Low-Waste Living and Climate Action with Alex Gamboa Grand of Way of Being

Kim Allchurch Flick: Hello everyone, and welcome. This is Kim Allchurch Flick, and today we’re talking about the undeniable power of individual actions to mitigate the climate crisis and make the world a better place for more of us. This is what Alex Gamboa Grand. Alex is the co-founder and showrunner of way of being a low waste shop.

She’s a teacher and a friend offering supplies, education, and encouragement to support a sustainable, intentional, and delightful lifestyle where small everyday actions create a better world. She’s also an instructor and speaker, and she’s passionate about social entrepreneurship, conscious consumerism, and the power of individual actions.

Thank you for being here and welcoming Alex.

Alex Grand: Thank you so much for having me.

Kim Allchurch Flick: Thank you. So what has been your journey and what inspired you along the way to be in this current time? 

Alex Grand: Yeah, it’s such an interesting question. I think it’s interesting for everybody to reflect on that. What are the things that got us to where we are? And what I think about is, even when I was really little I remember, I grew up in a very like Christian environment and one of the things that I think really set in with that for me is the idea that we all have a purpose and this idea that we all have these different strengths and qualities and interests and passions and, the belief that we’re supposed to use those things to contribute in some way to the world.

I always have felt that always really resonated with me. Okay, yes, I’m here for a purpose and like it’s, to contribute, to serve. The world in a way. And as I’ve gotten older, I really, I also have this belief that everything is interconnected. And everything we do does affect the whole.

And that I think sometimes when I say that to people it sounds like overwhelming, that’s like too much pressure to put on yourself. But I think it’s actually an exciting opportunity, to live your life intentionally. And for me that’s always been really big.

I’ve just been someone that, we see so many examples throughout history. I’m also a big I dunno if movie buff is the right way to say it, I’m a movie lover and I studied screenwriting in college. One of the things that was really interesting to me about that is I love looking at humans just like different characters and seeing how everybody has all these really unique things to them.

Everybody has a unique story, but we all have something to bring to the table. And I’m really fascinated by that, like by the, by how the individual and like our unique individuality contributes to the whole in this way. And for me now I’m working in this like climate action space through my business way of being.

And it’s just been one of those things like climate is. When I was a teenager, and I remember my dad first took me to sa Inconvenient Truth. It just kinda lit something in my brain of everything I’m saying about contributing to the whole what is more holistic, what is more important to everyone on this planet, every living thing on this planet than taking good care of our planet.

Back in the day it used to be like I was a really avid recycler. That was what we knew that we could do on an individual level. So I was like, going through the, my, the trash bins at my high school and sorting out the recycling and stuff. And then as I got older I learned, there’s things, how we eat, the things that we purchase make a big difference and all of that kind of.

Coincided and around the time that me and my business partner decided to start our business all those things started coming together. Like I felt okay, I need to do something. I also wanna remind people of their individual power, their individual agency and how they can contribute.

And also just like the knowledge of recycling hasn’t, is not enough or it’s not really the solution. And I get it. I’ve just been getting more and more excited about all the other things that we can do. And so yeah, that’s what I feel like my mission is to use my voice and platform and, whatever levers I have at my disposal, which, and right now is my business to help encourage people to, use their daily lifestyles intentionally.

Kim Allchurch Flick: That’s amazing. Tell us a little more about way of being. 

Alex Grand: Yeah. So Way of Being is a low waste retail shop. We have a e-commerce shop way of being doco and we have a brick and mortar shop on Hawthorne in Portland. And me and my really good friend Lindsey, we started way of being back in we launched our online store in 2019, but back in 2018 was when we started first envisioning what it could be and starting to share content and things around it.

But really it was, we were motivated by, okay we can’t wait for the government to make, do all these climate actions that we know it could be making. We can’t wait for all these big corporations. But Lindsay and I had actually also just gotten MBAs around that same time, and so it was really clear to us the power that business has.

To, to shape the world we’re living in and how much businesses are shaped and influenced by consumers. Absolutely, that’s whatever we’re spending our money on is what we’re telling companies to keep making or to keep doing. We were really passionate about conscious consumerism and like in the, on the climate note, we also, we’re starting to get really excited about this zero waste movement.

That was all about, reducing as much of your packaging waste, food waste as possible, like avoiding plastic as much as possible, switching from disposable goods to reusable goods and that kind of thing. So we were both adopting these lifestyle habits and we just saw, that is an amazing movement and people that are really trying to like, commit to a zero waste lifestyle, it’s very impressive and like noble.

But we also saw that there’s like a kind of a gap. There’s all these other people we knew that really care about the environment and just don’t really know what else they could be doing. And there are so many other things. It’s, we really felt we don’t need everybody doing ev doing everything perfectly there, but there everyone can do something.

For us it’s like you can change the way you brush your teeth. You can just use a different toothpaste or a different toothbrush and that makes it a huge difference. And just the amount of waste that builds up, you can change, the shampoo you’re using, you can take it to the dish soap, laundry detergent.

All these things have all these myriad benefits beyond just avoiding waste. They have benefits because you’re reducing toxins like in your body and in the environment. They. They can be more cost effective over time. There’s like all these benefits to them and we just saw, ooh, we’re getting really excited about these things.

We loved finding all the solutions and we wanted to make it easier, more approachable and more exciting in a way, to, for people to learn about these really small everyday habits that they could change that would really add up and make a difference, especially if more and more of us are doing it.

So yeah, we actually started out just sharing a lot of educational content. We wrote blog posts every week and did like informational social media posts. And then we launched our online store in 2019 and, we’re still going. It’s really actually amazing to see all the people who have been with us all this time and, just who have been open to changing a habit or two over time.

