On becoming Plastic Neutral
"With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you're connected to the sea. No matter where on Earth you live."
That's the oceanographer Sylvia Earle, reminding us that the ocean isn't somewhere far off. It's connected to the water in our glass, the air in the room, and every breath we take.
At Koala Eco, we don't use virgin plastic. Our packaging is made from recycled and recyclable materials, our bottles are designed to be refilled, and our formulas are concentrated so that less plastic moves through the world to begin with.
Even so, we wanted to do more. Plastic in a supply chain — even recycled plastic — is still plastic. And the wider plastic-pollution problem won't be solved by individual brands tightening their own footprints alone. It also needs investment in the people doing the work of clearing it.
That is what brought us to rePurpose Global, a worldwide movement addressing the plastic-pollution crisis at scale. Through this partnership, Koala Eco is now Plastic Neutral. For every unit of plastic we use, an equivalent amount is collected and processed by waste-management workers in three of the most plastic-vulnerable regions on earth.
The three projects are Laut Yang Tenang in West Java, Indonesia, where informal waste collectors recover ocean-bound plastics along one of the planet's most biodiverse coastlines; Bahari Safi in Lamu, Kenya, where local artisans transform recovered plastic into household goods and traditional sailing dhows; and Sanguisé in Cameroon, which works upstream, intercepting plastic from rivers and waterways before it reaches the sea.
This is the commitment, and these are the people doing the work. When we care for nature, nature cares for us.
