Former footballer Richard Eckersley has had somewhat of a career change.
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This former Manchester United footballer swapped his fast-paced city life to set up a quaint packaging-free supermarket by the sea
Former Manchester United footballer Richard Eckersley and wife Nicola are now focusing their efforts on saving the planet.
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Born in Salford, Greater Manchester, he began his career as a fullback at Manchester United in 2004, before joining Burnley in 2009 under a four-year contract, and eventually going on to Toronto FC.
Now, he has turned his hand to saving the planet.
Richard, along with wife Nicola and 15-month-old daughter Willow, have set up a quaint packaging-free supermarket, called the Earth.Food.Love, in Totnes, Devon.
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"We have a 15-month-old daughter, Willow, and I have woken up and become vegan. I became more conscious about how much we consume and how we can tread more lightly on the planet," he said in a quote carried by The Times.
Just a family of 3, on a mi... @ earthfoodlove
The couple said goodbye to their hectic urban lifestyle.
"Not so long ago, living a fast-paced city life in an apartment block that had no recycling facilities we soon began to notice the accumulation of recycling we (as a family of 2) created each week," Nicola wrote on Earth.Food.Love's website. "It was during these trips to and from the recycling plant that we thought 'there must be another way?'"
But the inspiration for Earth.Food.Love actually came about during a trip to Berlin, where they visited Unperfekthaus, a German "zero waste" store, the couple said.
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The concept is simple, customers bring their own pots and jars to purchase the shop's organic-only produce.
You asked, we listened. New... @ earthfoodlove
They sell everything from sugar and spices...
We don't need packaging to ... @ earthfoodlove
...to raw and vegan chocolate.
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EXCITING NEWS We now stock ... @ earthfoodlove
"Nothing comes through the door here unless it’s unpackaged and organic. We sell everything that’s dried, so you’ve got grains, beans, pulses, legumes, rice, seeds, flours, sugars, seaweed and spaghetti, yeast flakes and stock," Richard told The Times.
They also sell all sorts of "liquid foods," including vinegars and syrups.
So today, @kate_arnell stum... @ earthfoodlove
As well as food, the shop stocks an array of organic and packaging-free toiletry products, including bamboo toothbrushes, and wooden dish brushes.
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DAY 29 of #plasticfreejuly ... @ earthfoodlove
Handmade toothpaste in spearmint or fennel flavours, dispensed from large masons jars with pump lids, is also available.
We won't stop until we can ... @ earthfoodlove
These get returned and refilled personally by the maker, GreenWyse cosmetics. Customers can either bring their own containers or opt to buy one of the small pots they sell.
Earth.Food.Love often posts advice and recipes for homemade and organic alternatives to packaged goods, via its Instagram account.
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Below is Nicola's recipe for "coffee body scrub."
DAY 23 of #plasticfreejuly ... @ earthfoodlove
They also advocate the use of organic and reusable baby goods, including nappies.
DAY 25 of #plasticfreejuly ... @ earthfoodlove
Richard and Nicola have even taken their campaign to the beaches, cleaning up on Boxing Day.
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A Boxing Day family walk, q... @ earthfoodlove
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