That’s been really exciting 

Kim Allchurch Flick: and changing habits can be. It’s not like a switch that goes off sometimes. It takes some practice, doesn’t it? 

Alex Grand: Totally. I, all the time I hear in fact, toothpaste tabs is one thing, like toothpaste tabs are basically a solid version of toothpaste. They look like little MITs, basically, you pop ’em in your mouth, chew it for a couple seconds, and then it turns into toothpaste in your mouth.

And I’ve heard multiple people that have purchased them, but it’s just been sitting on their counter because it’s just a little bit, there’s like a little extra mental effort to just do a new, do something new. But we have plenty toothpaste tabs are also like one of our, some of our bestselling products too.

So there’s plenty of people that have tried them and love them, but it’s, there is like a mental thing to it where it’s a little extra friction. We get in our comfort zones with certain things and I think that’s a big part of. What is challenging in this moment, as I think a lot of us are very like overwhelmed and adding like one more, one more thing to the list can be, can feel overwhelming.

Even more overwhelming 

Kim Allchurch Flick: in Indeed. And I think part of it in my life is thinking about making change in all sorts of different areas of life all at once. That can be overwhelming, but doing it one step at a time 

Can start to create new habits. And along the way, what have been some of the challenges and obstacles for a way of being and for your lifestyle and encouraging others?

Alex Grand: In terms of obstacles, there’s, a few different types of obstacles. There’s just, running a business and keeping it going for, this long, we’ve been in business for six years now. There’s, the obstacles around, our customers.

And like I said on the customer end, I think it’s really that thing. It’s like there’s a lot, it can be frustrating sometimes to feel like, oh, we have so many different, solutions to things that like people could switch to. There is sometimes it, and for me it’s I was excited about it.

So it’s different. I have a different point of view than somebody who, like we’re trying to convince. And so I think for us it’s one of the obstacles that I’ve made peace with is, people have to come to things in their own time. There’s no pressuring, there’s no, and certainly for us, like a big part of what we wanted our brand to be about is not, is nonjudgmental because we felt like there’s a lot in the environmental space, there’s a lot of like finger pointing and shaming over people not doing things the way you think they should be doing them.

And we really didn’t wanna be about that ’cause we don’t feel like that’s welcoming. We don’t feel like that’s persuasive, in our, political climate in the last, decade too, it’s something I’ve noticed is like the more you judge people and shame them, like the less that you’re gonna convince them to, be on your side.

For us it’s just been about, it takes time. Sometimes people, everybody has their different entry points. And now what we’re seeing is like a lot of people who weren’t really motivated from a sustainability point of view are motivated from a health and wellness point of view. And that there’s no wrong way.

Like everyone can have different entry points, everyone can have different motivations. Sometimes it’s just the right time in your life. Something that I’ve been, that I’ve been seeing actually this year, just among my peers is and even actually in culture, like there’s this whole analog movement that like a lot of, even a lot of younger people are trying to switch to more analog versions of things.

They’re canceling their streaming services and trying to like, read more and get vinyl and, CDs instead and that kind of thing. But to me, I’m really encouraged by, right now in this moment, it feels like there’s a cultural shift where people are trying to, they’re doing things that are less convenient.

But they believe are either better for them or better for society or better for the environment. And that is really powerful. I think if once we take a step back and we can take a breath and see okay, the things I do actually do matter and what has been normal hasn’t really been working that well, maybe there’s something that I can do differently that’s small, that would make me feel better, would, have a positive impact on my life and have a positive, the kind of impact that I wanted to have on our culture.

So I think that’s really exciting actually. That’s, there’s like a tension a little bit by we inherently just by existing, are challenging, like norms in the status quo. And I’m not trying to create tension there, but what’s really exciting is when people organically for their own reasons or become ready to try something new.

Kim Allchurch Flick: I love that. And I think also the other thing is information and misinformation along the way. And we’ve been told for years that recycling is a good thing. But I think you and I met as way of being, was being created. But another connection we both have is Portland State. And when I was at Portland State, I did a with a team, did a project on what was called the China Green Fence.

And this is back in 20 13, 20 12. And the green fence was them putting up a wall not a physical one, but a wall that said, we’re not taking your recycling anymore. And I hadn’t realized until I did that research that a lot of recycling goes out on cargo ships and it’s supposed to go to China when they say no and send it back.

It makes what was supposed to be a panacea. A good thing for all of us to recycle and feel good about ourselves to something that was way, way worse. And some of these ships would be out at sea, wondering where are they gonna dock? Because they often didn’t know what was gonna come back.

And then, so that continued, but it at least was be starting to become a little more public. And then last year, New York Times did an article about February 14th, 2025, about what a really broken system recycling is and how giant piles of clothing land up in other countries, but also waste that is even more toxic.

And clothing as it breaks down is mostly microplastic ’cause people are throwing away fast fashion. But other things, e-waste becomes toxic to someone else’s pe, the other people in other countries. And it was really eye-opening that maybe the panacea isn’t. Recycle, but it’s the low waste part and now there are innovations coming up, like talking about mushroom enzymes and other things that eat up plastics that are already there.

But I think the cautionary tale is that doesn’t give us a license to throw away more plastic. It means there’s already so much there. It’ll take decades, maybe centuries to clean up. So why don’t we pull back. And go to more toward the zero waste. 

Alex Grand: Yeah, absolutely. This is exactly, what we were, Lindsay and I were like learning about, and our minds were being blown around the time we decided to start this business because we realized, okay, yeah, recycling’s not the solution.

