The Waste Less Shop was founded by Stephanie Cochrane as a solution to the frustrations she felt with wasteful consumer products and her own struggles finding plastic-free laundry detergent, dish soap, etc. in her local grocery stores. She took to the internet and found a few great alternatives, but nothing in one place.

Stephanie was working as a full-time dental hygienist when she started curating her favorite sustainable products into an online marketplace. She started the business from her garage and participated in local fairs and markets until she opened a bulk refill store just a few blocks from her apartment in Manhattan Beach in October 2019.  

The Waste Less Shop now wholesales products in over 250 stores across the country, serves communities through our refilleries in Southern California and Northern Nevada, has captured over 1.2 million lbs of CO2 from our atmosphere through our partnership with OneTreePlanted as of Sept 2021, and diverted hundreds of thousands pieces of plastic waste through sales of biodegradable and refillable goods.

We stand by the commitment to source plastic-free alternatives to daily household items that are also made without toxic or harmful ingredients and sourced primarily by small, female owned businesses.

In an effort to achieve carbon neutrality, we donate a portion from each purchase to OneTreePlanted, a non-profit based in Vermont. It's important for us to prioritize reforestation while we consume from the earth.

We contribute to the NAACP monthly to support their fight for environmental justice as communities and people of color are disproportionately affected by climate change and pollution.

We hope that accessibility to sustainable goods continues to improve along with awareness about plastic pollution and climate change grows. We support policy efforts to hold big polluters accountable, reduce carbon emissions, and eliminate plastics from our daily lives.

My journey with The Waste Less Shop started when I was a young girl growing up on a farm in Winnemucca, Nevada. I loved spending my childhood playing in sagebrush and making friends with birds and rabbits. After high school I went to college for Dental Hygiene and spent my free time traveling the world to explore new cultures and learn more about the diversity of our planet.

It was in those travels where my childhood love of nature met a devastating reality that our world is facing through the climate and waste crisis. I saw trash piled on the mountainsides of Mt. Everest and littering the rivers of the Philippines.

It took me a while to find my purpose, and I now feel so blessed that I get to spend every day connecting to and learning from Mother Earth. We have such a beautiful and resilient planet that gives us life and abundant beauty, filled with people who deserve peace and love. My work is to practice presence, learn from our planet, create connections, and to help our planet heal. Thank you for allowing me space to walk in that journey.

When I'm not working on the shop, I love spending time with my husband Chris and our furbaby Bodhi. Gardening, reading, paddleboarding, girl's nights, long walks in nature, and baking are some of my favorite things.