Ecoternatives

About Ecoternatives

Ecoternatives is an online zero-waste marketplace curating genuinely sustainable household, personal care, and lifestyle products from verified ethical suppliers. Founded by Aidan Riehl at the age of 19 in Hawai'i after witnessing plastic pollution firsthand, the store spent three years in development before launch — a period dedicated to finding suppliers who could meet a rigorous standard of both sustainability and affordability. The founding mission: to make sustainable living more accessible by removing the price premium that has historically kept eco-friendly products out of reach for most consumers.

The Founding Story

Aidan Riehl encountered the reality of plastic pollution directly while living in Hawai'i, where ocean plastic accumulation is visible and immediate. Frustrated by the gap between the urgency of the problem and the inaccessibility of sustainable alternatives — too expensive, too niche, or too greenwashed to trust — he set out to build a marketplace that changed all three variables simultaneously. Over three years, he developed a sourcing process, a vetting framework, and a supplier network capable of delivering genuinely zero-waste products at prices that could compete with conventional alternatives.

The 12-Step Supplier Vetting Process

Every supplier and product on Ecoternatives passes a 12-step vetting process before being listed. The process covers ingredient sourcing, manufacturing practices, packaging materials, supplier transparency, third-party certifications, quality testing results, and environmental claims. Products also undergo 21-day quality testing before listing. This depth of vetting is designed to filter out greenwashing — products that use environmental language in marketing without substantive changes in formulation, packaging, or supply chain. The 12-step process is one of the most rigorous independent curation standards in the zero-waste e-commerce space.

10% of Profits to Plastic Waste Cleanup

Ecoternatives donates 10% of all profits to plastic waste cleanup organisations, creating a direct link between purchases and environmental remediation. The store also uses carbon-neutral and plastic-free shipping for all orders — so the delivery of a sustainable product does not undercut its environmental purpose through carbon-intensive logistics or plastic-wrapped parcels. This impact model aligns the financial interests of the business with the environmental mission it was founded to serve.

Product Range

The Ecoternatives range covers kitchen, bathroom, shower, laundry, menstrual care, and pet supplies — all categories where conventional products generate significant plastic waste and chemical pollution. Kitchen products include dish soap alternatives and compostable cleaning tools. Bathroom products include plastic-free personal care. Laundry options include concentrated detergent formats that reduce packaging waste. Menstrual care products include reusable alternatives to disposable pads and tampons. Every product in the range has passed the 12-step vetting process and is backed by quality testing, giving buyers confidence that sustainability claims are verified rather than assumed.

Affordability as a Sustainability Tool

Ecoternatives was built on the conviction that price is the primary barrier to sustainable consumer choices. The store actively seeks suppliers who can produce genuinely sustainable products at competitive price points, and its buyer relationships are structured around making this possible at scale. By operating as a curated marketplace rather than a manufacturer, Ecoternatives can aggregate demand across multiple product categories and use that purchasing power to negotiate prices that make zero-waste living financially accessible for ordinary households, not just premium shoppers. This positions the store within the broader eco-products ecosystem as an accessibility-first marketplace.

Carbon-Neutral, Plastic-Free Shipping

Ecoternatives uses carbon-neutral and plastic-free shipping for all orders, ensuring that the environmental commitment of the products it sells extends to the logistics chain. Conventional e-commerce packaging is one of the largest sources of single-use plastic in consumer goods delivery — poly mailers, bubble wrap, and tape are typically non-recyclable and end up in landfill. Ecoternatives ships in sustainable packaging materials that are compostable, recyclable, or reusable, closing the loop between the store's sourcing standards and the way it physically delivers to customers. For buyers seeking to reduce their overall plastic footprint, this means that choosing Ecoternatives avoids both the product-level and the delivery-level plastic that conventional online shopping generates.