Hi, my name is Andy and I live in South East London with my wife Amy. We founded Reco at the end of 2018 after returning from an overlanding trip from London to Cape Town.
In our trusty Land Rover Defender (nicknamed Rusty, you can probably guess why!) we crossed through Europe, took a ferry to Morocco and drove down the Atlantic Coast to South Africa traveling over 16,000 miles in 7 months.
The trip was amazingly diverse, the wildlife spectacular and the scenery breathtaking. But two things have really stuck with us:
1. The realisation of how little you need in life.
Rusty had a simple kit out. There was a bed in the back, a gas cooking stove, a 12v leisure battery to power our electrics and that was it. We had gone from our two bedroom house filled with all our 'stuff' to living out of a car and we didn't feel like we were sacrificing much at all. When we finally came back to the UK all our possessions could fit into two suitcases.
2. The resourcefulness of people we met.
Nothing was ever thrown away. Old milk cartons became the latest kids toy, empty tomato tins became desk organisers and canvas advertising banners were turned into boat sails. They were also experts at fixing and repairing things because they don't have the luxury of simply buying a 'new' one.
When we came back in the UK the extent of our disposable, single-use lifestyle became much more apparent and we decided to do something about it.
We started taking water bottles with us wherever we went, bought fruit and veg from a local greengrocer rather than supermarkets and sold things we didn't need rather than throwing them away.
You can read more about our mission and the multi-use mindset we now try and follow.
2022 Update - 3 years after founding Reco we are still going strong 💪, thanks for helping us get to this point. We now know how important getting featured in the press is to spread the eco word. This lead us to start a side venture called Sourcee which helps small businesses get more press. Go check it out!
We aren't perfect and we are just at the start of our journey but why not join us? Here's a few things you can do to get involved.
