Sustainability Spotlight is a collaboration between the Nugget and NAITSA’s Sustainability Committee. Each month, the committee interviews a sustainability expert to learn more about their journey. This month features owner of the zero-waste lifestyle brand Earth Warrior, Katrina Hillyer.
Answers have been edited for clarity and space.
NAITSA Sustainability Committee: So on your website, you describe the moment when you started making reusable grocery bags and how that inspired you to create Earth Warrior. Could you tell our readers more about that?
Katrina Hillyer: I started actually in fashion, making clothing all made from upcycled fabrics. And I got to a point where I also wanted to create items that could be used every day, not just something that we wore every day.
But I wanted something like a reusable bag that reduced plastic waste, because at the time, plastic waste was just starting to become on the radar. And I figured, well, if I’m making clothes out of upcycled clothes, like out of upcycled clothing and textiles, why not also make reusable bags that people can skip the plastic bag and use something reusable?
When I started making the bags, my brother asked me to make reusable produce bags because that was another item that we continued to use plastic for. So I just launched into reusable produce bags as well.
NSC: Can you walk us through the life cycle of one of your products?
KH: So for us, the lifecycle of our products always starts with getting textiles to be recycled. We work with corporate partners right now, and we get textiles that they can’t use.
We bring them in, we sanitize them and then we sort them into categories on what fabric can be used for what product. We have different fabric types that we use for our tote bags versus our re-towels versus our reusable makeup wipes.
And then from there, we cut the fabric out, we sew it up. Then we either load it onto our online website, we bring it to markets or we sell it through our wholesale partners.
NSC: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a sustainability-focused business?
KH: So in 2021, we launched a free textile recycling program for the community. They’d bring their textiles to our retail partners, where we would pick it up, clean it, sort it and turn it into new product.
But there was such a huge demand for textile recycling that we were bombarded, and we ended up running out of space to store it all.
Not only that, but we didn’t have the funds to be able to continue to sort it and process it and clean it. So it actually just about put our business under. We actually had to stop the program completely, and it took us a few years to actually process all of those fabrics.
I didn’t realize how many people wanted to recycle and how much demand there was for it. But I also didn’t calculate when I launched it, how much it was going to cost our business to keep the program going. In total, we had about 170,000 pounds of textiles come through. And we can only make products so fast, and it only sells so fast.
Over the years, we’ve partnered with other upcyclers and resellers to help sell these materials off. But before all that, when I first launched this, I looked at one picture of what I thought it would look like.
But I just didn’t expect the demand that came through.
I didn’t realize how many people wanted to recycle and how much demand there was for it. But I also didn’t calculate when I launched it, how much it was going to cost our business to keep the program going.
NSC: What kind of feedback have you received from the community?
KH: We have a lot of corporate clients, and we hear about how they are always surprised by how good of quality our products are, considering it’s made from something that would have ended up in a landfill.
We’re very mindful with how we manufacture our products. We want to make sure that our customers are still getting the best quality fabric that we can give them when we make our products. So, we get a lot of compliments on our quality.
We have denim bags that we made in 2018 that people are still using today. Like they have not had to repair them or they haven’t gotten ripped. I think I’ve had one bag actually get ripped in the whole 10 years. How many years is that? Seven years? Eight years? And we fixed it for them because it was such an easy fix.
NSC: What small change would you encourage individuals or businesses to make?
KH: Before making any eco-swaps, use what you have first. For example, if you’re going to change out your toothpaste for toothpaste tablets instead of the toothpaste in a tube, use up every last bit of that toothpaste before you make the switch.
And then after that, repairing and mending your clothing or any other item as well. If you have any electronics that can be repaired or tools, anything that can be repaired before purchasing new.
If you do have to buy new, looking for secondhand items first before buying something new.
To learn more about Earth Warrior, visit the website, at earthwarriorlifestyle.com. Catch up on other Sustainability Spotlight interviews on Ooks Life.
Featured image via Earth Warriors Lifestyle