And talk about interconnected by the way, like literally the stuff that you throw in your trash can, or even your recycling bin is going to the other side of the planet. And and there’s, cases of there being just like garbage piles or even from the ocean little pieces of plastic washing on the shore and like Malaysia and things.

But it’s stuff that we’re throwing away in the US it just does matter. I think we have this outta sight outta mind thing that once we throw it away, that it’s gone, it’s properly dealt with, but really it’s not. So I exactly. That we really felt like, okay, the real solution is.

Is just throwing less away period, one way or another. It’s consuming less, it’s being more intentional with, the packaging of the products that you’re buying. Like I said, reusable alternatives to disposables. What materials are you consuming? Are they actually recyclable?

Just going back to the toothpaste example, a plastic toothpaste tube is not recyclable curbside and like most, most, most places. So what are all those toothpaste tubes? Doing all the toothpaste tubes we’ve ever used. What are they doing? They’re, sitting on this planet somewhere. It gives me chills thinking about it because it’s so many toothpaste tubes.

So I’m like, I don’t wanna use a toothpaste tube. I just don’t, I’m over it. I can be done with that. And it’s, that’s at least one less thing. And I love that you’ve spoke to. The harm that, you know, even if it’s sitting in a landfill and it feels okay, that’s dealt with, it’s still, it’s just breaking down into microplastics.

It’s leaching toxins into our groundwater. There’s no part of especially plastic, there’s no part of the life cycle that isn’t bad for us. Yeah, I get excited about, okay, let’s figure out ways to minimize our use of plastic and things that can’t be recycled or can’t be composted.

Let’s figure out ways to avoid them. And that’s actually been a really fun part of our business is there are so many amazing innovations that have come out. There are so many creative people that have come up with. With products that allow us to reduce that waste. And some of them are innovative, some of them are like I don’t even, what’s the opposite of innovative?

Like they’re reverting back to a simpler way of doing things. One example that’s innovative is there’s this one brand called Do Mighty that they make a skincare products that are all solid. Like their, the first product that came out was called a Jelly Serum bar, but it’s like a facial serum, but it looks like a little, it almost looks like a Jolly Rancher and you just wipe it on your skin and it comes in a recycled paper box and you keep it in like an aluminum tin that you can reuse over and over.

But a skincare product where you literally don’t need any plastic packaging, it’s all either compostable or reusable. That’s like an incredible innovation. And it’s a product that actually works really well, which is a really important part of our business too, is it’s important for us to carry products that are really efficacious because I think.

There was, especially in the early days of eco-friendly products, I think people really got, the perce got the perception that if you were gonna choose an eco-friendly product, it was gonna be a compromise in terms of efficacy. And that’s just not true anymore. And in fact, a lot of the more sustainable products are actually better than the conventional op.

They work better. So that’s been really exciting to be at the forefront of that and to see all those things. But then we also have some other products that are really they’re timeless. They’re classic, like a reusable safety razor that you know. My, my great-grandfather in the house that I grew up in, there’s like in the wall, in the bathroom.

He like used to slide all his little razor blades, which is also not the right way to dispose of your razor blades, but he would tuck them in a hole in the wall. But he was using a reusable safety razor, like a stainless steel one. And it can last a lifetime if not be something that you can pass on.

That’s something that we carry too, which is, it’s not innovative, it’s just going back to a simpler way that worked just fine. So yeah, I think I’m excited about the ways that we’re both simplifying and innovating and I love finding those brands and those people that are doing really cool things.

Kim Allchurch Flick: And I love going into the store, which is in Portland, Oregon, but for those who can’t also online. There is so much because you have al almost every category of life there from cooking, cleaning body care, toothpaste. There’s so much there and the innovators are there. And another thing I’ve discovered is, particularly in the category of cleaning, I really decided I, I’ve gotta make a choice.

And packaging is an interesting thing when we actually start to consider it because it’s easy to pick up a cleaner in a plastic bottle and say, but this cleaner is better. It’s plant-based and somebody who’s innovative. But there’s still that problem. And when I start to think packaging first, it completely changes the trajectory of the thought process to the purchase.

And then what’s in these non package related or non-plastic related packages has usually. Plant-based cleaners and I did a little experiment at home in laundry and bought three different brands and started rotating them out without telling anybody. ’cause they were all incented. So there are no, clues and while trying to empty this giant Costco sized plastic bottle of laundry soap that was supposed to be eco-friendly.

And so it took a while. But the thing is, the clothes all looked great. Nobody noticed as, ’cause I didn’t tell anybody, but one of the bonuses was once I got rid of the plastic bottles and didn’t buy anymore, the space I got back in the cabinet was enormous because mostly what I was dealing with powders and tablets that either come in.

Tins or I’ve just ended up buying glass jars. 

Alex Grand: Yeah, 

Kim Allchurch Flick: and that’s a great bonus to have as well. More space for something else. And it’s interesting how we think about purchases our consumer behavior is what it is. And I started looking at my own and thinking, okay, going to the store if I want salad dressing, if I lead with what salad dressing I want, I come out with a salad dressing.

If I lead with, I’m only buying salad dressings in glass, I will refuse to buy plastic. It becomes a fast decision because it becomes all about the packaging first, and then I can still find a really good product and maybe tell others about it. And then that leads to, okay, plastic and cell dressing, where else, what other things am I going to avoid that particular type of packaging?

And it doesn’t mean it’s a hundred percent, it’s really difficult in food to go to zero plastic waste, but there are ways to whittle it down a lot and it takes a while. It’s a mindset change. 

