Our Story

I have loved the ocean all my life. Well, really any body of water will do. Its vast stillness, the power and mystery you can sense just below the smooth surface fascinates me, and I have always spent as much time as humanly possible with my girls at the beach every summer. It breaks my heart to see how we are carelessly destroying this fragile habitat by filling it with our plastic trash and other waste. I'm afraid that by the time my grandchildren are here, the ocean as we experience it will no longer exist. 

I was a single mom and full-time English teacher for 20 years, and I admit that recycling and composting got very little of my mental energy during most of those years. I know life is busy. I know it's infinitely easier to swing by the grocery on the way home and grab what you need to keep your day moving, without thinking about packaging or plastics.

This is why I have started The Earth Steward Store. I carry only products that I have researched carefully for earth-friendly, plant-based materials, responsible manufacturing methods, recycled or compostable packaging, and sustainability practices, and then I have only included items in my store that also check the "convenient" and "practical" boxes in my life. It's like when the gym is 3 miles from your house you go every day, but when it's 8 miles away that's just far enough to talk yourself out of it. I know that if your shopping bags are ugly and cumbersome to carry and buried in your trunk under soccer cleats and a damp dog blanket, you will forget them every time (and who wants to drag the kids back out to the car to get them while your ice cream melts in the cart?) But if your shopping bags are gorgeous taffeta Van Gogh prints that can hold up to 44 lbs, rolled into little nuggets that you can tuck into your front pocket, that could work!

So browse around and see what seems reasonable for your life. Try to picture the one small change you can make this week, whether it is bringing your own bamboo silverware to to the picnic or keeping metal straws in your glove box for your next iced coffee. Start small. It feels good and you WILL be making a difference!

The Earth Steward Store will donate 5% of every purchase to The Ocean Cleanup. Learn more about their work here: https://theoceancleanup.com/