Plastic-free eco business in Carlby, near Stamford, lands prizes at the Free From Living Awards
A small village-based business set up to reduce plastic waste in our oceans has earned big national recognition.
Eco-mate was set up nearly fours ago in the village of Carlby, near Stamford, to produce 100 per cent plastic-free cleaning products, all sold in paper bottles.
The venture was founded by Stamford couple Rachel Owen and Scott Nicholas, keen scuba divers who were alarmed at the amount of plastic waste they had found.
Now its Eco-mate fragrance-free hypoallergenic laundry liquid has been rewarded with two prizes at this year’s Free From Living Awards.
It won gold in the Special Achievement Award and also picked up a bronze in the Home Care and Cleaning category.
“It has been really exciting to be recognised at a national level, particularly for our popular fragrance-free laundry liquid,” said business development manager Sophia Lattimore.
“Though all our products are vegan, hypoallergenic and toxin-free, this fragrance-free product is really great for customers with skin sensitivities.
“After sticking to our key values it’s great that our products are being noticed and awareness can reach more customers.”
While remaining small, the business has grown and now employs a six-strong team. In keeping with its green ethics, its factory and warehouse is now off-grid, powered by its own solar panels.
Scott and Rachel further walk the environmental walk by donating a fifth of all profits to ocean charities.
The products are free of toxins, bio-degradable and vegan-approved and come packaged in compostable paper bottles, lined with a natural formula to hold liquids for up to a year. They believe the bottles are a market-first.
Eco-mate products, which have achieved record sales in recent months, can be bought direct from the company, in Planet Organic stores and smaller eco stores.
The business is looking at ways of getting their products into more stores in the UK and is working to develop a new bottle liner to increase the shelf life of the bottles.
New ventures in the pipeline include a pet shampoo, hand soap and new scents for its laundry products.
