A company we love - Sustainable Marketplace. Anything and Everything Sustainable

Sustainable Marketplace is simply an amazing resource for everything sustainable including Home & Garden, Fashion, Pets, Kids and even Sustainable Financial Planning! They really have thought of it all. 

We caught up with founder Liz to delve right into the story of Sustainable Marketplace and their passion for sustainable innovation. 

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you started Sustainable Marketplace?

Our youngest daughter finished school in 2019 and with three young adults in the home focusing on uni and work, I felt it was time for a change for me, too.

In the years leading up to this ’crossroad’ I’d made quite a few changes in our household to reduce our impact on the environment. I’d learned heaps and was confident this new way of doing things was here to stay. 

So I decided to do something with that and to somehow turn it into my next ‘career’. I’d spent many hours on the internet finding products, ideas and new ways of doing things – and suddenly it struck me that it would be so much easier if all this knowledge could be found in one spot! I guess that was the lightbulb moment when the idea of a sustainability-hub was born. 

I wanted to create a community for experts - both businesses and individuals – to bring their brands, stores, services and products to the one spot.

We’d love to know more about those small steps you took in your own household to reduce your carbon footprint. What secrets can you share with us?

Bring your own bags to the shops, recycle, return your bottles and cans, compost, create a worm farm, change to a responsible bank, repair, buy second hand clothes, turn off the lights, walk or ride your bike rather than drive, buy less. 

The list is endless, and I truly believe we should all consider how we can reduce our own carbon footprint. Buying reusable, repairable and recyclable products is a great way to consume in a more considered manner.

But lately I’ve learned that we can have a far greater impact if we help achieve the systematic change that is really required to tackle the climate emergency. By changing to a responsible bank, rolling over our super to an ethical superfund, putting solar on our roofs or switching to a renewables provider, we send a message to some of Australia’s largest corporations (including our biggest banks) that we want them to invest in sustainable industries.

Why is offering sustainable, eco-friendly products important to you?

It’s a privilege and joy to see the well-considered, beautifully designed, ethically sourced products on our website! Every time a new brand or store joins the group of sellers already on Sustainable Marketplace I am so proud! There are many very skilled people in Australia - people like yourselves! - creating outstanding products and thinking up smart ways of doing things differently so we’re not destroying our planet. We should be really proud of these innovative brands and products! I love seeing them together on one stage.

You’ve got a great variety of companies you work with on your site, what are some of the key attributes you look for in these affiliates?

I love the variety of companies on our marketplace! It’s exactly what we wanted Sustainable Marketplace to offer! At the moment most products on the website are either personal care or eco home & living items. But why stop there? One of the newest companies on the website offers financial advice. That’s perfect! What we’re looking for is businesses who are serious about making changes and who are aware that those changes will never stop. Sustainability is a fast evolving concept. What’s acceptable practice today may be obsolete tomorrow. I think all the businesses on Sustainable Marketplace are run by people who are well aware that sustainability is a learning process. A journey!

Sustainable Marketplace is new to the market and we’re excited you’re up and running! How has the experience been so far and what does the future hold for you?

Thank you! We’re excited too. And happy that we have an actual website to show. For a while we were trying to sell something that didn’t even exist yet, but amazingly that didn’t stop a number of true pioneers (Mulbury included 😊) embracing the idea of a sustainable marketplace.

A marketplace website is quite a complicated beast – potentially much bigger and certainly more layered and intricate than some of the websites I worked with in the past. So for a while I was walking around with googly eyes! But it’s been four months since we launched and we’re now a community of 30 retail sellers representing about 35 to 40 brands. We’re having fun!

The team has also grown. Originally it was just myself and Glenn, my husband and Sustainable Marketplace’s weekend warrior. But mid November we were joined by Alex, whose gorgeous visual designs you can see all over the website , newsletters and social media posts. Kira creates blogs and newsletters and helps with our marketing strategy, while Elske creates blogs and social media posts, and helps with the website admin.

It’s such a privilege to work with these young women and see Sustainable Marketplace grow into the sustainability hub we intended.

We’ll keep at it!

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You can checkout Sustainable Marketplace at www.sustainablemarketplace.com.au

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