About Ecoelephant
Ecoelephant was lauched as an online zero waste store in 2018 and is one among the oldest zero waste businesses in South Africa. The owner Tina, started feeling uneasy about the stuff they owned and threw after a single shopping. After a little bit of research, Tina realized that there are simple things they can do to achieve a low impact life. They decided to make small changes, to live more simply and more sustainably. However, finding and sourcing eco-friendly products turned out to be difficult and expensive. That led to the opening of her business where they made many of their own branded products. Reusable products were made from scratch in the houses of work from home mothers in South Africa. The Zero-Waste movement was growing and Tina felt very happy to be on board. Tina started her business with products like fabric bowl covers, mesh produce bags, muslin & cotton bags, glass straws, cutlery pouches, knitted jute scrubs, menstrual pads etc. She also collaborated with some lovely brands and sold their reusable products. Some products like Stainless steel tiffins, bamboo toothbrushes and steel straws were imported. Tina made her products colorful and trendy to get it to the hearts of young and old. Our products were resold in more than 50+ zero waste/sustainable/organic/gift shops.
As time passed by, zero waste shops in South Africa started struggling. The economy going down and big brands bringing in imported products made things difficult for small businesses. It was so hard to watch many of our wholesale zero waste shops/ clients closing down their businesses. Tina knew it was time to take a break and re-evaluate her business goals. Her focus is now on slow living, mindfulness sustainability, minimalism and building a resilient community. She is also collaborating with new suppliers and will be offering the community with a new range of products for thier quarterly ecoelephant club. It won’t necessarily be zero waste or package free but will still be products that focus on sustainability. Our own branded products can be delivered package and swing tag free on request.
Tina Beyer- Owner & Founder
Tina Beyer, the founder and owner of Ecoelephant, runs her business from her home in Rondebosch, Cape Town. She is an aspiring/evolving minimalist who loves simple things in life. She grew up in Kerala, India and holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Information Technology and various diplomas and post graduate diplomas in Naturopathy, Yogic Science and Ayurveda. Tina is married to Pat and they have a beautiful Eco-warrior daughter.
Our business is all about people, inspiring and educating each other to make better choices, creating jobs locally and touching lives. Living sustainably results in a more meaningful life. We don’t want to make sustainability expensive, therefore we try to be as affordable as possible to encourage a low impact lifestyle. We also love it when one product can be used for many different things - it makes life so much simpler and sustainable.
Remember that as consumers, our buying power can be a strong force for positive change.Every time we spend money on something, we create a demand. We are voting for more of it to be produced, whether it is our intention or not. Choose to generate demand for things that we believe should one day become the norm instead of the exception. It is not about recycling more, it is about wasting less.
We believe that there are natural and zero-waste alternatives to things we use in our daily lives. Living a waste-free life doesn’t have to be gloomy and we bring sustainable lifestyle with colors and fun. We are focused on “refuse reduce, reuse and recycle”.
We encourage locally made products. Our aim is to include others, especially mothers, elderly and women entrepreneurs, by creating local employment opportunities. All our handmade and handcrafted products are made by work from home mother/ladies, elderly ladies & community upliftment projects. Some of these women are the sole breadwinners in the family. They hold together families affected by poverty. These ladies in spite of the grief, poverty, stigma, and violence, care for their children, families and grandchildren. They may also be nursing the dying and bringing up orphaned grandchildren on their own. We aim to up-skill & re-skill these ladies and turn the tide on poverty & ill-health in their homes & communities and give them a decent wage.
Ecoelephant was lauched as an online zero waste store in 2018 and is one among the oldest zero waste businesses in South Africa. The owner Tina, started feeling uneasy about the stuff they owned and threw after a single shopping. After a little bit of research, Tina realized that there are simple things they can do to achieve a low impact life. They decided to make small changes, to live more simply and more sustainably. However, finding and sourcing eco-friendly products turned out to be difficult and expensive. That led to the opening of her business where they made many of their own branded products. Reusable products were made from scratch in the houses of work from home mothers in South Africa. The Zero-Waste movement was growing and Tina felt very happy to be on board. Tina started her business with products like fabric bowl covers, mesh produce bags, muslin & cotton bags, glass straws, cutlery pouches, knitted jute scrubs, menstrual pads etc. She also collaborated with some lovely brands and sold their reusable products. Some products like Stainless steel tiffins, bamboo toothbrushes and steel straws were imported. Tina made her products colorful and trendy to get it to the hearts of young and old. Our products were resold in more than 50+ zero waste/sustainable/organic/gift shops.
As time passed by, zero waste shops in South Africa started struggling. The economy going down and big brands bringing in imported products made things difficult for small businesses. It was so hard to watch many of our wholesale zero waste shops/ clients closing down their businesses. Tina knew it was time to take a break and re-evaluate her business goals. Her focus is now on slow living, mindfulness sustainability, minimalism and building a resilient community. She is also collaborating with new suppliers and will be offering the community with a new range of products for thier quarterly ecoelephant club. It won’t necessarily be zero waste or package free but will still be products that focus on sustainability. Our own branded products can be delivered package and swing tag free on request.
Tina Beyer- Owner & Founder
Tina Beyer, the founder and owner of Ecoelephant, runs her business from her home in Rondebosch, Cape Town. She is an aspiring/evolving minimalist who loves simple things in life. She grew up in Kerala, India and holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Information Technology and various diplomas and post graduate diplomas in Naturopathy, Yogic Science and Ayurveda. Tina is married to Pat and they have a beautiful Eco-warrior daughter.
Our business is all about people, inspiring and educating each other to make better choices, creating jobs locally and touching lives. Living sustainably results in a more meaningful life. We don’t want to make sustainability expensive, therefore we try to be as affordable as possible to encourage a low impact lifestyle. We also love it when one product can be used for many different things - it makes life so much simpler and sustainable.
Remember that as consumers, our buying power can be a strong force for positive change.Every time we spend money on something, we create a demand. We are voting for more of it to be produced, whether it is our intention or not. Choose to generate demand for things that we believe should one day become the norm instead of the exception. It is not about recycling more, it is about wasting less.
We believe that there are natural and zero-waste alternatives to things we use in our daily lives. Living a waste-free life doesn’t have to be gloomy and we bring sustainable lifestyle with colors and fun. We are focused on “refuse reduce, reuse and recycle”.
We encourage locally made products. Our aim is to include others, especially mothers, elderly and women entrepreneurs, by creating local employment opportunities. All our handmade and handcrafted products are made by work from home mother/ladies, elderly ladies & community upliftment projects. Some of these women are the sole breadwinners in the family. They hold together families affected by poverty. These ladies in spite of the grief, poverty, stigma, and violence, care for their children, families and grandchildren. They may also be nursing the dying and bringing up orphaned grandchildren on their own. We aim to up-skill & re-skill these ladies and turn the tide on poverty & ill-health in their homes & communities and give them a decent wage.