Quality Makers: Jess Bragdon, Co-Founder of Koala Eco, on Mindful Living and The Beauty of Nature at Home

Q: Let’s start at the beginning. What sparked the idea for Koala Eco, and when did you realize it could grow into something bigger than just a family project?

‍A: My husband Paul and I started Koala Eco for a couple of reasons. We've always both been passionate nature lovers and committed to protecting the environment. But after we experienced a serious health scare with our younger son Arthur when he was an infant, we started to reassess a lot of things, including the cleaning and care products we were using in the family home. 

While Arthur’s cancer (now eliminated thanks to the amazing care and treatment he received) wasn’t linked to any environmental causes, it nonetheless strengthened our resolve to live as healthily and sustainably as possible. We realised we couldn’t find any household cleaning brands that we felt were truly natural, safe, and powerful, and that would actually be pleasurable to use. We were convinced there were lots of people, like us, looking to make more natural product choices so, sharing an entrepreneurial spirit, Paul and I decided to start a business to create our own, using plant-based ingredients. 

So, in 2017 we began Koala Eco in Sydney, where we were based at the time. My identical twin sister joined us early on and is our US MD. Effectively, our family was the first customer for Koala Eco: it was going to fulfil a need in our lives. We didn’t need to look far for inspiration: as First Nations people all over the world have always known, nature offers a wealth of potent botanicals brimming with the most incredible healing and cleansing properties. We focused on performance and also the sensorial experience (particularly the aroma) that people would experience when using them. 

I think we always had ambitions for Koala Eco beyond a small family business. I don’t know whether it was the timing, but right from the start our products were rapidly embraced and trusted by customers. Then the pandemic certainly accelerated global market interest in effective, non-toxic products that wouldn’t harm people or the environment. 

Q: Koala Eco is so much more than a cleaning brand. It’s about wellbeing, mindfulness, and connection to nature. How do you bring that philosophy to your day-to-day life?

‍A: Everything comes back to our relationship with nature. Nature gives to us all the time. At an immersive, sensory level, closeness to nature brings real cognitive, emotional and psychological benefits, and studies in eco-psychology around the world prove there is a link between nature and wellness. 

The 19th century American Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau wrote: ‘We need the tonic of wildness…we can never have enough of nature.’ Fellow Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: ‘I feel that nothing can befall me in life, no disgrace, no calamity…which nature cannot repair.’ Nature is a true healer. Without our spiritual, emotional and physical connection to nature, we simply cannot thrive. It’s about being grounded in nature, however and wherever we find it, and allowing that connection to nourish our bodies and spirits in quiet, genuine ways. The better we feel, the more we can propagate and share that sense of wellbeing.

So in our day-to-day lives, it means making time for something as simple as taking a daily walk through a park or along the beach, or watching the incredible light show of a starry night sky; tending a window box of herbs or leafy indoor plants in an apartment; paying attention to nature’s miracles, like the structure of a fruit or a flower.

Q: Sustainability can sometimes feel like a buzzword. How do you make sure Koala Eco’s story stays authentic and actually makes an impact?

‍A: Actions are more important than words. We try our hardest to contribute to making a cleaner and greener world. To be absolutely transparent, all our products are locally made in both the USA and Australia with an average of 98.9% natural and plant-derived ingredients, using only Australian essential oils, and we never use toxic ingredients. Nothing we make is ever tested on animals, and our products are also free from dyes, petrochemical solvents, ammonia, caustics, phosphates, bleach, ethoxylates or Sodium Laurel Sulphate, and non-sustainable Palm Oil-derived ingredients. They are also marine and septic tank safe: no bleach or chlorine, minimal impact on the environment after drain disposal. Our products biodegrade into harmless by-products providing a ‘down drain benefit’. 

We bottle and ship in recyclable packaging. Thanks to our use of rPET plastic—something we worked hard to achieve—we don’t cause any new plastic to be made. To date, we’ve prevented over 6 million new plastic bottles from entering circulation thanks to Koala Eco’s use of recycled and recyclable bottles, and we’ve stopped over 3 million litres of toxic liquids from entering homes and waterways. 

