Our Ecolosophy

Several years ago, we watched Ecolosophy co-founders Tanya and Rose, who described themselves as “just your garden variety eco nerds”, develop an enterprise which provided us with great pleasure and which has been a source of inspiration (and tea!) ever since. Ecolosophy has grown in to a being which we love, providing people with access to products that are beautifully and ethically satisfying. It has given access to tools and items of pleasure that make people feel good about buying the simple bare necessities like toothbrushes and trowels, or mindful gifts that will give others joy.

When both of the founders decided that it was time for them to consolidate their lives away from the beautiful thing they had created, and it was time Ecolosophy to move to a different home, we were excited to be able to provide it with a place to thrive; another patch to grow in.

So now Ecolosophy is based on a small farm outside of Esperance. Riverlee is where we run cows, sheep and horses; where we school our children and where we work to restore the land and create a home. Our interests as a family have always been varied and we are writers, photographers, farmers, philosophers and environmental activists. As we look at the mission and intent behind Ecolosophy, we see ourselves reflected in its purpose.

Barbara and Dodie Henderson

“It all started with an urge to make a difference and a love of beautiful things.” 

Ecolosophy's founders wanted to curate a collection of gorgeous and interesting wares that in one way or another, make our world a better place. Everything in the store has been chosen for a good green reason and each product has it's own unique identity marked by our eco icons. We have sourced our range from our own backyard in Esperance, innovative minds within Australia and from some of the many talented artisans working abroad. We have taken care to source goods that are created ethically and traded fairly. There are so many clever and motivated folk crafting and creating wonderful things from the everyday to the unusual and we wanted to provide a place where you can indulge yourself in something that not only makes you feel good but is also doing some good, giving you an opportunity to make a better choice for yourself, your family, the planet and the generations to come.

Our Mission

It's important to us that our business runs in such a way that we minimise our impact on the environment and that we maximise our contribution to our community, both locally and globally.

Little things we do to make a difference...

• We take every opportunity to reduce, reuse and recycle. We collect and recycle shredded paper and newspapers from local offices for packing up your green goodies nice and safely. We also reuse any packing materials sent to us by sending it on to you (although some of it does get repurposed as craft projects for the picanninnys).
• We make compost from our kitchen waste and use it to grow fruit and vegetables in our garden, any excess produce ends up on offer at our local growers market. Other kitchen scraps that are not suitable for composting get fed to the chooks, who kindly pass it back to us in the form of fresh eggs (and manure to add back to the compost)
• We harvest our rainwater and practice Earth Hour power saving most evenings (this has absolutely nothing to do with kids or early onset old age...he he). 
• We make every effort to minimise paper usage in the office, but when we must use paper, we use recycled and FSC paper products. 
• All packages are sent out with a little thank you card printed on handmade paper seeded with Swan River Daisy seeds so you can plant the card and make your neck of the woods just a little bit greener. When we gift wrap, we use 70%recycled - 30%FSC tissue paper and tie it all up with handmade fair trade hemp twine.
• Speaking of recycled and sustainable, we only use Who Gives A Crap toilet paper. Its 100% recycled and 50% of their profits go to Wateraid, helping to build toilets and improve sanitation in the developing world.

Supporting our community...

• Living in a rural location, we totally appreciate the efforts of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and so we make contributions and support them wherever we can.
• We love trees and so do Landcare . We volunteer our time to plant trees and sponsor Landcare projects to promote the greening of our region.
• We make contributions to groups like Get Up to help crowd fund projects aimed at preserving our natural environment.
• We donate products to local groups like Escare to assist local people and families.