About five years ago, Ceilidh Yurenka’s personal endeavor to use less plastic led to the creation of a business that would allow others to follow in her footsteps.
“I think [in] the fall of 2019, I had been progressively noticing and learning more and more about all the issues with plastic,” said Yurenka, co-owner of Yes! Your Eco Source, which opened this fall at 68 Leonard St. after several years in Arlington.
The Wellesley resident grew up a “Ranger Rick” kid, meaning environmental issues weren’t exactly new to her; they just became harder to ignore. She said some data on toothbrush waste in the ocean, in particular, caught her attention.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about all that plastic,” she said.
As she began to shop more consciously, Yurenka realized how challenging it was to find everything she needed in one place. On top of that, most of the plastic-free items she sought were only available online.
After trying to encourage other friends to start up a store where customers could find all the plastic-free items they needed in one place, she was soon convinced to do it herself.
“I did start thinking about it,” she said. “Then, all of a sudden, I didn’t have my other job.”
Yurenka is a photographer, and before the COVID-19 pandemic, she ran a business photographing newborns. Around the time the pandemic hit—bringing her photography business to a halt—the owner of Artbeat Creativity Store & Studio said she was looking to host pop-ups in her space.
No longer able to take photography clients, Yurenka decided to give it a chance and opened her first Yes! pop-up in 2020.
“It kind of just all came together,” she said.
Two years and a change of management later, the space became available for Yurenka to lease, allowing her to expand from a pop-up to a full-fledged business venture.
“In spring of last year, Ceilidh got unwelcome and surprising news her lease was not going to be renewed and thought she was going to have to close, and I couldn’t live with that,” said Kate Bositis, who came on board after seeing a sign for part-time help at the store in Arlington.
After a conversation with her husband, Bositis developed a proposal to join Yurenka as a business partner.
First, however, Bositis started searching for likely storefronts in Belmont and Arlington. The search was largely fruitless.
With Yurenka’s support, Bositis responded to the emails from various realtors. While Yurenka was away on vacation, Bositis visited the sites and the vacant shop on Leonard Street, previously home to KOCA Barber (now on Concord Avenue), which quickly rose to the top. So, Bositis drafted a proposal, which she sent to Yurenka for when she returned home.
“I think it’s a good size, a good layout, the right price,” she recalled telling Yurenka in her eight-page business partnership proposal. “I like that it’s in Belmont.”
Fast forward to Oct. 29, when Yurenka and Bositis opened the store with a soft launch. On Nov. 1, the business opened its doors to the public.
Though bulk refills are a large part of what the store offers (hand soap, shampoo, etc.), it’s also a general store with everything from personal hygiene products to jewelry, pet toys and treats, and greeting cards. Some of it is sourced relatively local; other products come from farther afield. What they all have in common is that they’re shipped and packaged without plastic (with very few exceptions where it’s impossible to avoid).
Customers can also bring hard-to-recycle products to the store. What the store can accept depends on the partnerships and programs available to them; they are presently accepting toothpaste bottles, corks, and shaving razors.
Both women emphasized that the store is a “judgment-free zone.”
“I think we have such a range of customers, from people that maybe haven’t bought anything in plastic for the last 10 years to people who are like ‘I just realized there’s reusable straws.’ I think there’s a place for everybody to find stuff here,” Yurenka said.
Beyond the benefits to the environment, the two owners also emphasized the value of supporting local businesses in Belmont.
“Some of the stuff we carry you can get online from bigger companies,” Bositis said, suggesting that the store offers a more values-aligned alternative.“Places like us and our neighbors – Red Wagon, Westcott Mercantile, Chocolate Dream — all the places help create and enrich our community and make it feel like a good place to live.”
