Nov 25, 2007

Area moms selling eco-friendly bags

Woodside women aim for change by targeting grocery shoppers

By Melanie Carroll / Daily News Staff Writer

In the summer of 2006, two Woodside mothers shared a realization as their sons played in the park: They wanted to do something positive for the planet.

Stephanie Ashworth and Kerri Stenson have since co-founded Olive Smart LLC, which has created an environmentally-friendly alternative to plastic bags that can take hundreds of years to decompose.

Their Olive Smart — or “all live smart” — sacks are a colorful alternative to paper or plastic. Each nylon pouch contains six reusable shopping bags in different shades — beige, burgundy, black, navy blue, tan and olive green — capable of hauling a full load of groceries.

“This is something we could do as moms,” Ashworth said. “It’s about behavioral change” to help save the Earth.

San Francisco has banned plastic bags, which are rarely recycled and a major contributor to an enormous mass of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 miles west of San Francisco. Scientists estimate it weighs several tons and is roughly twice the size of Texas. Plastic dumped in Bay Area waters can drift to it.

In the past eight weeks, the entrepreneurial duo has sold more than 800 of their China-made bags for $39 a piece through their Web site, www.olivesmart.com, and at local stores, including Draeger’s, Woodside’s Roberts Market, and Bianchini’s Market in Portola Valley.

“It is perfect timing for each of us to change our habits and bring our own bags to the store,” Stenson said.

The nylon pouch is small enough to fit into a car cup holder, so the bags are always there when you need them, Stenson said.

The women, who have between them five children under age 9, used skills they acquired in the work world to help establish their company with their own money. Stenson is an attorney who focused on securities law while Ashworth holds an MBA. Ashworth worked in business development and as a management consultant before becoming a full-time mom.

They have shaped every aspect of their company themselves, including printing their own business cards. The two spend more than 40 hours a week on Olive Smart, answering customers’ questions, filling orders or even driving a lost shipment to its final destination.

“We would like it to be a viable business,” Ashworth said.



E-mail Melanie Carroll at mcarroll@dailynewsgroup.com.