The Go-Ware Set and it's Awesomeness (A story about a chance meeting, old school sales, and buffalo sauce tofu)
It's 11:30 am on a Friday in the middle of August, 2019. There's a familiar, yet unwelcome grumbling in the center of my belly. I'm halfway through my shift at Whole Foods as a Grocery Team Member. This is about the time my hunger starts to rebel against my work ethic and makes a viable stand against my ignoring of its presence. I make my way over to the hot bar to scope out what the offerings of tofu smothered in random sauces are on the menu today. OH HOT DAMN!!! Buffalo Sauce Tofu is glowing in bright glorious orange steam filled deliciousness, beckoning me to indulge. And believe you me, I will.
This is my "real" job. I'm also the Founder of Straw Armada, a Eco-Conscious straw company that donates $.50 of every straw (or item) back to organizations that are helping to clean the oceans of plastic pollution and debris. I'm 40 and homie needs benefits!!
Working at a Whole Foods is an ideal workplace for someone who is Eco-conscious. They have a variety of options for your waste. A can for recycling, a can for compost, and a can for waste that is neither (items that unfortunately go to the dump). Every day after picking up my smothered mystery sauce tofu, I cringed as I approached the condiment station having to grab a plastic utensil. Albeit, these utensils are recycled. I will also throw them into the recyclable waste bin when I'm done. But something about contributing to the use an item that will get 15 minutes of life out of me and immediately be discarded into an existence of meaninglessness is a cause of such shame and guilt for me. As it should be.
The amount of plastic items that are used in this way in just America alone is absolutely staggering. I mean staggering!! 40 BILLION. That's the number annually in our country that gets used and a very small portion of that gets recycled.
With this fact in mind, I immediately began to search for an alternative for this online. Was there anything I could carry with me to work each day in my messenger bag? I could essentially bring some metal utensils from home with me. Then I'd have to wrap them in something so they didn't get dirty (lord knows what's lingering in the bottom of my bag). How could I bring reusable utensils with me easily and keep them clean and separate? That's when I stumbled across an ad.
It took me all of 2 seconds to be suckered in by what I saw in the photo connected to this ad.
I could see there was a set of 5 Bamboo items all neatly organized into a beige case I could roll up and snap closed. It consisted of a fork (for stabbing tofu), a spoon (for collecting tofu sauce), a knife (no explanation needed), Chopsticks (F*CKING CHOPSTICKS MAN!), a Bamboo straw and even a straw cleaner. NEED!!!
I purchased this set for what felt like a bit steep of a price ($16.99) and waited patiently for its arrival by mail. Being in the E commerce industry, I knew to expect a few weeks for delivery. In the meantime, I brought a fork wrapped in a dish rag. This was no way to live I might add. On a Monday afternoon, my shipment arrived and it was like Eco Christmas!!
I was honestly just excited to go to work the next day to unveil these puppies. There's a very evident stigma with the BYO crowd. People look at you funny. Think you're a germaphobe, or a just a wack job. I think the general public needs a severe desensitization to reusable items. Cups have made the transition nicely. It's now the time for straws and utensils to become commonplace.
With great pride and excitement, I unrolled my set for it's first official debut. It was everything I dreamed it would be. Now I completely understand if you think I'm being overly dramatic about this experience. I am. As an environmentally empathic human, these simple lifestyle hacks that help to relieve my footprint shame are difficult to quantify. These are the moments my friends.
Within minutes, and as expected, i was approached by a woman who was, almost uncomfortably, staring at my new bamboo friends with a intent to either
b) take a bite out my lunch
Her first words were "Gimme your utensils bro!"
No seriously she said "Where can I get those?"
I told her I found them online. I mentioned how I worked there and everyday at lunch, I needed reusable utensils so I didn't need to use plastic. She went on to tell me she was interested in the movement of banning single use plastics and wasn't really sure what things she could do to help. Just to do her part. As I usually say when discussing this with people, I stated "Just don't do nothing. Change something about your life that cuts back on the footprint you leave." Of course shamelessly, I mentioned "My name is Nikko and I own an Eco-friendly straw company that donates back to ocean clean up." I recommended she go to StrawArmada.com to pick up a straw and help me to help our cause. She said "I'm Anya. It's too bad you don't offer these utensils too because I would absolutely buy them from you if I could." It was like a lightning bolt!! I had to find out where to buy these and how I could offer them on my site.
I spent that evening searching for a supplier for these items with not only a price point that would allow me to offer them reasonably priced, but also of the quality I expected from my own purchases. After some research, I had selected my supplier and worked out a fair deal and I immediately updated my site with our newest item.
MONTHLY FEATURED ECO-ITEM: The Go-Ware Set. Priced at $10.99, with Free Shipping.
E commerce is a tough business. It takes relentlessness and determination to even get people to your page, much less purchase items. I entered this business with a goal to offer affordable Eco-friendly items that reduce waste and to give a portion of those sales back to help clean the oceans of all this crap we throw away that pollutes our world and endangers our wildlife and ourselves. I owe it to our mother to be an earth child she benefits from creating, not to her detriment. I'm a visitor on her stage and I don't want to be a cancer. I want to be a help.
At approximately 9 pm the following evening, I heard that certain ding from my phone that brings me immense amounts of joy. That sound that lets me know some other kind soul has just donated $.50 more cents to my cause. As usual I checked the order to prepare it for fulfillment. And there in the customer column is the name Anya. It's a unique name and I knew it had to be the same Anya that approached me looking like she was about to steal my stuff. There was a order for 5 of these sets. 5!!!!
I always write a personal email to each and every new customer that makes a purchase from my page. I honestly appreciate every sale in a way that's hard to explain. The work and the effort I've put into this company is emotionally tangible for me and I am paid back, not with profits, but with acceptance by the online shoppers community.
I received a response within minutes of my email. It was her.
In short, the email consisted of her appreciation for the advice and passion I exuded about the topic. She said she bought a set for everyone in her family and wished me success in my venture.
I wanted to share this story because it provided me a unique sense of purpose and meaning. The individual connection with a customer that was made and hopefully the impact our introduction will carry on rippling through time. This is why I started this. To feel this way. Straw Armada is not yet profitable in economic terms. In emotional currency, I am being paid more than I deserve.
Nikko Raptoulis - Founder of Straw Armada
