If you’ve been listening then you know that the first thing I tell people to detox is their laundry detergent.  It’s such a simple switch out but has a huge impact on your health and the environment. If you’ve been to my online shop, then you know my favorite detergent is Meliora.  It works so well and it's safe and eco-friendly. I got the chance to talk with Kate Jakubas, COO and Founder of Meliora about her mission.

Choosing Toxin-Free and Eco-Friendly Detergent and Natural Cleaning Products with Meliora Founder Kate Jakubas

Like most of us, Kate considered herself an environment ally. She knew the importance of recycling and caring about the environment. But then a situation in her life really made the lightbulb go off.

“I was working on a really specific project and there was a new law that was passed in the state of California and that law required all faucets reduce the amount of lead content in the brass that was used... So that's really when I started to understand it's not just did you put something in the recycling bin. There's so much more to how we keep people safe, and how we keep the environment safe, that I didn't know. That's what inspired me to go back to school, to pursue environmental engineering so that I could more deeply understand how everything worked, and how we could protect our planet and protect each other, and make sure that drinking water was safe.”

It’s not just about you and your laundry….

“Every day we pour laundry detergent into a washing machine, and then whatever's in that laundry detergent gets washed into our wastewater so that wastewater then can interact with the environment. Anything that's in there can have a potentially harmful effect on the people and the planet.”

But how do you know what’s in your detergent and whether it’s safe?

Kate quickly realized that you don’t. Back in 2013, and even today, there are no regulations requiring ingredients to be listed on cleaning products. Kate wanted to change that.  

“How can we make sure that people understand what is in these cleaning products? And that didn't require any engineering at all, that just required a mindset shift to saying people deserve to know what's in their products. That ingredient list should be on the front of the package, or at least on the package at all. In contrast to what a lot of the conventional products had, which was not even listing or disclosing the ingredients at all. So we were founded as a company with that notion of thinking that this needs to change, that a business could be a tool to create that change. What we wanted to do is make a product that told everyone what was inside. It doesn't sound that revolutionary when you think about it. But you know, at the time, that was not a common practice in 2013.”

Do you connect with this notion like I do? I’ve created my podcast, course, and store to empower people with education that we need to pay attention to the ingredients in our products and support companies doing the right thing.

Meliora focuses on 4 important things to make their company as impactful as possible….

1. Ingredients- This one is kind of obvious, but ingredients are something that Meliora will not compromise on.  “So you know, that here in the US, the regulations are not very strict. But if you go to some place like Europe, their regulations are much more strict. So by holding ourselves to that stricter standard, by cross referencing other banned lists of ingredients, both ourselves but also relying on a third party whose expertise is in that area… there's only a handful (of ingredients) that we really consider to be safe enough to use in our products.”

2. Affordability- EVERYONE deserves access to safe detergent and cleaning products. “We want to make a product efficiently so that we can sell it at a price point that's accessible. That's a really big thing for us. We don't think that it should be out of reach for people to afford products that are healthier for them.”

3. Eco-friendly packaging- Meliora strives for this! Most of their products are packaged without plastic or any packaging at all!

4. Corporate practices- “We do look at processes. We have a really green facility. In terms of water conservation, we look at our energy use. A big thing that we look at is waste. We measure and track our waste, our own internal waste, to kind of see where we can reduce that as well in terms of our operations”

5. Last but not least, Meliora cares about it’s people- “We use a third party certification called B Corp. And that ensures that not only are we considering profit in our operations, but people in planning as well. So it looks at our entire operations. Who owns the company? Are we paying a living wage? Are we offering benefits? Really looking holistically, not just at the products we make, but how we operate the company itself. So we're really proud to have achieved that and maintain that certification to show our commitment to being a better company.”

I know my favorite products are the laundry detergent and stain stick, but I had to know what Kate’s is…

“My favorite product today is our oxygen brightener. It works really well to brighten those clothes. But there's a lot of other uses for it and I really love it in my kitchen. We're coffee and tea drinkers in my house and you know over time, we get that like telltale sludge that goes onto the mugs where you kind of get discoloration. Whether it's on our stainless steel water bottles or the mugs that we're using for tea and coffee. Nothing shines up dishes faster than when I just add a little pinch of the oxygen brightener with some hot water and let it soak and it just looks like new.”

So tell me, are you ready to make the switch from overly fragranced, toxin laden detergent in plastic jugs? How about switching to a bar dish soap? Or maybe you already love Meliora and want to share what your favorite products are?

I would love to hear from you! Take a photo of your favorite Meliora product and tag me on Instagram @themeganmikkelsen.  You can aslo message me at megan@detox.design.