Who am I?
I'm Sophie, and I'm a mum of 4. I founded Simply Bee Eco in 2019 with the aim of helping people to find eco-friendly, plastic free and vegan friendly products for all areas of their life.
My hobbies include camping, paddle boarding, learning to sew, crafty projects and outdoor life with my children.
What inspired me to become more eco-friendly?
I've always been concerned about the environment, although I wasn't aware of the scale of environmental problems. I was more worried about the amount of litter, and animals facing extinction than I was about things like climate change.
When I had my first child (17 whole years ago 🙀) I opted to use cloth nappies to reduse waste and save money, but I really set off on my eco journey when I developed an autoimmune disease along with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and chronic pain following a bout of flu in 2017.
I was searching for answers and ways to improve how I felt, and I became very concerned about what I put into and onto my body, so I started making all of my own cosmetics. While researching ingredients, I became aware of the number of animal products and plastics in cosmetics, which terrified me and led me to research further. From there I learnt more about the harmful effect of plastic on the environment, and the devastating impact of things like intensive farming and mass deforestation, and I realised what a real concern climate change was, not just for future generations, but for us, right now.
I started trying to make small changes in my life, but I didn't feel I was doing enough and wanted to help other people take the journey with me, and thus Simply Bee Eco was born 💚
What keeps me motivated?
Knowing that every action we take today, makes a difference to the future world we leave for our children.
My top tip
When you first start out on your mission to reduce waste, plastic and chemicals from your life, it can be very tempting to head out and buy replacements for everything. This is actually the opposite of sustainability; it creates a lot of unnecessary waste, and won't do your bank balance any good! The best way is to replace items only as they run out, and also to consider whether they really do need replacing before you head out to buy them.
My favourite swap
It's hard to pick a favourite, because I genuinely love using natural, toxin free products.
I absolutely love the All Earth Mineral Makeup, as it is so versatile, as well as being kind to my extremely sensitive skin. The anti inflammatory properties actually help to improve the condition of my skin whilst I wear it, and as it is vegan, cruelty free, and has no ingredients derived from child labour, I know that no harm has come from its creation. It's also refillable, and plastic free (except from the pot for life sifter, which is made from recycled fishing nets salvaged from beaches), which makes it as eco-friendly as it can be!
My favourite cosmetic is hard to pick because they're all chosen based on ingredients that I love, but I do especially like the convenience of the facial cleanser bars. They're tiny enough to easily fit into any wash bag, but powerful enough to last months! My favourite is the Facial Coffee Scrub Bar - the mix of coffee and peppermint helps to cut through the brain fog and wake me up! Another favourite is the Aromatic Massage Bar because it helps to to soothe my muscle aches.
For washing up, I have found that the Ecococonut scourers are the best. They are strong enough to tackle tough stains, but gentle enough to be used on glasses and nonstick pans, and they're a nice shape to hold in your hand.
Also, reusable period products have been lifechanging (no exaggeration!).
And that's it!
Literally, everything you ever wanted to know about me! Do you have any more questions? Get in touch!
What started you on your eco journey? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to hear your story 💚
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