We believe that if you care about something, you should take care of it. If something matters to you, you should show it. Love is a verb, right?


We started Way of Being because of a bunch of things we care about:

  • The planet we live on
  • The people who live here with us
  • All the other species that live here
  • The health of our own bodies
  • Our community being safe, healthy, and thriving in the present and future
  • Generally making things better and not worse

We’re pretty sure you care about at least one of those things too. In fact, we suspect you care about most if not all of those things, even if you sometimes wish you didn’t because caring about so much stuff can be really exhausting, especially when you feel like you don’t have the time or money or energy or whatever it is you think you don’t have enough of to properly take care of them.
We know because we’ve been exhausted too. The caring part is exhausting, but what was even worse was not knowing what to do about it. We felt powerless, like all the problems that mattered to us were in the hands of someone else, and all we could do was sit around and hope they did something about it.


And then we were like, “Oh wait, we can actually do kind of a lot.” 


We do stuff all day every day. We brush our teeth (hopefully). We go to work. We plug stuff in and watch and send and store stuff. We eat. We talk. We play. We clean. We spend money. And all of that adds up. It uses energy and water and resources. It goes into our bodies, out in the air, and rinses down the drain. It gets used, thrown away, or eaten by a fish. Or it doesn’t.


So we thought: what if we tried to use all the things we do every day to make things better and not worse? What if we tried to minimize harm and maximize impact? What if we were so intentional about all the things we do every day that our entire way of being actually aligned with our values -- the things we care about, the things that matter to us? 


And what if it actually made a difference? Spoiler alert: it does. All the resources that get saved, air and water that doesn’t get polluted, workers who don’t get exploited or abused, toxins that aren’t absorbed, stuff that doesn’t wind up sitting in a landfill for hundreds of years or floating around in the ocean, greenhouse gas emissions that don’t keep warming things up -- you could do that. And then imagine if you did it every day and so did the person sitting in the next room and then their brother and then your 4th grade teacher. What if all those little things that all of those people do added up to a lot more good and way less harm? That sounds super good to us, and that’s why we started this business.


Way of Being is about doing all the little things you do with more intention because you care and have the power to make things better and not worse. 
Brush your teeth with intention. Do your laundry with intention. Eat lunch with intention. It’s little and yet so big, there’s a chance it could save the world. At least it’s definitely worth a try.


Way of Being is a shop, a teacher, and a friend offering supplies, education, and encouragement to support a sustainable, low waste lifestyle where everyday actions create a better world.

We've moved to a new location!

Our new storefront is located at 3418 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214.

Our grand opening will take place March 20-23rd from 11-6 pm.

Hours the following weeks will be 11-6 pm Wednesday-Saturday and Sundays 11-5 pm. We will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

In person pick up is free! Select "pick up" when checking out with your online order.

Available during our store hours:

  • Wed-Sat: 11-6
  • Sun: 11-5

It's finally here! Come celebrate our new shop!

Stop by March 20-23rd to help us celebrate this milestone with a raffle and free gifts while supplies last! In addition, we’re donating 1% of all March in-store sales to Oregon Wild.