A Plastic-Free Future

After a business career of more than four decades, John Garrett ’67, P ’93, P ’95, G ’21, G ’23 could have chosen to take it easy. Instead, he is spending his retirement years working to advance sustainability as chairman of the up-and-coming company Everyone’s Earth.

The company is tackling what Garrett and his colleagues view as one of the planet’s most significant pollution crises: the manufacturing and consumption of single-use household products. Specifically, they are creating sustainable alternatives to plastic items such as diapers, dryer sheets, feminine care products and wipes.

Both the production and consumption of such goods bring with them steep environmental costs.

For example, Garrett points out that the production of a typical box of plastic-based dryer sheets requires about three cups of crude oil, and an individual diaper requires about one cup. Additionally, he highlights the issue of discarded plastic with the example of the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” This is the name given to the concentration of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean whose footprint is now about twice the size of the state of Texas. Everyone’s Earth offers biodegradable alternatives to some of the single-use plastic items that contribute substantially to this problem.

Working with Everyone’s Earth has made Garrett more aware of the extent of the environmental costs of plastic use.

“For a long time, I was ignorant about it. I had too many things going on: raising a family, trying to be successful professionally, exercise and having some fun and all those other things that are important,” he says. “And plastic is easy to use. But as I’ve learned more, I’ve become aware that the path we’re on with our consumption of plastic and its manufacturing ramifications is not sustainable.”

A WILLIAM & MARY LEGACY

Garrett comes from a long line of William & Mary graduates. His maternal grandfather, Hervey R. Terrell 1900, P ’40, G ’67, G ’69, G ’70, started the tradition, followed by both of his parents, John H. Garrett ’40, P ’67, P ’70, G ’93, G ’95 and Ann Terrell Garrett ’40, P ’67, P 70, G ’93, G ’95. Though he says he didn’t always plan to attend the university, John ended up following the footsteps of his relatives and started school at William & Mary in 1963.

While on campus, he was an economics major. He also spent two years on the swimming and diving team, joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and met his future wife, Rose Gammon Garrett ’68, P ’93, P ’95, G ’21, G ’23.

When he graduated, the Vietnam War was reaching its peak. “In my senior year, the Army sent enough buses to pick up every male senior on campus and took us to Richmond to get our draft physicals. You knew you were going to get drafted upon graduation,” Garrett says. He decided to proactively join the Navy, where he spent the next seven years serving on two Polaris submarines, among other naval assignments.

After completing his military service, Garrett chose to explore the business world, which had long been a dream of his. “I always thought that I wanted to be an ‘independent businessman.’ I didn’t really know what that meant, but it had a nice ring to it,” he says, laughing.

BUSINESS AT THE FOREFRONT

His self-motivated approach to business led him to his career-long employer, Ferguson Enterprises. The fairly new plumbing distribution company offered him a management training position, which he accepted with enthusiasm.

“It was aggressive, hardworking, high-standards, high-expectations and fast-paced,” he says. “We had 55- and 60-hour work weeks, but that intrigued and excited me.” As Garrett rose through the management ranks, Ferguson grew from a company with $25 million in annual revenue in 1974 to $6 billion by the time he retired in 2007 after more than 30 years.

After retiring, Garrett quickly found himself seeking another challenge. “Some say, ‘If you like Saturdays, you’ll love retirement.’ But if every day is Saturday, it gets kind of boring. So you have to redefine yourself in your retirement years,” he says.

He found opportunities working with private equity firms that valued his knowledge and experience. Those activities connected him with Tom Kallish, the founder of Everyone’s Earth, when Garrett invested in Kallish’s previous entrepreneurial venture, a compression clothing brand called Tommie Copper.

The new company’s initial focus was inventing a biodegradable cotton diaper called Change, in an effort to reduce the 20 million petroleum-based plastic diapers that are consumed and disposed of annually in the United States.

“Until recently, consumers faced an impossible choice,” says Kallish. “You could either use products that actually work, or you could try to protect the environment. There was no option that delivered both.” The company’s sustainable alternatives offer frustrated shoppers a way out of this dilemma, he says.

Its products are made with 100% biodegradable cotton, which is promoted as delivering quality equal to that of plastic-based products at a much lower environmental cost. As proof of concept, Everyone’s Earth’s launched its Cobi line of sustainable dryer sheets and laundry detergent in 2025 to positive customer response and is following up with lines of baby wipes and diapers.

In his role as chairman, Garrett helps the board of directors work through the logistics of building a young company. This involves finding manufacturing partners, developing the company’s internal workforce, marketing its products and more.

KEEPING IT IN THE TRIBE

Almost 60 years after graduation, Garrett remains closely involved with the William & Mary community. Two of his children — Katie Garrett Boehly ’95 and Kelly Garrett Curtiss ’93, P ’21, P ’23 — have continued the family’s tradition of attending William & Mary. Just like their parents, both married fellow William & Mary alumni: Todd Boehly ’96 and John Curtiss ’93, P ’21, P ’23, respectively. Additionally, two of Garrett’s grandchildren, Garrett Curtiss ’21 and Courtney Curtiss ’23, became the latest members of the family to graduate from the university.

John Garrett, meanwhile, continues to be a frequent presence on campus and a dedicated philanthropist. He has donated to a multitude of programs and projects at William & Mary over the years, including men’s swimming, the W&M Athletics Complex fund, the Alumni House expansion and the Muscarelle Museum of Art.

“I’ve been very fortunate with my professional successes. It’s nice to be in a position where you feel like you can give back in a way that creates a positive impact,” he says.

Garrett hopes to raise awareness about the environmental crises associated with single-use plastic products and the alternatives that are available.

“We need people to know who we are, what we’re doing and why,” he says. “We have products that perform and are environmentally neutral. The sooner Everyone’s Earth gains traction, the better it is for our planet and future generations. We can begin to reverse our environmentally destructive consumption trends.”