Alex Grand: It is a mindset change. And that’s, I think a really beautiful way to do it is just every time you’re buying, you’re like looking for a new product.

Look for, okay, how can, what’s a version of this product that I can get to minimize waste? And yeah, I think that’s one of the easier things is like when you’re grocery shopping, look for glass or paper or aluminum packaging instead of plastic. But a lot of the times, yeah, like condiments and things like they’ll come in glass instead of plastic and glass is easily and infinitely recyclable.

So that’s why it’s a better alternative and less, it’s not based on fossil fuels. But it, yeah, it is relatively easy to make that switch. And then the more we do it, the more they make those alternatives. That’s really where the power is, whatever we buy, that’s what companies realize they’re gonna make money on.

So they shift to that. And we’ve seen all these different movements. I think I talked about, I think the most obvious one for us is like organic food, because I feel like, 20 years ago you could hardly find organic food, or there’d be a really small little section in the grocery store and now you can find everything.

Or you can find an organic corn dog. You can find organic crackers cheese, whatever. Whatever you’re looking for, you can find an organic version of, and that’s because consumers purchase those products and companies followed suit. And now, and obviously we see it with all these different food movements, yeah. Plant-based gluten-free high protein now is big but whatever people are buying, the companies really wanna follow that. So if we’re buying less plastic, they’re gonna give us less plastic. It’s a missed opportunity really not to use that, that lever that we have every day.

Kim Allchurch Flick: Indeed consumer behavior can push change when it’s collective. 

There, there’s another topic that hadn’t thought about that much ’cause it’s an everyday thing, but I noticed a video about the evils of toilet paper and actually listened to it and this woman was coming up with how it’s processed, how there’s toxins in toilet paper that are bad for us and bad downstream, and yet it’s prolific.

It’s another one of those things that’s prolific. And then so started thinking about that at the same time that there’s been a increase in very inexpensive, easy to install bidets. And so we actually did that ’cause it’s kind of nice. And with that living in a place that has a septic tank for different reasons, we decided to use bide and buy the Marley’s cotton.

They’re like toilet cotton instead reusable. And how those, the combination of a bidet and that, and I just have a pail of water with bioclean or something and put them in there and wash ’em, reuse them and how we’re almost zero toilet paper household. And then we went to Costa Rica where they’re not zero toilet paper, but the country almost everywhere has signs telling people not to flush it.

They have wastebaskets beside, and for the most part they incinerated it, but they do not go want it going into their water stream at all. And that made me think more what did they know that we haven’t talked about and what would it look like if more and more people went to self-install, installed bidet and started changing?

And what is it about toilet paper that we haven’t known? And I think that’s part of it, is we can make good consumer behavior decisions with knowledge when knowledge isn’t there. Or worse when the plastic companies are still saying, oh, we’ll take a hundred percent back in recycling. And that was about two years ago on a 60 minutes interview with one of the plastic CEOs.

And we can tell just driving down the street with how much plastic is at the side of the road that. You can never get to recycling at a hundred percent. So finding that that’s a fallacy and it’s really frustrating when, because there, there are, people have motives, everybody has a motive. And what is the motive to say that recycling is still good and you could do more and more of it when that’s not the real story.

Alex Grand: Just think about a lot of the big toilet paper companies, especially those like soft plushy ones, they’re literally chopping down rain, the rainforest to make paper for us to wipe our butts with. It’s really like sad when you think of and yeah, then the chemicals and things that are not good for us.

The thing that’s really interesting about that example too to me is it’s very cultural. Like I think in the US we are just used to our toilet paper, we’re used to our Charmin or whatever, and we have a hard time not being attached to it. But in many other countries around the world, it’s not the norm.

Actually I first got this awakening when I traveled to India, actually when I was at PSU through a study abroad program. And they don’t use mo. Most places that I went to didn’t have toilet paper and they had a bidet or a version of it, like a hose or something, or even like a bucket with water.

And I was really confused. I was like, wait, what are people doing? And I asked our host, our guide who was from India, I was like, so what are you guys doing? Are you just walking around wet all the time? And I feel terrible about this ’cause I just think my tone was way too judgy. And rude what I think about it.

But, and she kinda looked at me and she was like, well, we think you guys are gross. Like, why would you not use any type of water to wipe yourself or to clean yourself? If a bird pooped on your arm, would you not, would you just use a paper towel to wipe it? And I just thought, this is such a good example of how this is totally cultural.

And when we don’t realize that we get really attached to something that doesn’t necessarily make the most sense. It’s just what we are used to. So I do think the more we learn about all the different sides of it and all the different alternatives and we have the opportunity to make a choice that actually does really make sense for us and others too.

But it’s just one of those things that we’re, you get so used to doing it your whole life that it’s hard to break the habit or can be, but I think that’s where we are right now. I think actually in our culture, it’s an interesting time because we’ve seen. Especially since COVID, but we’ve just seen so many things about our status quo that have become very clear.

Like it’s not really working that well for a lot of people in a lot of different reasons, in a lot of different ways. But I think it does push us and challenge us more to think twice. Okay. What is a better way to do everything? So I think that’s just one, that’s one example. Literally doesn’t make sense for us to chop down the rainforest, to wipe our butts.

And then, the whole plumbing and septic system, all of that too. There’s so many elements of it, but I think it’s a good time for us to start thinking 

Kim Allchurch Flick: twice. I agree. I, and with that, what makes you optimistic? 

Alex Grand: All the people that I know that are trying new things, even if it’s inconvenient, like I have, I noticed within a few months this year, my friends New Year’s resolutions, they were all things that were.

