Local entrepreneur planting a tree for each product sold 

Reeti Meenakshi Rohilla - Staff Writer 

Advocating for a sustainable culture by retailing earth friendly products, Sioux Lookout resident and entrepreneur, Sam Carson, has introduced to the community her online store that donates one tree per product sold, towards plantation projects to rebuild forests. 

Carson said, “We are based out of Sioux Lookout, and we just aim to bring to the community plastic-free product options, and to advocate for sustainability. Lots of our products are also made from Canadian makers who value environmental and social sustainability. We have some products that are from Nova Scotia, all the way to British Columbia.” She added, “We plant a tree for every product we sell, through One Tree Planted, which is a non-profit organization that works with communities around the world to rebuild forests.”

Aiming to inspire environmental and socially sustainable lifestyles in the community of Sioux Lookout, Carson opened the online store Sunstone Lifestyle in March 2020. The business offers a range of home, bath, cleaning, kitchen, bar, and food storage products. Through her business, Carson shared that she has donated over 600 trees to be planted in areas around the globe with the greatest requirement for reforestation. 

Carson said that her family, her children have been a huge motivation. She said that with the offering of ethical and plastic-free product options, she aims to share with the community and the nation, a greater cause of raising environmental awareness to leave behind a happy and healthy planet for future generations. “Whether you have children or not, let your motivation consider what we will leave the next generation. Try different ways to be sustainable; if you fail at it? Try again. Do it imperfectly. Just be conscious and thoughtful about what you’re purchasing, and ask questions,” states Sunstone Lifestyle’s website. 

While pondering over issues such as climate change, deforestation and carbon footprint, Carson’s attention was especially captured by the detrimental effects of plastic use on the environment, which contributed to the establishment of her idea to plant a tree per product sold. “I started to be more aware and invest more time and energy into being sustainable and reducing waste…and minimizing single-use plastics. I just started to think about different ways I could do it within the household. I knew that planting trees is such a good way to give back to the environment, as they catch carbon dioxide. So, I just started thinking about ways that I could create a shop that has sustainable products that I am always looking for in stores, that I know other people could benefit from as well, and kind of use that as a vessel to sell the products to plant trees.”

Sunstone Lifestyle is often a vendor at Farmer’s Markets at the Travel Information Centre. The online store can be accessed at www.sunstonelifestyle.ca. Store updates can also be accessed through Sunstone Lifestyle’s Facebook and Instagram pages. 

 Carson reminds people to be “conscious about where our products are made, who they are made by and what they are made of, and what happens to that product after we are done using it. Do they get recycled or are they going to a landfill? These are some really simple questions that we can ask ourselves to be better consumers when we are purchasing products.”