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Our Values
EarthEmpower Trading Co. is a values and impact-driven company. Our work revolves around five pillars that define our values and guide our work. We are proud of each and every product we sell, knowing that with each purchase you make, we create a direct impact on communities, climate change, environmental conservation, and equality. Read on to learn more about the values that guide our work.
We are slowing down (and hope you will too)
After a lifetime of running around, stressed out, making ourselves sick, we are taking a deep breath, slowing down, and thinking about what we really need to be happy people, part of healthy communities, working towards a more just and equal world. Through this process, we realized that capitalism lied to us. We do not need everything at this exact moment. Buying things we don’t need will not fulfill us.
We are slowing down business for our own wellbeing and for the wellbeing of our planet. By combining shipments into one day per week, we reduce our carbon footprint and our stress levels.
By slowing down your shopping process, you take time to think about what you really need. Does that mean less sales for us? Yes. But that is ok. We are not interested in getting rich by exploiting people or the planet. We hope you will join us for a collective deep breath and transition towards a more sustainable and just future.
We are guided by intersectional feminism and anti-racism principles
We practice intersectional feminism by recognizing that each individual’s experience of inequality is shaped by the intersection of gender, ethnicity, race, class, sexuality, disability, and other life experiences. The concept of intersectional feminism was coined by Kimberlé Krenshaw, a Black Lawyer and Feminist Scholar. Guided by her work and many other Black, LatinX, and Indigenous scholars and activists, we recognize our own privileges and are constantly working to understand how we can exist as both oppressed people and oppressors.
As a team we understand that to move towards an equitable society we must go beyond not perpetuating harmful behaviors but also work to dismantle and deconstruct the systems that perpetuate discrimination, oppression, and inequality. This starts with inward reflections about our privileges and how we benefit from these systems. We dismantle discrimination with our actions, work, and words. We are constantly deconstructing our individual and collective biases and building an anti-racist workplace and collaborative company environment.
We buy from creators, companies, cooperatives, and organizations that are led by people and groups that have been systematically oppressed (including women, queer people, trans people, Indigenous Peoples, BIPOC people and communities, disabled people, neurodivergent people, and more). Since we do not work with middlemen, the money goes directly to the people we work with. We have minimal margins to keep prices affordable for the people who buy them and maximize the money that returns to the creators.
We honor, celebrate, and uplift human diversity
EarthEmpower is a diverse team who work with diverse businesses, cooperatives, and associations to bring you amazing products. We are a team formed of women, queer people, immigrants, disabled people, neurodivergent people, and BIPOC people. The business was started to create a safe place for people (including our founder) who could no longer tolerate the workplace discrimination and harassment they faced for being different. At EarthEmpower, we believe in the power of being different.
We are radical and not afraid to show it
We believe that our planet and our society are facing problems so big, our only option is radical change. Instead of banging our heads against the wall and feeling hopeless, we prefer to take to the streets and shout about inequality and injustice. Being radical makes a lot of people uncomfortable, but we hope to connect with others who believe radical changes are necessary too.
The products we sell might look like normal soap or tea, but behind each one is a group of people who also believe change is possible. We have selected products that help each of us reduce our environmental impact and whose production contributes to environmental and biodiversity conservation. When you buy from EarthEmpower Trading Co. you are ensuring your money is distributed to women, disabled people, Indigenous People, queer people, immigrants, and BIPOC people instead of making the billionaires who control most commerce richer. Now THAT is radical.
We go beyond sustainability
When we think about sustainability, we mean we really think about it. We are calculating carbon footprints, we are analyzing supply chains, we are studying ingredients, we are searching for the best zero-waste or reduced waste packaging, and we are thinking about fair wages, good working conditions, and economic solidarity. We literally never stop thinking about these things - it keeps us up at night.
The communities where our products are sourced are some of the most vulnerable to climate change in the world, even though their emissions and environmental impact are negligent. We believe that climate justice must ensure that the people who will suffer from the negative impacts of climate change must have access to resourcs to cope. Our store helps redirect economic power to people in these communities.
At EarthEmpower Trading Co., sustainability drives our every choice. It is not an end goal, but it is a constant learning process. If you have a suggestion or can help us learn and grow, contact us!
