We were lucky to catch up with Marnie Jackson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Marnie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Our Black Mountain Farm is very near the Pacific ocean. I spent many weekends when finished with farm chores, cleaning up plastic off our beaches. One such hike, I saw a dead Sperm whale with plastic hanging from its mouth.

I love the ocean and love all the beauty and ocean life it provides. I knew I had to do something so that my kids generations would still be able to understand the importance of clean healthy oceans are to our future.
A friend who is very sustainably minded taught me how to make Shampoo and Conditioner bars for family and friends therefore reducing many unrecyclable, single use plastic bottles from our lives. I started formulating and testing recipes for over 30 more alternatives to plastic packaged everyday products using flowers, and herbs from the Farm and it grew my list of sustainable options from there.

Every product I create, package with refillable or compostable packaging and sell is one less plastic bottle going to landfill or Oceans. I feel this, leave no plastic trace, style of living is more sustainable for my children’s future on this planet.
The idea of cleaner less polluted oceans makes me feel that I am making a small change towards a better tomorrow.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Marnie I’m American, but I grew up in Arenzano, Italy until I was eight years old. I love to travel the World and learn from other countries and cultures how to live a more sustainable, earth loving lifestyle, as many Italians do. Most Italians grow and raise their own food in a kitchen garden. I have lived in Minnesota, Wisconsin, NY, and landed here after grad school in Northern CA, where I met my husband. When our 2 kids were in grade school we moved from the suburbs of Menlo Park to our now home on Black Mountain Farm. We raise sheep, chickens, rabbits much the same way I learned in my childhood in Italy.
Our children know how to farm, raise livestock, find water sources and grow vegetables and fruit trees. They both have gone to University and both have degrees in Environmental studies.
Our family loves to sail, scuba dive, surf in our nearby pacific ocean. We all want to work to save our Oceans. That is why I started this organization and share the message of living a more sustainable lifestyle. We create all our products here on Black Mountain Farm with many organic ingredients like lavender, lemon, and roses form our farm gardens.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My business is a cottage business with many of our organic, plastic free, products made here in our farm kitchen. Going through Covid and now this economic downturn has not been easy on this small business. I sell my products in small local shops and grocery stores that are struggling.

I created this business to help folks find alternatives to those everyday items like toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner bars and deodorant that have vegan ingredients and not packaged in single use plastic that can’t be recycled.

So sales just barely cover the cost of organic ingredients and recyclable packaging, and I give most of my profits to non profits like the Marine Mammal center so that I can continue to help ocean creatures that are endangered.

Family and friends have asked if I want to scale up, make more profits and compromise sustainability, but that doesn’t align with my goal which is to share the message on how to help our oceans by reducing our use of everyday single use plastic toiletries.

I even give out free recipes to folks who want to make their own plastic free products. As one of my best friends said, “So I guess you are more about the message than the money?” I would agree. My goal is to help folks reduce their dependence on single use plastic however I am able.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My goal is to provide plastic free toiletries for folks who wan to live a more sustainable life style. A time I had to pivot in my business is when I found out even product labels can be made of plastic and their ink can be toxic, so I had to change my label company and went to creating all my own labels on recycled paper with non toxic ink. Unfortunately, sometimes these labels are less durable but if I truly want to use less plastic I have to think creatively not only in organic ingredients, but recycled paper labels and non toxic ink for those labels. We work to find sustainable choices in ingredients, packaging and even labels!

Contact Info:

• Website: Blackmountainbeauty.com
• Instagram: Blackmountainbeauty
• Facebook: Blackmountainbeauty
• Linkedin: Blackmountainbeauty
• Youtube: Blackmountainbeauty

Image Credits
They are my photographs