My Accidental Journey

A few people have asked about my story. Why I set up Zero Waste Supply Co. How a poker-playing robot influenced my trajectory. 

In the short term, I fell into it. I started about a year ago, just setting up a web store to get some experience and try to get a job in e-commerce.

My initial site was focused on selling all the old books, trinkets, and bric-a-brac I had in storage.

Some things I have been carrying around for what seems like decades, and others were from my parents' estate. I was fed up paying eBay what seemed like a fortune for the privilege of selling on their platform. It was also not ideal for most of the things I was selling.

So off I went and set up mylittlejunkshop.com. It didn't do too badly either, certainly better than expected.

While still building this, I had the opportunity to sell some 'sustainable' products from a new supplier. This seemed like a great idea. I have always been keen on green, and I started listing the products.

But here's where it got interesting ... The moment everything changed

The Green Awakening

Those 'sustainable' products I mentioned? Most of them were pretty dirty. Polyester knitting kits in a recyclable box. Plastic toys, again in cardboard boxes. The sole claim to being green and sustainable was the box.

That was my lightbulb moment.

I hunted for other suppliers with verifiable, sustainable and planet-friendly credentials. You know the sort of thing. Vegan, zero cruelty, no bad chemicals, zero or little plastic, and of course, zero waste. And ultimately found a trove of small UK producers focusing on ethical products. Along with their sustainable credentials, they had to make superb, cost-effective, and desirable products.

But this awakening didn't come from nowhere. Being green has always been part of my life, from early on when I made a lightning collector from an old dustbin lid to power the home (fortunately unsuccessful) and raked up the neighbour's leaves to make tobacco for my pipe-smoking dad. It made good compost for the following spring.

Being a science fiction nut, I watched and continue to watch the fantastic tale of an Earth devoid of its flora and fauna. The last remnants were enclosed in vast biospheres orbiting the gas giants - waiting to repopulate the Earth. The film was Silent Running, starring Bruce Dern and three of the cutest robots you will ever meet.

Seeing that in my teens and the horror I felt when the biospheres were being destroyed to save corporations money influenced me profoundly. Throughout my life, I have sought to have as small an impact on the environment as possible. 

In fact,  Silent Running seems almost prescient now. The collapse of ecosystems, runaway pollution, and the climate crisis are conspiring to bring about massive destruction with no prospect of a fleet of vast spacecraft to save the planet's ecosystems. 

The End of the Begining 

I confess I'm not perfect, but I'm working towards living a less wasteful and more sustainable lifestyle with my two dogs and some Ukrainian guests. Replacing mass-produced, chemically suspect products with cleaner, plastic-free and zero-waste gems.

Now I have the opportunity to set up this wonderful new business. It has three clear aims:

• Source and curate brilliant, sustainable products from small UK producers
  • We do the hard work of finding genuinely sustainable products so you don't have to wade through the greenwashing.
• Educate and inform
  • Sharing knowledge about sustainable living, product benefits, and helping people make informed choices.
• Give back to the environment and society
  • Every purchase supports both environmental causes and small producers, creating positive change.

Zero Waste Supply Co. isn't just about selling products - it's about building a community of people who want to live more sustainably without compromising on quality or convenience.

That's my story. What's yours? How did you start your sustainable journey?