That were like going against the green. I had one friend that said she was gonna try to buy 80% of her produce at the farmer’s market, I had decided that I was gonna try to like, take public transit more. I had another friend that said they were gonna try to stop using food delivery services as much and start cooking at home more.

And there’s all these kind of like small ways that I see that people are becoming more and more willing to do something that you could argue, creates more friction in their lives, but they just they feel that it’s better for themselves, it’s better for their communities. And I also, something that is making me optimistic is people really being, becoming more and more aware of their, the power of their dollars.

We’ve been seeing more boycotts and there was like a general strike. In January there’s all these moments where people are using wielding their consumer power and it really has a big impact. On whatever companies that are being targeted. And so I think what the real opportunity here is to make sure we’re funneling our dollars into business, local and small businesses into mission aligned businesses that, that share our values into our own communities and causes and those things.

To me it’s like we’re waking up to, okay, we don’t wanna give our money to businesses or causes or things that we don’t align with. But then the opportunity, I think is to really refocus on our local communities. And I’ve been thinking about this like agriculture, I think about like regenerative agriculture, this kind as opposed to mono agriculture where.

For, actually, this is part of our status quo in the US too, is that we’ve had all these mono crops that, one farmer will have miles and miles of land that’s all dedicated to one crop, and then there could be one drought. I like a, or not even a drought, just a year of relatively low rain, or there could be a pest that comes through or flooding or something that happens and the whole, their whole crop is wiped out.

To me, that’s like in our culture when we have. These huge businesses that we’re all giving so much of our money to, and they’re trying to like monopolize every industry basically. It’s like a monocrop it can be more efficient, it can be more convenient in the short term, it could generate more profit in the short term, but in the long term it makes us less resilient as an economy.

And I think like refunding our energy and our resources back into small local businesses makes our communities more resilient. In general. It’s like diversifying our farm with different crops and they all nourish each other. And I think, when you look across the country, my husband and I love to go to visit national parks and we drive through it.

One of the cool things about that is it takes you to really random little pockets of the country that you know, are not necessarily a big city or anything. And so you drive through, you see everything. And one of the things that you know has become so clear is that there’s all these communities in this country that have just been hollowed out because one, because there was one major employer in the area that left, and because that one employer left, there were not enough jobs to sustain the rest of the community.

And there used to be these thriving downtowns with all these small businesses. But now it’s all hollowed out. So to me, I think it’s a really good time for us to really nourish our communities and to make sure that like we do have that resilience to keep going. We’re not all, we’re not putting all of our eggs into one basket, basically.

Kim Allchurch Flick: What a good way to think about it. And small communities used to be vibrant because there was collective people traveling through and big industry creates a lot of employment. But what does it do when it leaves? 

Alex Grand: Yeah, and 

Kim Allchurch Flick: we’ve seen cycles like that 

Alex Grand: and then we, yeah, we do. And like unfortunately, sometimes it just, based on their profit motives, it makes sense for them to leave.

But yeah, there, the whole community is basically a casualty of that. There’s plenty of places right now in the country where Walmart is like the number one employer and like the only source of groceries in a certain area. And so if Walmart leaves because there’s not enough people, shopping there, basically, then there goes the whole community.

Yeah, so I just think there should be more smaller grocery stores that we’re supporting all the small restaurants and businesses. It’s one of the things that makes Portland really special is we do have all of these amazing small businesses, but it really they require our support.

Kim Allchurch Flick: Absolutely. And what are you seeing in terms of, since way of being started the innovations you and Lizzie discovered, but what is, what has crept up since then as well? Are there new innovations that weren’t even there in 2016, 2018? 

Alex Grand: I think one of the things is that things just keep getting better.

Like for example, cleaning products I think is a great example. There are just new in, there are new innovations coming out. Like one brand that I really love, that actually is based in Portland, it’s called Dirty Labs. And I know I’m not a chemist, so I couldn’t explain to you like how it works, but they use this like BioZyme technology for their laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent and things like that.

And it’s some of the best cleaning products I’ve ever used. It’s like the, my favorite dishwasher detergent ever. But, they’re just, it’s. Once you’ve had enough time to focus on adapting and figuring out these are like plant-based technologies, non-toxic ingredients.

It’s pretty cool to see, how good it can get. And another thing that’s been interesting, this moment we just because of tariffs and things we’re seeing some inflation happening for sure, but we’ve also seen costs come down for products. And that is, that’s just because of.

A number of things, but one thing is just more and more people buying them. Like the companies are able to benefit from economies of scale. So it does happen over time with sustainable products that when more people buy it, the they’re able to make the product more efficiently and at a lower price point.

We’ve seen several things come down in price over the years, which has been really cool. And then, there’s this flopping, the flip flopping that’s happening now with inflation and the tariffs, which are definitely causing prices to increase. Without that having happened, we would’ve been seeing prices actually coming down for a lot of things.

Kim Allchurch Flick: Okay. And so it sounds like a lot of your products are also luckily made us made and some are imported, 

Alex Grand: some are. So actually probably like 90% of our products, or I would say 90% of our vendors are based in the US and we’re very intentional about that as much as possible. There are some products that they aren’t made in the US so, we get them overseas. But even for all the products that are made locally, packaging is often still comes from overseas. There’s some component packaging ingredients. We just don’t make everything here. So almost every product has been affected by tariffs.

So it really just shows you how how global everything has become. Even soap, a bar of soap that there’s like some ingredients that you’re getting overseas that they, we just don’t grow, we don’t grow that ingredient here or we don’t make it here, or, yeah, most the packaging, I know, especially glass packaging aluminum is off, often comes from China, yeah. Many, many things have been affected beyond even just vendors that are based overseas. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Yeah. That’s so true. And I’ve noticed that as well with talking with people who are consumer goods providers. But you’re doing wonderful things and really appreciate having you here. What other things would you like to mention?

