About Us

Hi! We're Eliza & Kathryn, founders of Sustainable Republic. We both work in healthcare, which is how we got to know each other. Over time, we realized that we both share a real passion for the environment. Eliza loves to beach camp with her family and grew up surfing in Hawai’i and SoCal; Kathryn learned to surf in her late 30s and also loves to hike. Because of this, we feel a real connection to the earth and a strong need to prioritize ways to protect it.

Part of our strong desire to do more also stems from our feeling of responsibility to future generations. We both have children in our lives (Eliza with two school-age kids, Kathryn's young niece and many others by way of family and friends) whom we want to leave the planet better than we found it. They remind us that we are temporary guardians of Earth and have a duty to care for it for posterity's sake.

We began talking and sharing tips for living more sustainably and soon realized that we actually have a lot of resources where we live (South Bay, Los Angeles) such as composting and food recycling. We wanted to raise awareness which led to starting our Instagram account, Sustainable Republic (@sustainable_republic). This account was created to share general tips and knowledge with our community and beyond.

Eventually we also realized that there was a lack of shops selling sustainably and ethically made products. Some of our friends and Instagram followers were asking for product suggestions, so we decided to start our online shop selling products to support an eco-friendly surf lifestyle. This has rapidly evolved into carrying sustainable alternatives for all facets of life. We carefully vet our vendors and how they manufacture their products. We are always transparent about where we source. You can feel confident that whatever product you buy from us is made with adherence to fair trade, fair labor and as sustainably as possible. 

Our name comes from the literal meanings of the words: Sustainable - Being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged and Republic - A body of persons freely engaged in a specific activity. Our goal is to help others lead more eco-conscious lives and build a community of people committed to reducing our ecological footprint. We’d love for you to join us!

Fun fact: We show our love for our home state by including the California flag’s bear in our logo.