Hey, I'm Beth 👋

You may be wondering where this all began and the truth is, it was with a pot of hummus!

Every day I would take a plastic pot of hummus and carrot sticks for my lunch and one day I suddenly asked the question to myself, "where does this pot go when I put it in the recycling?".

Not knowing the answer I went on a bit of a mission to learn about where our rubbish goes and finding out that plastic could only be recycled a maximum amount of times (but the truth was most was going to landfill and would never breakdown) as well as it taking a tonne of resources to make, it literally changed my life forever.

I couldn't see the world the same, everywhere I looked there was plastic. Every house putting their bins out on bin day and wondering where it would go I just couldn't sit and do nothing.

I decided to start documenting my findings, and if you've been here from the very very beginning I was called the very fitting: Plastic Free Hobbit haha!

Friends and family started talking about the issue but I found everyone was still purchasing plastic because there was simply just not any other options. Then David Attenborough brought out Blue Planet 2 and everything changed.

It suddenly dawned on me that people wanted to make changes but just didn't know how. So, I figured if I could do the work for everyone and make plastic free swaps easy, then we could really start something and my journey to Plastic Freedom began...

Founded in January 2018

For those that have followed me from the start, you will remember the days when I was running Plastic Freedom from my spare room at home, whilst still working a full time job. It was side 'hobby' that quickly turned into something I was never expecting!

I literally started with a bedside table filled with toothbrushes and stock from my favourite brands and invested about £300 of my own money into my first load of stock.

Everything sold out in the first weekend and I had to frantically buy more in the evening whilst away with work! 

The first big move!

The first 11 months of Plastic Freedom where an absolute whirlwind of very little sleep, still trying to juggle my other job and getting products out as quickly as possible to everyone that wanted to make eco changes!

I then by chance saw this unit available near my house and I knew it was time to make the move. I quit my job (well, I worked for my dad who basically told me I had to leave to follow my passion) and began the move to the new unit with Smurf by my side!

I took on my first few staff and I can not tell you how much fun it's been building the business with great humans by my side!

The Plastic Freedom Warehouse!

We very quickly outgrew our 'big move' and when speaking to the industrial park owner he said a larger unit would be available.

So during lockdown I pretty much single handedly had to move into the new warehouse, with a few of the team popping in when I wasn't there to help when they could thanks to social distancing. It was a LOT of work but oh my gosh it was the start of something huge!

This just shows the power we have to really make changes; I started Plastic Freedom with a very limited number of products and now I have so many companies approaching me about stocking their plastic free items that we have a warehouse full!

My Move to Cornwall

During lockdown it became very apparent to me that the move into the new warehouse really had set Plastic Freedom up for future expansion and growth, but I just wasn't happy.

After heading to Boardmasters to set up a stall with Plastic Freedom and seeing how people lived for the ocean it completely opened my eyes to a whole new life.

I always felt like I was born in the wrong place; I wanted to live outdoors, surf, explore and be surrounded by people that wanted to do the same so the moment I stepped foot in Newquay it felt like I was finally home.

My incredible team supported me every step of the way and they manned the warehouse whilst I went off to grow Plastic Freedom from a far!

I GOT MARRIED!!

Why is this relevant to Plastic Freedom? Well if you follow me on social you'll see Dan is now a main character on my stories (which you all love 😂) but honestly Plastic Freedom would not be here without him; you'll find out more as you continue this journey!

But a little side note is that the universe always pushes you onto the path you need to take and I met Dan a week before I moved my entire life down to Cornwall, and apart from a week where I went to pack up my belongings, we haven't been apart since!

I had always decided my purpose in life was to probably be alone and I was okay with that because I was on a mission to help plastic pollution, I loved my life and my dogs and that was good for me! But I guess that's exactly when the world aligns to bring you what you could have only dreamed of at the right time!

I opened a shop!

I still pinch myself to this day that none other than The Hoxton Hotel sent me an email asking if I would like to partner with their new hotel in London and open a store (something they have never done before)!

I had always said I would never open a shop because you have to rely on that footfall but this was an opportunity I couldn't turn down and I saw it as a way to do something people hadn't seen before...

Imagine a refill store but for skincare, haircare and beauty products - that's what we created and it was INCREDIBLE!

So after a golourious year of our pop up store in London, it not only taught me a lot but set me on a mission to get these refills products available to everyone across the UK whether you were close by or not which is why my new refill scheme is up and running and I could not be happier!

The curveball

So imagine getting a phone call that basically the warehouse up North with all your stock is damaged, all your stock is being ruined and basically we needed to move, like now.

Again, the universe had to come into play here, as so many of the team had left to go travelling or had other career aspects lining up so within two weeks I had made the call (with Dan's support) to move the warehouse down to Cornwall and just like that, a space appeared round the corner from our house!

I'm so proud and thankful for each and every one of my team (my best friends and my sister) for making this incredible stressful decision so much easier with their unwavering support and excitement to go on their own adventures in such a short timeframe!

Freya, who had been with me from my first ever move said she would be with me until the very end and would work from home to help me with all the admin side of the business and it was sorted; we were moving!

and then... WE MOVED AGAIN!

We were in our new space for about 6 months when I realised that basically the prices of renting down in Cornwall and all the costs with the moving, the decline in sales after covid and so many other factors meant we just couldn't afford the size of space we currently had.

Alongside all of this with Plastic Freedom me and Dan also started Eco Escapes where we create eco friendly accommodation for those who own Airbnbs and manage everything ourselves.

When we looked at how hard we were working (4am starts were the norm in our house) and all the rent/bills we were paying out it was all balancing out to no gain so we started having talks about how we could make everything work.

Then, you guessed it, the universe did it's thing again! We totally by chance saw a house before it even went on the market that needed a complete renovation but would have space for Plastic Freedom, Eco Escapes (we have a lot of laundry!) and everything else we dreamed of!

Within three months we had the keys, the renovation began and Plastic Freedom is now finally home, like home home!!

It's been such an emotional, hard and incredibly rewarding journey so far with Plastic Freedom and I can not tell you how much the support of each of you has meant every step along the way.

You've all saved my business, allowed me to navigate through the curveballs and keep on pushing!

So here is to the next chapter, whatever it may be...