Australia’s first B Corp cleaning brand sparkles from Coolum HQ
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- Australia’s first B Corp cleaning brand sparkles from Coolum HQ
With clever product names like “Partners in Grime” and “Clean Slate”, it is clear Sunshine Coast based Pleasant State is breaking the mould when it comes to household cleaning products.
As part of the company’s goal to revolutionise the way people clean their homes, Pleasant State is the first and only B Corp certified cleaning product company in Australia.
A rising star in the growing eco-marketplace
With headquarters in the Coolum Beach Industrial Estate, Pleasant State is in the good company of a growing number of environmentally focused Sunshine Coast innovators.
The region has one of the highest concentrations of clean technology businesses in Queensland with 150 organisations and a $228 million industry value.
Launched in 2020 with a crowd-funding campaign, Pleasant State has already earned a number of accolades for its eco-friendly, non-toxic cleaning products including a win at the Trans-Tasman Innovation and Growth Awards in 2022.
As part of its B Corp certification, Pleasant State has achieved the highest regulatory standards for social and environmental impact, transparency and accountability.
Eco-effective business location
Zero-toxins, zero-waste, one-hundred percent ethical
Many everyday household items and cleaning products contain known carcinogens, allergens and other harmful ingredients. “The cleaning product industry is very unregulated,” shares Pleasant State Co-Founder, Ami Bateman. “So many cleaning products are full of nasties.”
Ami reports that chemicals had a profoundly negative impact on her health and wellbeing for fifteen years. With help from a number of doctors and specialists Ami discovered her immune system was hypersensitive to many of the chemicals commonly found in household products from soap to cleaning supplies, plastics and fragrances.
After extensive research, Ami and co-founder Sian Murray saw an opportunity to meet the growing demand of conscious consumers with a “just add water” cleaning supply that was toxin free and earth friendly.
The Sunshine Coast locals recruited an internationally recognised formulation chemist – also Sunshine Coast based – to create a water-soluble, concentrated cleaning bar that would be safe for families and safe for the environment.
Pleasant State products boast an impressive list of attributes that are sure to fit the requirements of any modern household including biodegradable, cruelty free and vegan.
Plus, solutions are scented with essential oils to ensure homes smell amazing!
The range now includes multi-purpose, bathroom and glass-cleaning products and they’ve recently launched a dish wash detergent and foaming hand wash, that are being shipped to customers across Australia and New Zealand.
The dirt on plastics
As documented in their crowd-funding video, it is not just chemicals and toxins that Pleasant State helps people renounce.
Australians use 23 million single-use plastic cleaning products per year. The company’s innovative zero-waste model uses compostable sachets and reusable glass bottles unlike most cleaning products stored in single-use plastic bottles.
Pleasant State customers have helped eliminate over 120,000 bottles from production by switching to the planet-friendly cleaning line. To support the clean up of existing plastics, the organisation donates 1% of funds as part of the ‘1% for the Planet’ pledge, a global movement of people committed to reducing plastic use and supporting a circular economy.
A hot spot for eco-innovators
The Sunshine Coast is the perfect location for Pleasant State as its business ethos aligns closely with the environmental and entrepreneurial mindset within the local community.
Coolum Business & Tourism, Plastic Free Noosa, Peregian Digital Hub and several small, independent businesses have enthusiastically collaborated with Pleasant State to promote the earth-friendly products.
Access to world-class talent on the Sunshine Coast has been critical to the success of the start-up which has partnered with local businesses to formulate and produce the dissolvable cleaning bars.
Sian shares, “As a B Corp and members of the Sunshine Coast community, it has always been really important for Pleasant State to find suppliers that are as local as possible. It has been really easy to do that on the Sunshine Coast.”
Pleasant State recently joined the ASPIRE Circular Economy, a network of Sunshine Coast businesses that endeavour to exchange material resources that would otherwise be discarded.