ecostore Dad’s Pack
ecostore was founded in 1993 by ‘Ecoman’ Malcolm Rands and wife Melanie from their home in a fully sustainable eco village they co‐created in the rural area of Northland, New Zealand. Their dream was ambitious and their philosophy of ‘safety and health first’ was at the core of every product developed. Together they set up ecostore, providing affordable everyday household cleaning products that would enable people to live a healthier lifestyle and ‘green up’ at home, promoting the use of safer alternatives to conventional everyday products full of harmful chemicals.
Malcolm was also keen to find a more sustainable way to tap into social enterprise and ensure his business was giving back to the world in more ways than one. He wanted to tackle one of the biggest problems he’d experienced in the not-for‐profit sector – the disproportionate amount of time, energy and other resources that went into fundraising compared to the needs of the different projects, and in 1993 launched the Fairground Foundation. Fairground and ecostore work in partnership to support the health and environmental wellbeing of communities, and a percentage of ecostore profits is channeled into the not‐for-profit to ensure it is supported by ongoing funding. Malcolm Rands believes chemical free products should be considered by all consumers today as research continues to prove how harmful some chemicals can be to our health.
“At latest count, there are more than 84,000 chemicals in existence for commercial use, with 1000 new chemicals being developed every year around the world. The problem is that legislation hasn’t been keeping up with chemical development and long after they’ve been made available for everyday use, links are being made between some of these chemicals and health concerns like hormone disruption, allergies, asthma and cancer.” “Your safety and your health is a big concern for us and that’s why the product development team at ecostore evaluate and minimise the impact of our products on people’s health every step of the way, from sourcing raw materials to end use,” Malcolm explains.
While initially sold by mail order catalogue to very eco‐aware customers predominantly in New Zealand, the ecostore range is now available in over 2000 supermarkets and independents across Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, as well as supermarket chains in the USA; including 150 stores in New York. The full product range is also available from the online store at www.ecostore.com.au and is shipped nationally. The guiding principle of ecostore formulations is that the end product must not only be good for the planet, but must also be good for the user.
The company believes that everyone has a right to know exactly what is in the products they use, which is why it goes above and beyond legal requirements to list every ingredient on its products label. ecostore sources ingredients with no toxic or unnecessary chemicals. ecostore is also proud to be a cruelty-free accredited company that only tests on human volunteers. A mix of recycled and recyclable materials are used in all packaging in a bid to minimise waste, while labels are made up of black and white photography and unique artwork, minimising the need for brightly coloured toxic inks and printing processes, seen as the norm for most personal care and cleaning products globally.
Malcolm has a long list of accolades and is a very well respected business identity in New Zealand and abroad. He is actively involved with a number of boards and communities including the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Fashion Industry New Zealand and has featured as part of a line up of entrepreneurs at TedX Auckland. He was mentored by David Irving (Founder and CEO of Watties) and is widely regarded as an expert and pioneer on the topic of sustanability amd social entrepreneurship. ecostore is a principles‐based company committed to restoring the health and wellbeing of the world by making it easier and safer for people to be green. New Zealand born and manufactured, but with an international audience, ecostore utilises the rapid developments of eco‐science to ensure products and company processes are constantly improving.
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