Ellie Brade
on Making Better Choices Easier
Ellie Brade is the co-founder of Cleanery, which delivers cleaning and personal care products as a powder you mix with water in a reusable bottle. Cleanery is a certified B Corp and makes everything in its own low-energy factory in Auckland.
The moment that shaped her path was a realisation about waste. "Realising how much unnecessary plastic waste was generated by products we use every day – it's frightening and it's also so avoidable in so many cases." Having children, she says, fuelled her drive to do things better.
Asked what sustainability would look like as a flower, Ellie chooses kanuka, an ingredient in Cleanery's original bathroom cleaner. "I've always liked that it's a tough little native tree that grows where it's needed and helps create the conditions for other native plants to thrive. That's how I think about sustainability too - it's not about perfection or one big solution, it's about making better choices easier."
The hard part is not the product. It is the habit. "Our biggest challenge is education, and getting people to try our products for the first time, and understand why they are better. Humans are creatures of habit, and it's hard to get them to change from that." The support she wants sits at the shelf: "'Traditional' single use products are still championed and not challenged in a retail setting."
That is also where she points when asked which initiative deserves more attention. "There's a lot of focus on recycling, but the biggest opportunity is designing waste out in the first place. Every refill station, reusable packaging system and circular business model helps shift us away from our reliance on single-use products."
Kaitiakitanga underpins the business. "At Cleanery it's a huge reason for being – we want to do things better, to make sure that the next generation inherits a world that is better not worse."
Her advice to a rising change-maker is shaped by having been told no. "Don't always listen to people who tell you what you can't do - it's amazing how much of our journey has included doing things that people said weren't possible."
Her takeaway for readers is deliberately small. "Pick one everyday product in your home and reduce its waste footprint this week." Hers was swapping bottled body wash for bar soap. "All these years later I've never gone back, and I've added in so many other swaps since. Change inspires even more change."
Read Ellie's answers to Blooming Sustainability's full questionnaire, including the founder who inspires her, the event that surprised her this year, and the two leaders she is endorsing for a future edition.
BLOOMING Sustainability Questionnaire
Name: Ellie Brade
Company & Title: Co-Founder, Cleanery
Website & LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellie-brade-48328a13/
* Guiding Values | Kaupapa
If sustainability were a flower blooming in your life, what would it look like? What nurtures it?
It would be kanuka [one of the ingredients in our original bathroom cleaner]. I've always liked that it's a tough little native tree that grows where it's needed and helps create the conditions for other native plants to thrive. That's how I think about sustainability too – it’s not about perfection or one big solution, it's about making better choices easier, every day for everyday humans who are just trying to do their best. For me, that's nurtured by curiosity, a willingness to keep improving, and believing that lots of small actions really do add up.
A quote, personal motto or whakataukī that reflects your vision:
Small changes add up to big changes
If you could mentor a rising change-maker in Aotearoa, what advice would you share?
Don’t always listen to people who tell you what you can’t do – it’s amazing how much of our journey has included doing things that people said weren’t possible. Obviously don’t be reckless, but don’t be held back by others if you have a clever idea and genuine plan to execute it.
* Leading Change | Arataki
A key moment in your journey that shaped your path:
Realising how much unnecessary plastic waste was generated by products we use every day – it’s frightening and it’s also so avoidable in so many cases. Having children definitely changed how I see the world and fueled my drive to do things better.
What’s the main challenge you face in driving sustainability within your sector?
Changing entrenched consumer habits. Our biggest challenge is education, and getting people to try our products for the first time, and understand why they are better. Humans are creatures of habit, and it’s hard to get them to change from that.
An area you need more support with:
Just normalising refill and circular products – there’s been heaps of progress in this space, but “traditional” single use products are still championed and not challenged in a retail setting.
An Indigenous perspective you admire and want people to be mindful of:
Kaitiakitanga – guardianship, stewardship and protection of the world we live in. My kids’ school places huge emphasis on this, which I love, and it’s a perspective I think we can all benefit from. At Cleanery it’s a huge reason for being – we want to do things better, to make sure that the next generation inherits a world that is better not worse.
Your best approach for engaging stakeholders in meaningful dialogue about ESG:
Start with shared values, and having that proper, genuinely better, solution to a problem. We are really lucky that most of our stakeholders share our values and vision.
What do you think is Aotearoa’s superpower in creating a sustainable future?
We are pretty good at giving things a go and coming up with clever solutions to things – I love the innovation you see coming out of this country.
* Surfing the Green Wave | Kakariki
Books, podcasts, courses or other resources that profoundly shaped your approach to sustainability:
I’ve been a long time follower of Brianne West – I love her combination of clever ideas, no nonsense, humour, and common sense. She absolutely inspires me.
Events in Aotearoa or globally that you think are must-attend:
I loved Electrify this year, it was my first time attending and a room full of passionate women (plus some men!) is a very powerful, inspiring thing.
B Corp has a great programme of events for its members too.
A sustainable initiative or project in Aotearoa that deserves more attention:
The organisations working to make refill and reuse mainstream. There’s a lot of focus on recycling, but the biggest opportunity is designing waste out in the first place. Every refill station, reusable packaging system and circular business model helps shift us away from our reliance on single-use products. It's the kind of practical systems change that can have a lasting impact.
If your work could plant one seed of change for the future, what would it be?
Making low-waste systems the norm rather than the exception. It’s bonkers that a bottle that we use once and then bin into landfill has become so normalised!
The leader(s) you endorse for a future edition of Blooming Sustainability:
Oof, so hard, I admire so many people in this space, so many of whom work quietly behind the scenes. But here are a couple of people who inspire me:
Debbie Stowe – making eating veggies easy with her business Vince. If everyone swapped even one meat meal to a vege meal a week, that would be a massive positive changes (again showing that small actions add up!)
Tesh Hearth – founder of Raglan Food Co + many more.
* One actionable takeaway for our readers to make a change today for a brighter tomorrow:
Pick one everyday product in your home and reduce its waste footprint this week. My very first sustainable swap in our home was swapping big bottles of body wash for bar soap – all these years later I’ve never gone back, and I’ve added in so many other swaps since. Change inspires even more change.
