When Alecia Meier was a child, her family dog died. They had mopped with a traditional chemical floor cleaner and the dog had poisoned itself licking the floor.<\/p>\n
To Meier, the fact that such dangerous chemicals existed in household products with little warning or awareness was part of the reason she started her new business, Looks Far.<\/p>\n
Based in Kremmling, Looks Far describes itself as a community trading post focused on organic, sustainable care. The business celebrated its grand opening earlier last week.<\/p>\n
Meier is one of the founders of the business. She makes the self-care and household products available at her small store with safe ingredients and reusable packaging.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll my products are plant based; you could drink it if you wanted to,\u201d Meier said. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t taste very good, but it\u2019s not going to harm you or your family, your pets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Customers who purchase refills of her products buy it at a reduced price. This is part of Looks Far\u2019s business model to cut waste.<\/p>\n
Meier has lived in Kremmling for a year and started working on the idea of the business six months ago. She said that the choice to start Looks Far in a town like Kremmling was intentional.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this small town, people do care,\u201d Meier said. \u201cThey may not be aware of the impact that their consumer methods have on the planet, but I believe they\u2019re willing to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other products offered at the store include crocheting by Meier\u2019s mother and embroidery made by her sister. On one wall is a community board where Meier has posted different organic and sustainable ideas, along with some of the environmental dangers the world is currently facing.<\/p>\n
Ideally, she wants this board to become a place where other businesses can post offerings for ideas and products that align with the organic, sustainable model of Looks Far.<\/p>\n
Friends and family are enthusiastic about her concept across the country, but Meier has chosen to not ship any of her products because of the environmental toll of shipping. She hopes others can eventually take her recipes and implement similar businesses in their communities, cutting out the middlemen.<\/p>\n
The name of the business not only refers to the idea of \u201clooking far into the future,\u201d but also references the name of her parents\u2019 home in Big Horn Park. Her family practices sustainable living there, hunting and gardening their own food.<\/p>\n
Meier\u2019s biggest goal is for her shop to encourage people and businesses in Kremmling to move toward more sustainable practices in their own neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to start a community movement where people come back to that original trading post kind of living,\u201d Meier said.<\/p>\n
Meier is still working to make her business as eco-friendly as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, this isn\u2019t all sustainable,\u201d Meier said. \u201cI\u2019m still using electricity; I\u2019m still using all these things. But the goal would be to have a bigger place, fully solar-powered, and a lot of different means to eliminate that natural resource use that we just can\u2019t provide any more.\u201d<\/p>\n