The rise of zero waste/plastic-free shopping

There are two things I really love learning about; growing start-ups and reducing my impact on the planet. I’ve previously written at length about my search for zero-waste/plastic-free products.

Despite the growing awareness of the climate crisis, an increase in high-street zero-waste retailers and increasing consumer demand for plastic-free products, it’s still hard to find stockists for many alternatives.

(I’m personally also very reluctant to use Amazon to fill in the gap, both from a working conditions and sustainability point of view.)

Founded by sisters Trina and Charlie, Life Before Plastik is an online plastic-free store that is looking to change the status-quo.

Having met Trina previously in a professional context, I was really keen to find out more about the business, their plans for the future and how they are going to make plastic-free shopping accessible to all.

What inspired you to start Life Before Plastik?

“We both really care about the environment and wanted to make a difference by cutting down on our plastic use. It wasn’t easy to find one place to get all the eco-friendly and zero waste products we were looking for so the idea for LB4P was born. There are lots of UK manufacturers producing all sorts of plastic free alternatives, which is incredible, and we wanted to bring it all together so that the consumer can shop in one place rather than 10 different places.”

There seems to be a lot of zero-waste shops cropping up and doing well. What was behind the decision to open an online-only store, as opposed to bricks and mortar?

“When we started the business we were working and studying for a masters full time. It began as a small idea, something we wanted to test and see if we could make work without risking too much. The online store has grown and grown and is keeping us super busy. By being online we can keep our overheads low, meaning we can keep our prices lower and it has given us access to the wider online plastic free community where we share our video tips and guides for a plastic free life.”

I suspect some people will be wondering why they should consider switching over to plastic-free products?

“A lot of people don't realise that many of the swaps actually work out cheaper in the long run. Things like swapping to a bamboo razor (might cost you £25 for the razor) but it lasts you your whole life. Or a bottle of mouthwash tablets, could last over a year. We always say to make a switch when you run out of something. So don't rush to swap everything at once, use the plastic version up and then make the swap.”

From a tech perspective, how did you build your online store?

“We decided to use Shopify because we had a little bit of experience with it, but also because as an ecommerce platform, it copes well when selling lots of different items. We currently stock over 200 plastic free alternatives and we're growing! We built it ourselves. We're lucky because we have some useful skills and also a good group of friends who are on hand if we needed a little help. We've also used Fivrr a couple of times, when we've gotten really stuck”

Do you have any exciting upcoming things we should know about?

“We’ve got lots of things around the corner but our main priority is to keep spreading the word about how easy it can be to make plastic free changes and how you as an individual really can make a difference. Just starting a conversation with someone can influence a decision. Simple things like taking a reusable water bottle with you when you go out and your friends seeing it or realising how easy it is to pop into a restaurant or cafe and just asking them to refill it for you for free. It's all about starting the conversation.”

I’m dying to ask….How has it been working together as siblings?

“It's ace because we can just be straight with each other. There's no fluff, or trying to be gentle. If something isn't working or we don't agree, we just say it. We're both quite blunt anyway, but it saves us a lot of time. We don't need to go around the houses.”

What are your growth plans?

“Our goal in to be in the top 3 online plastic free shops in the UK. The more we grow, the bigger our range of plastic free goods. We love finding replacements for single-use plastic problems that we hadn't even thought of. It's a really exciting market place which people are becoming more and more aware of. It's great to see so many people wake up to the plastic problem and wanting to do something about it. “

The marketer in me wants to know, what are your best channels for reaching new customers?

“It's definitely a combination of channels. At the start we put a lot of effort into social media, and now our attention has moved more onto strengthening our organic traffic. Making sure our SEO is the best it can be etc. The thing is with starting a business like this, is you really need to be able to do a lot of things. Between us we are copywriters, photographers, social media experts, website builders, accountants, parcel packers and the list goes on.