You may well believe that if you are not living in highly populated towns and cities than you are limited in your access to all things chemical free. In the past you may have been correct but not these days. Not only do you have physical stores and cafes in some of our regional areas there are many online businesses that deliver to your door. I’d like to introduce you to the ECO LIVING & GIFTS retail store in Wagga Wagga.
If you’re visiting Wagga or just driving through make sure you drop in and say hi!
Q1. What do you do?
We are a retail store in Wagga Wagga that provides a range of natural, plant based, non toxic ingredient products where 95% of our range are Australian Made. We’re a family business, a mother and daughter team (Chelsea & Val), and we continue to educate ourselves on a chemical free life style and our products to then be able to pass onto our customers the knowledge and benefits of using our products.
Q2. What got you started in the chemical free industry?
We started using Tri Nature products approximately 5 years ago. My dad who owns a carpet cleaning business started using these products and found they were doing a better job then the conventional products he was using. We started using the products in our own home and we couldn’t believe how good the products actually were. After doing our own research on Tri Nature and other Australian Made natural products we started telling our family and friends about these amazing products.
We began talking to many people about sensitive skin and realised just how many people actually suffer from eczema, dermatitis or psoriasis. We would recommend Tri Nature to everyone we spoke to and they were all coming back with positive feedback saying how the products have helped their family who suffer with sensitive skin.
We realised there was a market out there for these amazing products and we wanted to share them with everyone. Early mornings at the local markets proved people were searching for safer less toxic alternatives for cleaning and personal care and eventually the demand lead us to opening a store.
Q3. What makes your product different?
The naturally orientated stores around the Wagga Wagga area and towns nearby typically don’t carry a lot of Australian Made products. Australian Made is our focus, it comprises 95% of our range.
We help our customers transition from chemical based products to chemical free. We offer home visits to highlight the ways they can detox their home or our customers can bring in their old chemical containers, we find an non/less toxic alternative and we dispose of the old chemical containers appropriately which may be via our recycling system.
Q4. What has been your biggest obstacle?
That would have to be educating people on the benefits of why they should use natural products and that these products are actually a cost saving if not cheaper then the supermarket brands.
Q5.What is your most interesting/best TIP to help families reduce their chemical exposure?
Change 1 thing at a time!
We encourage our customers to change one product at a time and slowly work their way through the home. That was they manage the transition at their pace and within their comfort levels.
Q6. Is there another non-toxic business that you think is great & would recommend?
We are lucky enough to have a couple shops in Wagga where we love to shop. Free Spirit Foods is a café where they sell gluten free, dairy free organic meals located right across from us. They buy all of their organic produce from local businesses around the Riverina.
Another shop we love to visit is The Red Pomegranate, we love going and visiting Pete and Kaz as they are full of knowledge. They sell a lot of organic wholefoods as well as some natural products for around the home.
Go to Eco Living and Gifts for details.
Eco Living & Gifts is listed under the following categories and business opportunities.
