What Does it Mean to be an Ecosexual?
Water Makes us Wet
by Kim Marks
Welcome to As You Like It. I’m Kim Marks, the owner and founder of As You Like It. It has been a long journey to bring you this website. I have been a forest activist for seventeen years here in the Northwest. I have worked on everything from climate issues to labor issues to toxins, and I am very excited to use that knowledge to find body-safe products for our customers. We want to hear from you, so please feel free to leave comments!
This post focuses on one element of my personal and business philosophy. Our values are laid out in an About Us page, if you’ve like to learn more. This post incorporates elements from The Journal of EcoSexResearch (volume 1, issue 1), by Elizabeth M. Stephens and Annie M. Sprinkle, who also collaborate on and manage sexecology.org. We’re very grateful for their permission and help in inspiring and creating this post.
What is an Ecosexual?
Eco comes from the latin root oeco, meaning home or house. Ecosexuality, therefore, is about taking care of our home–Earth–in a truly holistic way. Not only does this cover the usual suspects as far as environmentalism– recycling, composting, waste not want not mentality, but ecosexuality takes it one step further and brings environmentalism into our sex lives. Ecosexuals appreciate the inherent value of ecosystems, nature, and their part in it.
While not essentially tied to consumerism, ecosexuals are also people who not only care about what kind of materials their products are made of, but who also care about where they come from, how they are made, and what happens to them when they are done being used. There are many ways to be an ecosexual, regardless of where one is on their own path of life. From buying toys locally sourced to reduce carbon footprints, to supporting companies that are working to reduce dangerous chemicals from the manufacturing process, from educating other and reposting blogs that deal with these issues, to coming to events that support ecosexual businesses, everyone can do something to help the planet and help themselves in the process.
How does As You Like It support ecosexuality?
As You Like It does all the dirty work for you! We research all of the products we carry to make sure that they meet a strict guideline for various levels of ecosexuality. Some things that we look for: body safe materials, fair labor practices, rechargeable products, products manufactured in North America to cut down on carbon footprint from shipping, materials that don’t harm the workers who manufacture the products, and materials that aren’t made from endangered species.
We have a quick and easy visual system on our online shop that allows our customers to see some basics about the product their looking at (including Made in N. America, Rechargeable, and Body Safe). We’re encouraging our suppliers to become more interested in the manufacturing process and materials of their products. And we’re encouraging our customers to become more careful about where they put their money. By supporting AYLI, you’re supporting the furthering transparency of a market that is notoriously opaque. You’re supporting a company that is committed to putting ecosexuality, and all the things that go along with it (body positivity, sex positivity, and humanism), FIRST in our values.
What does ecosexual mean to you?
We’ve explained what it means to us as humans, as a business, and how ecosexuality impacts our practices. We ask you to sit with all this new knowledge and let it sink in. Consider how ecosexuality can surface in your own life, and what it means to you.