Cathy Earle from EORTH has created a business which is based around earth friendly products and no plastic packaging on any products, or in the shipping materials. 95% of the products in store are plastic free/zero waste.
EORTH is an old english word for Earth, a time long before plastic existed on our planet. A few products contain very small amounts of plastic: such as tamper proof seals and reusable brushes. She uses wood wool as a void filler for packaging. This material is sourced locally and is created from scrap wood that otherwise be placed in a burn pile. The packages are delivered in cardboard boxes. All stickers and business cards, printing paper used is compostable, leading to a zero waste business.
Opening in July 2018 to coincide with plastic free July, EORTH is owned and managed by Cathy Earle, with input from her husband Adam. Cathy has a background in graphic design and web design media. She previously owned and operated a local community newspaper in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. Cathy grew up in Cairns, Australia and spent most weekend enjoying the Great Barrier Reef as her mother worked on the tourist boats. Adam grew up in Vancouver, Canada and is very familiar with the oceans of the West Coast of Canada. Their love for the ocean has bought them back to a new life back in Australia – living by the ocean in Palm Cove, Australia.
Cathy is passionate about reducing plastic pollution.
Her contribution to the global plastic pollution problem is an eco-friendly store that sells plastic free, zero waste products. “I was frustrated when beginning my plastic free journey that many eco stores still sold the majority of their products in plastic. Recycling is not the answer, yes it helps, but we need to turn off the plastic tap and significantly reduce our plastic purchases. I couldn’t find a store that fit this model during my plastic free journey. As a web developer myself who spends all day looking after other people’s online site, I thought why not just open my own store?” she says.
Currently EORTH is a home based business and they try to be as eco-friendly as possible. “We have a herb and veggie garden, compost all of our food scraps and have significantly reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill. I’d love to say I have zero waste but it’s still a work in progress. Zero Waste doesn’t happen overnight it’s a long slow process of elimination” she explains.
Cathy’s tips for a more sustainable home
- Don’t get overwhelmed.
- Do what you can.
- If you have plastic handled cotton buds in your bathroom, or plastic dental floss. Don’t throw it away before you’ve used it all just to be plastic free.
- Use what you have, then slowly start replacing those items with plastic free alternatives.
You can find EORTH on the Hub here and follow through to shop zero waste
Helen
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