Alex Grand: I talked about, that there’s a lot of power in individual action, but one of the things I think is really cool is I would love to share some of, some specific actions that people can take. Yes. That make it a difference. We actually are in this really incredible moment in time where, the.

Climate is changing, like the, the international panel on climate, inter governmental panel on climate change. As said basically over the next 30 years, the climate is going to be changing, but over the next 10 years, we have the power to take enough action that we can actually reverse the direction of global warming.

And that’s a huge opportunity that we can’t pass up. And actually according to Project Drawdown, which is a great nonprofit that, basically measures the impact of climate solutions. They’ve said that 20 to 30% of the total emissions reductions we need to avoid the most catastrophic climate change can be done at the individual and household level.

So not only yes, does it matter like what we do individually, but it’s way too big of an opportunity to pass up. This is really an all hands on deck thing. So I’d love to share some of what Project Drawdown has identified is like seven of the most impactful individual and household actions we can take.

So the first one is, please 

Kim Allchurch Flick: do, yeah. 

Alex Grand: Yeah. The first one is reducing food waste. And there are many. Ways to go about doing that. But that’s a huge one that not only has a huge impact because food waste creates methane, which is much more potent than carbon at warming the planet. But it also can save you money if you’re, better about not letting things go bad, when you bring them home, not, overspending on product that you don’t get around to eating before it goes bad, that kind of thing.

So that’s the one. The second one is eating more plants and less meat and animal products. And then I don’t remember the order of the rest, there’s not commuting via public transit or not commuting via fossil fuel vehicle. So either using public transit, riding your bike, carpooling, walking, that kind of thing.

That’s one of the things that I’ve been trying to focus on this year. There’s in making your household more efficient through your appliances, through your heating, there’s a variety of things you can do. Everything from LED light bulbs to making your, toilet more efficient, your heating all the things in your household.

So that’s huge. Solar panels is another one. Then there’s reducing plastic and virgin paper consumption. So those are some of the things that we talked about, right? And that’s really where our business is focusing. We also have some food waste. Things that help you reduce food waste. And then opting for virtual meetings and work instead of commuting is a big one.

If you’re an employer, letting people opt for virtual when it’s possible. And then, how many was that? Is that six? 

Kim Allchurch Flick: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6? Yes. 

Alex Grand: What’s my last one? Let me look at my list really quick. Maybe we can. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Absolutely. And while you’re doing that I find myself looking at the list and listening to you and saying, yeah, I’m doing some of that.

I can do more. Doing a little bit of an examination. 

Alex Grand: Yeah. Okay, the last one is is focusing on your waste is recycling or composting as much of your waste as possible. So whatever you are still having to throw away, making sure you’re intentional about not putting stuff in landfill trash that could be recycled or could be composted.

You know what I love about that list is that. Everyone can do something. The most, I think, costly one would be whatever you’re able to do to your own household. Not everyone owns their home or whatever is in a position to do that, but everyone can focus on reducing waste, food waste or reducing their plastic or paper consumption or or trying to be better about recycling or composting.

There’s something, we all have something within our reach. So I think it’s really exciting actually that we can really all do something and make an impact. So I get really excited about that, that within my lifetime I can have seen, what the status quo has been and then see a shift and help us repair.

Maybe within my lifetime I can actually see. Climate change start to reverse. That’s pretty exciting. And it’s way too big of an opportunity to pass up. So that’s a big part of why I get so excited about this topic and love sharing about it. ’cause I think there’s a lot we can do that we have a lot more control than we often feel like we do.

Kim Allchurch Flick: I think that is one of the most important messages. You saying 20 to 30% of the changes can be at the household level. That’s all of us. And it isn’t that difficult. And I’m also noticing that it’s creating new trends that are kind of cool. Like having parties that are zero waste. Yeah. And how does one do that?

Part of it’s selecting products by packaging and people can still get some great snacks, things of that nature with zero plastic. It just takes a little more to think about, but it also almost becomes. A competition or a badge of honor, and people are talking about zero waste parties and even yeah.

Alex Grand: There’s something really powerful about just the influence we each have as individuals too. One person does something or you have somebody over at your house and they see that you’re using a solid dish washing block instead of, a liquid dish soap or something. And it opens people’s minds to things.

And we’re always, whether we’re conscious of it or not, we’re always, we’re very aware of what our peers are doing. We just inherently biologically, evolutionarily we want to be accepted. We want, we, we also want to learn what’s working for someone else. Like something I’ve realized as the older I get is that we, adults talk in commercials a lot. Like we’re, we love telling each other, oh, I just tried this new yogurt. Like you have to. Or, oh, I got a new vacuum cleaner. I love this vacuum cleaner. We’ll tell each other about it, but we influence each other just living our lives.

So I think it’s really cool to take that on as okay, this is gonna be something that I do. I don’t need to make it necessarily a big show of it, but if people see I’m bringing my own reusable Tumblr when I go to get coffee, like on a coffee date, it might remind them, oh, I could be doing that too.

There’s little things that we’re planting seeds in just the way that we live our lives. I love it, we’re leaders whether we in intend to be or not, but I think it’s a great opportunity to, be intentional about that 

Kim Allchurch Flick: and it can be fun. And someone else that we both know who’s been on the podcast, Avi, of detox who has single use items that are all compostable and there’s no resins in them, no it’s leaf plates even making straws now and.

