An Ethical & Eco Friendly Online Store

Aim

Raising funds to raise awareness of Eco Valley & spread the word about eco-friendly and ethical alternatives.

Who Am I?

I've recently started on my own journey to reduce the amount of plastic we use in our lives. My daughter is passionate about saving the planet. In fact, she was the real inspiration behind this project. To see a young girl so concerned for the future of the planet made me really think about how we've got to this point. 

It also made me question my own actions along the way. The thing that became clear to me is that so many people go about their daily lives without really giving a second thought to how seemingly unimportant choices collectively have a huge impact on the planet. At the same time, I realise that it's not really our fault.

I believe we've simply been programmed to search for the cheapest and most convenient option available in every area of life, and it's mostly driven by profit-hungry giants. I'd like to believe that there is an alternative, where there's a wide variety of products, readily available, that don't impact negatively on the planet. I'm not against consumerism entirely, I just believe in encouraging people to choose more carefully. The only way to fight the war on plastic, and to stop contributing to climate change, is to change demand and that's where my project comes in.

What Is Eco Valley?

Eco Valley started as a hobby to test the water really. I started looking for products to include in a blog to raise awareness of the availability of alternatives to plastic. I then decided to turn it into a store- to bring together as many eco-friendly and ethically responsible products as I could find. I have since been developing my website accordingly and now Eco Valley is ready to begin as an online store. 

On my journey so far it's been refreshing to see that there are so many small companies out there trying to do their bit for the planet, and for mankind. To give a couple of examples of this from the suppliers I have sourced, one has a direct link to a mental health charity, another donates a percentage of sales to a charity that supports victims of human trafficking. That's just two examples of many suppliers I have found that make a positive contribution to the planet or to mankind. These companies and these products exist, the difficulty they face is that the demand for their products is still comparatively low and so they also need to see a change in the way people buy in order to support their growth.

What am I crowdfunding for?

I am looking to raise a small amount of funding to help me to kick start my store in the form of advertising. So far, I have found that people are willing to consider the alternative once they are aware of it. The battle I face is raising awareness. Any funding I raise through this will be spent 100% on advertising to make people aware of my store and the plastic alternatives and ethically sourced products that we sell. 

Why Support Me?

I'm passionate about this project and I'm not going to stop until I see real changes. By supporting my business you'll be supporting many other small businesses too. My focus will always be the same- to support small businesses that are driven to help the environment or mankind in some way.

I want Eco Valley to grow to help these business grow too. Any small change in demand over time is a success in my eyes. I will continue to develop a blog and social media profile with useful tips and ideas about reducing waste, reusing and recycling to help other people on their own plastic-free, zero-waste journeys.

Thank you

This project successfully funded on 11th February 2020