Hi, we’re Jack and Laura, a couple looking to change people’s perception of sustainable living. Jack is a full time personal trainer/outdoor adventure seeker, and I am an animal lover, which led me through an education in wildlife management and conservation, as well as work in animal sanctuaries.

After combining our passion for adventure, travel and wildlife, we quickly realised that the world we have dreamt of seeing will soon be lost due to the wasteful lifestyles of us all. So, over the last few years we have applied changes to our own lives, making plastic free swaps in our home and transitioning to minimalist habits. The transition wasn’t as drastic or difficult as we expected and we even started having an indirect impact on the people around us - making them more conscious of their consumerism too! We have been fast fashion free for over a year now and whilst we are not 100% vegan, we try to experiment and make conscious choices with our food. Our next step is to make our travels more sustainable by seeking the most efficient modes of transport and to include volunteer work on our trips.

Around mid-2019 we booked a winter trip to Norway, and with that we started our search for ethical winter coats which quickly turned into a wild goose chase! The harder we searched, the more challenging it became to discover brands we could trust. Most brands sounded great from the outside, but would typically use green-washing techniques to appear more eco-friendly than they actually were.

This experience gave us an idea - to create our own sustainable outdoor clothing brand. We began networking with companies, to find materials that wouldn’t have a negative impact on the environment, and that would hopefully last a lifetime. Manufacturing came next. Do you know how hard it is to find an eco friendly, UK based manufacturer?! This took us many, many months and little did we know then how much this would actually cost! Our naivety had got the better of us, and we ended up having to strip down our first collection to the bare minimum that we could afford to make.

As a small start-up company, we expected our costs would be higher for ethical manufacturing in the UK, but were still surprised at the quotes we received. There seemed to be many roadblocks when trying to do the right thing!

Then came lock-down. With everything suddenly up in the air, we were unsure whether manufacturing would stop. We had both taken a pay cut, and with earning less than 50% of our usual income, we decided to put our brand development on hold.

As the weeks passed, we put our new-found time to use, educating ourselves on business marketing, sustainability and becoming self-educated in identifying brands we could trust.

This is when our vision to build Strong Roots Ltd was created. We spent weeks at our desk (aka kitchen table), learning and researching, but we knew many others didn’t have the time or inclination to do the same. So we felt we had a responsibility to share with others, and help them in making positive changes to their lifestyle too. If we could show them how quick and easy it can be, and remove the challenge of searching, then hopefully more people would be open to change.

The mission was then simple; to increase awareness and education of our individual and collective environmental impact, based upon the choices we make, and to provide a better option of lifestyle and apparel brands, that share our vision, and feature them in one place.

We take pride in setting a benchmark for all businesses that work with us. These are our ethical standards, that brands must comply with, including; ethically sourced, give back brands, small scale, zero waste, vegan, circular process and certified.

Our main focus is promoting ethical brands and being a sustainable business ourselves, however we are also big believers in giving back, with plans to donate to different charities each year, as well as making the effort to support them physically through volunteer work.

Our customers will have the ability to purchase donation credits when they shop on our website too. This will include the option to donate money to various organisations around the world, including cat and dog rescue centres, African wildlife conservation projects, marine conservation projects, and human rights movements too such as Black Lives Matter.

This year we are donating to One Tree Planted and Bali Paws as well as becoming members of the Surfers Against Sewage 250 club

Our hopes for the future are high! We plan to grow into a leading online retailer, grow as a resource provider for awareness and education, and grow as individuals wanting to make a difference.

Do Your Part!

We are constantly saying the aim isn’t to be perfect, the aim is to do what you can and to be mindful about how your choices may have negative impacts. Here are some of our MUST WATCH documentaries and other resources that opened our eyes about wildlife, the environment, and consumerism:

Documentaries:

Broken (Netflix)
Born To Be Free (Netflix)
Virunga (Netflix)
Blue (Netflix)
The Water Brothers (Youtube)

Blackfish (Netflix)
The Ivory Game (Netflix)
Chasing Coral (Netflix)
Beartrek (Amazon Prime)
The True Cost (Amazon)

Books:

What do you know about sharks? - Ocean Ramsey
The adventures of a young naturalist - David Attenborough
Let my people go surfing - Yvon Chouinard (Founder of Patagonia)
Designer dogs, an expose - Madeline Bernstein

Why we started an ethical business during lockdown…

Party Kit Network

Life’s a beach