She had a sister’s wedding be a zero waste wedding, including the clothing. It wasn’t brand new. It was, they really put a lot of thought into it. And the pictures are absolutely gorgeous and everyone had fun and thinking about things in that way from little things we do throughout the day to events.

That, that’s really something to think about. How to make an event zero waste. And then that feeds back to how many people are there, what do they learn from it, what do they take home and what can they do on a small scale throughout a day that could get to that 20 to 30% if we all think about it.

And I’m inspired by countries like Costa Rica that are, have a lot of people really thinking along those lines. And what it boils down to is they’re also realizing that I. They were not great to their country in terms of deforestation. Over time, they deforested down to 20%, 25%, and now it’s backed up to 50% re forested because of intentionality and because small farmers are using biodiversity, but also doing the kind of things that we’re talking about here.

How do they live their lives on that farm as well? Down to the toilet paper, down to the cleaning products, down to all of that. And there’s some of the happiest people I’m been around because they see what they’re living around and they see what they’re doing and they see the possibility and they share it with others.

And I, I find that really inspirational. 

Alex Grand: It’s actually really cool to me that you’re bringing up Costa Rica. My family, my dad’s side of the family is actually from Costa Rica. And I think in a way probably that has been a major influence, but it’s a great example of it’s a culture that, has made it their priority to take care of their environment their like local ecosystems.

And you can see that it’s front and center and how good that is for the whole like a lot of Americans love going and retiring there because it just is, it’s a place that feels good. Like it from a standpoint of like the air feels clean and it feels lush and verdant, but also the culture is very, yeah, they’re like happy, they feel like they figured out some kind of balance, which I think we could learn a lot from really. So I think, and just our conversation is reminding me of like how much power there is in travel and just exposing yourself to different ways of doing things because we get so stuck in our ways and we forget that there are other ways to do things.

So I think that’s can be really powerful too. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Yeah. I concur. It’s been such a delight to have you here. How can people reach you? 

Alex Grand: They can always visit our storefront in Portland on Hawthorne and they can also visit us online, WavOfBeing.co. We’re also on social media WayOfBeing.co as well.

Instagram and Facebook and all the things. But yeah, I would love to see them. I’m actually, I actually work in our storefront a lot of the time, so I’d love to chat with everybody. I love helping people figure out kinda where to start. What to focus on. I highly always recommend people starting with just one thing.

Like when you run out of something, when you run outta your laundry detergent or you run out of your, moisturizer or whatever it is. Try to look for an alternative once you’re doing that and just start one thing at a time. And also, don’t feel like you have to start with the thing that you’re the most attached to.

Like for me, I have curly hair. The last thing that I switched was my haircare routine because I was so worried that I was gonna have to have bad hair the rest of my life if I opted for a plastic free. And I will say that that is a hundred percent not true. But it was still like I didn’t start with the thing that I was the most precious about, so that’s another piece of advice that I would give you. But I, we can always reach out to us also. Hello, at way of being.co. We’re always happy to answer questions and help you out. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: That’s wonderful. Can I ask about hair care products? And it reverts back to me ’cause I had a corporate life and used to color my hair all the time.

And, but also side effect was my scalp didn’t feel great sometimes and I had to really work with my hair to get it to be this, corporate style that everybody wanted us to be. And then I just stopped, I got laid off and then COVID happened and during COVID I stopped coloring my hair and grew it out because I, my nephew inspired me because he grew his out and his hair was gorgeous and he donated it.

I thought, well, I can do that. And now I’m on round two to donate it and to donate it. You can’t layer it and you can’t color it. And, but I’ve never had my hair feel so great. And the only products I use on it are oils and plant-based shampoos and things like that. And I was wondering what you’re seeing and if you’ve seen anything in hair and makeup that where people found it hard to let go of a norm for style be when they tried something else, that the benefit has been actually literally feeling better.

Yeah. And the other thing I thought of was, we don’t talk about this enough, but hair color nails, all those things that are things of beauty when they go downstream, they’re carrying something and it doesn’t just go away. A lot of it’s very chemically based. So in, in that, what are you seeing in, through your store and through the innovations and.

Alex Grand: Yeah, get how, 

Kim Allchurch Flick: how people feel about that. ’cause it’s really hard to let go of fashion style and I’ve gotta give grace for that too, because there’s a lot of pressure for people. 

Alex Grand: Yeah, I think it’s a really good point actually. It’s one of the things that we’re most cautious, we can be more, most cautious of because, I think we can say probably, especially women, we’re often judged by our appearance and so we really don’t wanna compromise.

So one of the things that we carry is shampoo bars. We actually do carry liquid shampoo and conditioner two by this brand called Under Luna. That’s another lo local woman-owned brand. And we also carry a couple, few different versions of shampoo bars. And I think the biggest thing is that people.

This is almost generally I think people can almost be harder on sustainable alternatives than they are in conventional options. If they’re gonna try something new, it needs to almost be better than what they tried before. And so I think people come into it assuming it’s not gonna be good, or maybe they tried one other shampoo bar somewhere else and it didn’t work well, and so they’re like, okay, it doesn’t work for me.

I can’t do it. But really it’s just like anything else. It’s like, you have to do some trial and error sometimes. Not everything works for everybody’s hair type. But I will say, Lindsay, my business partner and I we’re very picky about these things too. I’m the type of person that I just love trying new products and things like, I don’t like to just stick to the same product for a long time.

So we like to have a variety of options and like I said, for different hair types and scalp types. And one of the things that I’ve seen for haircare in particular is not only do we have packaging that’s different, but the brands that we carry have an more of an emphasis on the ingredients that are really good for you from.

