You are here: Home » Features » Interviews » Miles Owen of Ecotopia.co.uk

Miles Owen of Ecotopia.co.uk

Posted Saturday 27th June 2009by Editor

Ecotopia is an ethical online supermarket for everyday products, ethical gifts, eco-friendly gadgets, fair trade and organic groceries.

Established in 2002 with assistance from the Prince’s Trust, Ecotopia assists people in leading a more natural and lower impact lifestyle. Behind every product sold at Ecotopia is a story. Not only are these stories about environment and ethical issues - they are stories about small companies that we are proud to support. One Nation caught up with partner of Ecotopia, Miles Owen.

Miles, thanks for taking some time with us today. Tell us a little about Ecotopia, when it started and what the philosophy behind it is?

Ecotopia started in early 2003. At that time environmental/ alternative products were found more in small independent boutique – type shops. Ecotopia set out to push environmental and ethical retail into mainstream retail – it could only make a difference if it was seen as a “real” business

What makes Ecotopia so different to other eco sites?

Ecotopia has always set out to research and find alternative products to satisfy everyday life rather than just the gimmicky products. Now it could be considered similar to a supermarket offering over 3500 items from food and drink to washing up liquid and wind up radios

You had a high street presence up to 2007, why did you change to being exclusively online?

We have always been ambitious and in order for us to continue to expand our product offerings we needed to expand. The finance required to open new shops was a great deal and the returns were small. A far smaller investment in to the Internet would yield far greater returns and our market was now nationwide as opposed to the catchment area for a small shop. We were also able to be more cost competitive as the high street has far higher overheads than a warehouse.

How do you choose what goes on the Ecotopia website? Do you have set ethical and environmental criteria?

We very much follow unwritten rules – as we are growing we are having to define these far more but essentially a product has absolutely to be manufactured in an ethical fashion and has to offer eco credentials that help to reduce the environmental impact of the customer.

Now, it’s all good being ethical and environmental with products but many companies fail on their eco-delivery and eco-packaging – how do you tackle that?

The couriers we use have established networks so in theory the more they get used the more efficient they become. All our packaging is in one way or another recycled. We used to have agreements with local shoe shops and used all their boxes. As we have expanded we’ve had to start purchasing boxes to offer more efficient operations – these are all made from recycled cardboard.

Ecotopia has won many an award… go on gloat a little?

Well I think we were certainly one of the first to venture into this market place. We’ve always been self-funded so have had to come with new and innovative products and ideas to keep us ahead of the game. We’re still privately owned and although there are many more players in the market place we feel we still offer the personal touch with attention to detail and the quality of our products.

What’s the most popular product on ecotopia and why do you think that is?

I’d like to say something like solar powered headphones or wind up media players but unfortunately our most popular (or most frequently sold) items are not so exciting – Ecover cleaning products, Eco laundry balls and at the moment our gas energy savers have been flying out the door – the thing about the credit crunch is that making environmental savings are also saving money.

When someone buys one of your products how much of a difference are they making rather than buying an everyday product?

It differs widely from one product to another. Wind up products for example don’t use batteries and do not need to plug into the mains. Natural and Organic foods are not using chemicals in their growth. Eco Washing up liquid does not use chemicals in it manufacture and has minimal effect on aquatic life when it is disposed of. Elephant dung notebooks obviously use waste products but also provide an industry in a poor country and help to reduce the conflict between man and elephant in Sri Lanka. I could go on quoting all the different types of positive impacts but essentially in supporting us we can continue to grow and support all the different areas that we strive to help. As a by-product our customers also benefit from purchasing healthy food, high quality products that help in reducing their own carbon footprint.

Now to really test how eco-friendly you are out of work (and no cheating!) we have a quick fire round:

Car, bike or bus to work? Bike
Percentage you recycle at home? 70%
What is your carbon footprint score? Don’t know – (I know I should)
How many times have you flown this year? Once but I offset this by planting 20 trees
Do you endeavour to buy locally sourced food? Yes – We have a great award winning farmers market in Stroud so I must admit it isn’t difficult to do so

What would be your top eco-tip?

I am a big believer in small steps make a big collective difference when it comes to the environment, so I would say start by making small changes like conserving your water, turning down your heating by 1 degree, use energy saving bulbs, start composting, buy food that uses less packaging etc.

Finally, what’s ecotopia’s ultimate goal in time?

To see ethical retail as the norm not the exception

Visit www.ecotopia.co.uk