products and other grasses over plastics or trees, and we can choose products that are free of harmful ingredients and finishes.
When you choose sustainable products, you know they are made with your family’s health in mind, as well as our environment. You help conserve the resources nature provides us like clean air and water. And you can be proud of your choices knowing you made a difference.
The ELM445™ Team