For Koala Eco, it’s not just about the products, it’s also about the people: ‘our’ people. In 2021, Koala Eco started a program for team members to spend two hours a week in nature, intentionally doing something connected to the natural world that feels particularly healing, and is not about routine things like exercise. It can be anything from exploring a local botanical garden, or just paying attention to the bees in the backyard going about their business. Team members sometimes share their experiences or photos with us, which we discuss as a group and occasionally share with the wider Koala Eco community.

Q: What’s one misconception about eco-friendly products that you wish more people understood?‍

A: Some people believe that eco-friendly products are less effective and more expensive than conventional choices which is simply not true. We’re working with ingredients that not only smell divine, but work really hard at their purpose of cleaning, and are able to contribute to mood and wellbeing because of their unique chemistries. In terms of cost, our products are less expensive per litre than many conventional choices. The formulas are powerful, so you can be sparing with them, and still get superior results. Products like our laundry wash, dish wash and hand and body lotions are concentrated, so a little goes a long way. We also make large sizes, and offer refills and glass options.

Q: Koala Eco’s philosophy is deeply influenced by ecopsychology, the idea that connecting with nature can improve our mental health. What have you learned about that connection through your own experience or customer feedback?

‍A: I think one of the most important things people keep telling us is they realise feeling separate from nature means being severed from a fundamental part of ourselves. In other words, the idea of being connected to nature is not sentimental or platitudinous: we are as much a part of natural living systems as a tuber underground, a river, the highest trees. Scholar and novelist Theodore Roszak, who’s often credited with introducing the term ecopsychology, wrote about the ‘synergistic interplay between planetary and personal well-being … the needs of the planet are the needs of the person, the rights of the person are the rights of the planet.’ 

What we are trying to do at Koala Eco is so much broader than making non-toxic products for a clean home, body and mind. We’re also trying to influence people to bring more nature into their lives, every day, because we know this connection improves health and brings joy. That’s why we also give a percentage from each product sold to 1% for the Planet, an environmental group committed to protecting land, forests, rivers and oceans, and which encourages sustainable methods of energy. In Australia, we’re proud sponsors of WWF Australia. In the States, we sponsor the Oceanic Society’s Critter Scholars Program, which helps disadvantaged kids and teenagers to encounter and learn about marine wildlife in the San Francisco Bay area. Our latest for-purpose work involves partnering with Repurpose Global, a worldwide movement set up by ‘young, passionate millennials and future custodians of the planet’ to address the global plastic pollution crisis.  We’re supporting three projects in Indonesia, Kenya and Cameroon. 

And so the brand is also an extension of us, its founders. We aspire to live the  ‘more nature, feel better’ ethos of Koala Eco in a direct and daily way. Why would a customer believe in the Koala Eco purpose if we didn’t adopt it ourselves? ‘More nature, feel better’ is a non-negotiable personal and professional practice for us. Even if Koala Eco did not exist, our family would still be trying to live in an environmentally conscious way, and still prioritising our daily connections with nature. We recently had an incredible six-month adventure living in Central America, partly to be closer to Koala Eco’s operations in the States but also to have a big experience immersed in nature, learning about a different part of the world and in a type of environment we’d not lived before: the tropics. It was awe-inspiring and truly reinforced the integrity of the purpose driving our brand. 

Q: And just for fun, what’s the one Koala Eco product you can’t live without?‍

A: Probably the first one we launched, because so much was riding on it! This was our Natural Multipurpose Kitchen Cleaner with Lemon Myrtle and Mandarin. We worked so hard with our chemists and labs to make a real winner to launch our company, and it’s been one of our top sellers ever since. We wanted to start with a product that could do everything, and I find I use this everywhere: the fridge, bench tops, kids’ lunchboxes, wherever. 

Q: Any parting words of wisdom you’d like to share with us? ‍

A: Connecting with nature is one of the easiest, cheapest and most meaningful ways to invest in our personal wellbeing. It’s medicine. And it’s a reciprocal thing: if we care for nature, nature cares for us.

Shop Koala Eco's mindfully-made essentials here.

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