From a more holistic perspective. And what I’ve seen is actually more emphasis on the, on scalp care as like an important form of hair care that we really have been undervaluing. And so actually Kha, which is one of the it’s another local woman owned brand, and they carry, they make these shampoo and conditioner stones that are really like a high quality.

And they have really complex botanical ingredients, but she’s really emphasized scalp care. And there’s all these oils too that are really good at scalp treatments and or you can use them on your hair. But it’s really just like a more holistic way of thinking about it. It’s thinking about solving health issues through like diet and, these more like inter like fixing a problem from the inside out instead of just trying to, put a bandaid on the situation. So that’s what I’m seeing in a lot of the products we’re carrying, is that they’re getting to like the root of issues. And, for example, one product that has, it’s actually a really, it’s a new product, but it’s been a really popular, it’s from the brand under Luna.

It’s this hop and fused growth serum. But it’s like a scalp serum, but it helps basically to make your hair like healthy, actually come out healthier. It helped something that I had never heard of before is that it helps actually. Reduce like gray hair from growing because gray hair comes from like nutrient deficiencies, like at the scalp level, which I didn’t realize.

And I’m not an expert on it, it’s just getting to the root of problems, which I really appreciate. And I’ve had a lot of people that have told me they’ve gotten like the best hair of their life from some of the products that we carry. That’s a really good example.

But it’s, yeah, and the same thing for makeup. It’s axiology is this other great local organ woman, Latina woman owned brand. And like they’re making a foundation that is infused with rechy and snow mushrooms, and it actually improves your skin. It’s like skincare. And people actually say the more that they use it, the less that they have to use it.

The less they need foundation basically. It’s just the way of thinking is different. For these makers that are not only trying to remove plastic and do things that are better for the earth, but it’s like they’re trying to do things that are actually better for us too.

Even if it makes their product, obsolete or less necessary. I said that is something that I think is really special. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Oh, I love that. And it sounds like some of these, the wisdom of these companies is coming from like long ago indigenous knowledge as well, that these mushrooms have probably been used for centuries and for some reason we in the US and other places stepped away from some of that ingredient thinking by grad chemicals and going beyond.

But I particularly noticed with hair that it makes a huge difference to stop using the bad products because not only for the environment, but. Literally our scalps do not like having a lot of chemical onslaught. 

Alex Grand: Yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: And it makes a huge difference. So everything you’re talking about is so important.

Thanks for all of this. And I can’t wait to look at some of these and I, I’m finding that there, as there are more innovations, it gives us more choices, which makes the choice to change 

A little bit easier because it might be a better fit for us as individuals. And even in dog products too. There’s a dog shampoo that comes in a bar that is so much better than anything I bought for them before.

It works really well. It’s very small, it doesn’t take out much space. The packaging is just a brown paper wrap on it, and I know what it’s made of and it actually works really well. Yeah, 

Alex Grand: That’s just another great example of all of these individual people who are starting these businesses, creating these products.

That’s really what we need more of in the world. And I’m, it’s really an, I think another case for supporting small bus, these small businesses and makers who are doing these things, because that’s just like one person that decided to do things a little differently. So many of them do it too, because, they had a kid and like their kid had eczema or they were solving their own issue, but from a really holistic place and now they’re creating a solution that can help a lot more people.

But that’s who we really wanna be supporting. It’s, not these huge companies that are trying to make a product as cost efficiently as possible, and, not thinking about the end results. We need more of that. That’s exactly what we need more of. So support them. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Way of being is a shop with a lot of products in it across a broad range of needs.

So I highly suggest everybody check it out. And our last question is, if you could have dinner with up to three people living or deceased, who would they be and why? 

Alex Grand: The first thing that comes to mind really is like Michelle and Barack Obama. They, and actually I would like to invite my husband to come too, because he is very he is always said that Barack is like his role model, but I just think, especially in this moment in time, a, I would love to know all their thoughts on what’s going on.

But B, I think they have also a really good perspective of how, individuals, can really make a difference with their actions. And they’re really trying to rise up this next generation of leaders. And so I, I would just love to kinda get that inspiration and insight on like where we really need people to show up.

And, they just seem fun, like good timing. So I think that’d be lovely 

Kim Allchurch Flick: indeed. I brought I think it dates back to maybe the first campaigns or after the inauguration, but Michelle Obama was wearing this beautiful dress and I saw it. I said, I have that dress and it is a Talbot’s dress off the rack.

And turned out she loved that dress too. And she probably still has it. I still have it. And in 20, gosh, it’s down almost 18 years later, same dress. And it’s really nice to think of fashion that way too, as something that, that affordable, reusable, timeless. And, 

Alex Grand: and it’s a good point actually. They’re both really intentional.

I know Michelle she just came out with a book that talks about how intentional she was about all of her fashion choices over the years. ’cause she knew as a first lady, that’s what people are gonna be paying attention to. So she used it to highlight, American designers bipoc designers, women owned brands.

I really appreciate that point of view and their intentionality. That’s a big value of mine. And, I just get comforted every, they’re just opt. There are people that are op, realistic but also optimistic, and we really need that energy

I really appreciate that. I always feel hopeful and comforted after hearing them speak.

Kim Allchurch Flick: Alex, it’s been a delight. Having you hear all these points touched on, really resonate every time. I am in a room with you or you’re talking about something, you’re, the TED Talk that you did a couple years ago really inspired me to rethink things and there’s always something new and every single thought and every change is progress.

Alex Grand: Yeah, 

Kim Allchurch Flick: absolutely. I appreciate that. You’re so inspiring. Everyone, thank you for being here at the Mighty Measure Podcast. And we hope you have a great day.