By Patience Cole
Contributing Writer
Tucked away on the side of South Tamiami Trail is a zero-waste shop called Conscious Space.
During the past year, despite the challenges of COVID-19, Conscious Space has kept its business earth-friendly and community-oriented.
Guests can shop for everyday items that are ethically made and better for the environment.
With two-thirds of the store’s product made by locals and independent businesses, Conscious Space curates a wide variety of items.
“One of the store’s main goals is to support people over profit,” said Cathy Shepardson, owner of Conscious Space. “We’re all about helping support the community.”
Working with small businesses allows the shop to ensure that products are ethically produced. Instead of focusing on pushing out large amounts of items and creating waste, Conscious Space focuses on quality over quantity.
“There’s almost this idea that natural products are simply less effective when that is not the case,” Shepardson said.
Shepardson hopes that the shop can educate people on effective, eco-friendly multi-use alternatives to everyday items and make them more accessible to the general population.
Conscious Space also markets its products to all demographics. The store’s diverse selection has options for all ages, genders, and races.
For example, its array of skin and hair care products accounts for all colors and textures.
One of the shop’s best-sellers is its African black soap, which is imported from Ghana. According to Shepardson, the soap is made at a woman-owned African business where proceeds go towards building an education center for their community.
Conscious Space enjoys finding ways to support various groups of people. They are vocal about the social issues they support.
In 2020, the shop had a donation jar for the Black Lives Matter movement. The money was given to The Bail Project and the Minnesota Freedom Fund.
Today, the store collects donations to support Black Earth Farms, an organization pushing to help underprivileged communities build better, cleaner food systems.
Conscious Space is happy to announce they purchased the location next door and is looking to host zero-waste education workshops soon.
The shop frequently posts to their social media channels to update their following about recent progress.
Stay tuned for what’s to come!