Our Founding Story

Our Founding Story

Jessica and Paul founded Koala Eco out of a deep love of nature and a shared commitment to the environment. Their story stretches from the dense urban surroundings of New York City to the untamed landscape of rural Western Australia, and later to a leafy beachside suburb in Sydney, where they lived with their two sons, Emerson and Arthur.

When their younger son was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in infancy, it prompted them to reassess the products they were using at home. Unable to find brands that felt truly natural, safe, and powerful, and believing many others were looking to make better choices too, they decided to start Koala Eco. They developed a range of cleaning, home, and body products designed to outperform conventional brands using plant-based ingredients, while offering an elevated sensorial experience. Koala Eco was born.

Koala Eco is a purpose-led brand creating safe, powerful products for a clean home, body and mind. Made locally with plant-derived ingredients and Australian essential oils, each product is designed to deliver an effective, aromatherapeutic experience.

Jessica and Paul are on a mission to bring truly natural products into people’s lives. They believe many people want to make more sustainable, natural choices, but persistent assumptions that these products compromise on efficacy, or are too difficult to find and buy, continue to stand in the way. Koala Eco was created to fill that gap, and it has clearly struck a chord, with a large and ever-growing community devoted to the brand.

Koala Eco lives up to its purpose in every detail of its design. This includes the things one would expect from a considered brand, such as recycled, recyclable, and refillable packaging, and responsibly sourced ingredients. At its core is the belief that everyday connection to nature supports mental health and wellbeing — an ethos grounded in ecopsychology. Beyond reducing impact, Koala Eco is committed to contributing positively by supporting initiatives such as 1% for the Planet, Repurpose Global, and The Oceanic Societies Scholars Program to connect communities more deeply with the natural world.

“Nature-deficit disorder is the loss of connection of humans to their natural environment. Staying close to nature improves physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. It makes us feel alive from the inside”, 

Richard Louv, Last Child In The Woods

 

 

← Older Post Newer Post →

Alone, But Not Lonely

Alone, But Not Lonely

What a Norwegian lake can teach us about the difference between solitude and loneliness “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude,”...

Read more
What does nature smell like?

What does nature smell like?

"Nothing is more memorable than a smell." Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses What does nature smell like to you? The question is...

Read more
5 of Our Favourite Natural Cleaning Tips for a Healthier Home

5 of Our Favourite Natural Cleaning Tips for a Healthier Home

A genuinely clean home isn’t about harsh chemicals or endless scrubbing — it’s about simple, consistent habits and the right plant-based cleaning products. These are...

Read more
The Intelligence of Plants - A Koala Eco Field Journal

The Intelligence of Plants - A Koala Eco Field Journal

Edition 01 - Lemon Myrtle Australian Botanicals, Memory, and the Living Landscape of Scent We don’t look at our essential oils through the lens of...

Read more
Happiness at our Fingertips

Happiness at our Fingertips

Reconnecting with the power of gardening.  ‘In forty years of medical practice, I have found only two types of non-pharmaceutical “therapy” to be vitally important...

Read more
The Garden as Medicine

The Garden as Medicine

What if the things we're told to do for our health — move gently, breathe deeply, quiet the mind, eat well, belong somewhere — could...

Read more