In just under 8 years ecoLiving has changed the landscape for eco-friendly products in the UK. This female owned company is leading the way in manufacturing, designing and creating zero waste, vegan household products. A uniquely all products are manufactured responsibly in the UK or EU.
Why is ecoLiving different? It is not just the way the products are sourced and made, but how the company is run. Being eco runs through every part of the business ensuring the company does the least harm to the environment. The business is carbon neutral, a living wage employer and a champion of females in the workplace. Uniquely the warehouses are run by an all-female staff – a game changer in this industry.
On top of this ecoLiving plants trees (for every product sold) through the Eden Reforestation projects for reforestation, agroforestry, and reducing extreme poverty through the employment of local villagers and is part of the 1% for the planet scheme
ecoLiving has a catalogue of over 250 household products and is stocked in over 5,000 store in the UK and EU. The products are growing in popularity and have been featured on BBC’s ‘Shop Well for the Planet’, Lorraine Kelly and BBC Breakfast
But where did it all begin?
Joanna Mack, the Founder and Director tells us the story of ecoLiving’s origin: “As a Mum with two young children I could see the growing plastic crisis and did not accept that waste is an inevitable consequence of how we consume products. Having set up a reusable nappy network I was constantly looking for ways to reduce plastic use and to cut single-use household plastics out of our family life but struggled to find the right products.
Either the plastic-free alternatives I looked for did not exist, or they weren’t truly plastic-free, biodegradable or compostable.
With a firm belief that no matter what you are looking for, there is almost always an option that is comparable in price, equal or better in quality, and that doesn’t come at the expense of others or our planet I set to work creating my first range.
ecoLiving was quickly spotted by retailers, as so many consumers were demanding more truly eco-friendly products and soon we became the choice supplier to independent zero waste stores. These store owners are creating a new way to shop and saw us as a part of this
We’ve all heard, “It’s about the bottom line.” But here at ecoLiving – Planet comes before Profit
Sustainability is at the core of all we do from transparent and ethical sourcing, production, and distribution of products that truly deliver on social responsibility claims.
We believe sustainability is a journey, not a destination, so there will always be improvements to be made but we also recognise that we are all in this together”
Sarah Grice, the Operations Director tells us where ecoLiving is at today: “The last 2 years has seen us expand our operations in the UK. With demand growing we have expanded operations to three warehouses. Coupled with this we have a secret laboratory and production facility in Scotland where Jo and her production team are creating some game changing eco products – launching this year
With this in mind we have recruited Garry Robey to look after our business development. Garry is a passionate advocate for ecoLiving and has worked in the industry for over 20 years. With Garry’s help we hope to make ecoLiving (and therefore the UK) THE place for eco-friendly alternatives that will make a huge impact on reducing the climate crisis. Getting our products into the biggest stores in the UK and EU
To support our expansion, we have invested in the new warehouse management software which allows us to operate a just in time manufacturing and stock control system – again eliminating waste and the amount of space we need to use.
On top of this we have revamped the website. Having developed over 250 products and having been focused on B2B, we are now shifting our focus on building the brand and messaging to the consumer. Therefore, it was important to create a more friendly consumer-based journey and education. We have also built in a store locator for our consumers to find their local store as this is still the most important part for us to drive traffic to our stores.
We have seen a positive reaction to the shift and overall traffic is up so we are looking forward to building this out further.
Our staff are our biggest asset and we are a big champion of women in the workplace – promoting them to the highest level and supporting parents to get back in the workplace. We are fortunate enough to have staff who support our vision and who care deeply about the environment and want to work within an organisation that is part of the solution and not the problem
As we grow so to does our position as an employer to offer staff a vocation that they can be proud of.
We are all excited to be part of this next chapter”
In the UK, ecoLiving can be purchased in over 1,000’s of stores and online at ecoLiving.co.uk.
Visit ecoLiving.co.uk or @ecoLiving #ecoLivinguk on Instagram.
