About Reboot Eco

Where is “away?” When we throw things away, where is this mystical place it all goes to? This place that we trust so completely that we never give it a second thought. When in doubt, we just play it safe and dump it in the garbage can, to get thrown away.  We may think about it as far as the dumpster, or the garbage truck.  But then we trust that it goes away, and we don’t think about it again.

This concept of “away” was brought to my attention when watching “A Plastic Ocean” in the late winter in early 2021.  My attention had been awoken to the issue of plastic waste and pollution within the year prior, and I finally got around to watching the movie that had sat in my Netflix watchlist for the last several years.  Prior to this past year, I was under the impression that I was a well-informed and active environmental supporter.  Supporting sustainable food systems was a focus of mine, and I also did my part by buying recycled paper items to save the trees, and of course, by recycling. Duh, amiright?

I recycled at home, I asked about recycling anywhere I was that didn’t have the option (you know, to apply the pressure and maybe even induce a feeling of guilt that you’re not even doing this one simple thing), and I made sure there were recycling bins everywhere at work.  I knew plastic was bad and we were using too much of it – I have a large stash of reusable shopping bags in my car that I remember most of the time when going into a store.  I avoid plastic produce bags for most of my produce purchases.  I cut up the plastic six-pack rings before throwing them away.  I looked for products that were made from recycled materials and I supported businesses that gave back by either planting trees or building toilets or finding solutions for potable water or by donating necessities, etc, etc, etc.

I knew there was more that could be done, but I also felt good about what I was doing.  And it was EASY.  

And then, at some point during 2020, I found out the truth about recycling; specifically, the facts around the recycling of plastic.

You might have known:

  • About 8.3 billion tons of plastic has been produced since the 1950s – the weight of roughly a billion elephants or 47 million blue whales.
  • Only 9% of this has been recycled.

But did you know:

  • That percentage isn’t so low because that many humans just can’t seem to get on board and separate out plastic from the rest of the garbage. Only around 9% of plastic is recycled because most of it isn’t actually recyclable!

Plastic can only be recycled one time and then it can’t be recycled again because the quality of plastic degrades once recycled.

I have a lot of feelings about all this.  I’m not a fan of feeling like I’ve been duped.  And I’m definitely not ok with feeling like a fraud.  So I sought out ways to live more sustainably.  I wanted to equip myself with tons of knowledge so I could share the information.  Guidance, products, tips, new habits, new perspectives.  I devoured book after book.  Found businesses and practices in other countries that made it really easy to reduce one’s footprint.  Came across the growing movement in the US.  But there were still components that I thought were missing. Products and services that I found too exclusive and expensive for myself or to recommend to others. Too many compromises.

So I founded Reboot Eco, a zero waste company to support the fight for less waste, smaller carbon footprints, and more approachable and affordable sustainable options.

Our focus right now is on offering refill stations for household cleaners and bath products.  More zero waste products are on their way.  And plenty of tips and tricks and eye opening facts are to be expected from our social media.

Reducing the purchase of single use plastics and using sustainable cleaning and bath products can have a significant impact on the following major problems that the earth is currently facing:

  • Pollution
  • Waste
  • Biodiversity
  • Ocean acidification
  • Dwindling Resources
  • Water Security
  • Global Warming

So the journey begins. I’m still learning how to live more sustainably. So join me and let’s figure it out together!