Jungle Culture - Eco Friendly products
Hi - I’m Jamie, and I am a Co-Founder of Jungle Culture, a great place to find Eco Friendly and Responsibly Sourced products online
I think, or rather I hope, that everyone is aware and deeply concerned about the environment and climate change. I can’t remember a specific moment when my eyes were opened to the abuse of our world, but there was a moment of clarity when I decided that as an individual I could do more.
Prior to starting Jungle Culture I worked a pretty ‘normal’ job as a project manager in London. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with myself after graduating from university and the fear of being chronically unemployed started to set in quite quickly, so I frantically searched for a job in the city and project management was the result of my haste!
After 2 years of working in an office, the feeling that I had was that the job was respectable and fairly well paid, but I didn’t go home every night feeling proud of what I was doing. I left my job to search for that sense of pride and the feeling that I was contributing to this planet in a positive way! Eventually, that led me to starting Jungle Culture with my co-founder Christopher Chalk.
Chris’ skills and my skills lie in the online world, so when we were planning to start a business, we never really considered a physical shop or anything like that. Our initial plan was to find a simple product that would improve people’s lives and help reduce waste. Luckily, at the time Chris was based in Vietnam where local people had been using bamboo straws to drink from for years. We spoke about the concept on the phone and did some market research, gradually deciding that this could be the starter product for us!
Our first bamboo straw product
Here is what we researched (for any other budding entrepreneurs):
Competitors - We looked at what was on the market, which wasn’t very much at the time
Price - We checked that the product was economically viable
Testing - We tested all of the products that were on the market to see if we could improve them in any way… Whilst doing this we also read feedback from the products on Google, Amazon, Etsy etc. to see if other customers had problems with the products
Eventually, after testing products from other companies, we found that most straws were sold in large multi-packs… Great, but not ideal for an eco-warrior who wants to take their straws to restaurants so that they need not use plastic. With this in mind we made the first straw sleeve and launched our brand.
Immediately after we relocated to Vietnam and started visiting farms and crafts workshops all around the country. We were always on the lookout for producers and craftspeople that shared our ideals, took care of their workers and made their products with as little waste as possible!
Within a year we found a group of crafts people that made bamboo cutlery using only basic tools and we found a group of farmers that were shaping disused coconut shells into coconut bowls and coconut candles.
Our main focus has never been solely on reducing waste. Our main focus is on creating positivity. Most of our products are designed to reduce waste in various different ways, but some, like our coconut bowls, are just beautiful handicrafts, made by villagers who desperately need a secondary income.
How our bamboo cutlery is carved
Myself and Chris being taught how to dehusk a coconut by the farm owner
It was extremely difficult to build a business in the UK whilst being based in Vietnam, so we relied heavily on my co-founder’s mum (Janet) and her partner (Graham) who essentially turned their spare room into a pseudo fulfilment centre and warehouse (note: they have only just gotten the room back after 3 years!).
This was one of the major challenges that we had along the way. We wanted to focus on ethical sourcing and finding partners in Vietnam and China that we could wholeheartedly trust, but in order to do this, you have to go in person otherwise factories and farmers can easily pull the wool over your eyes. At the same time, we had customers in the UK that relied on us to deliver quickly.
Luckily Chris’ mum and her partner are extremely diligent and for the most part we were able to grow to the point of needing a warehouse/office without needing to abandon our duties in Vietnam.
Just in case there are any people reading that intend to start eco-friendly businesses, here are some of the resources we used/use to grow our business:
Website building: Shopify , Organisation: Trello , Basic graphic design: Canva, Email marketing: Klaviyo, Easy ads: Google ads, SEO: SEMrush . We use a lot more programmes and we’re totally happy to give advice to other entrepreneurs trying to make a difference, so if you have any questions, feel free to contact us!
Some of our reusable razors
Our first product sale was in August 2018, so it’s been just over 3 years and in that time we have proudly made custom products for National Geographic, TOMS, The US Parks Department and more. As well as partnering with some unbelievable small business owners around the world, to whom we owe a huge debt of gratitude for supporting us!
We’ve also managed to sell more than 3 million reusable straws which we hope has stopped vastly more than 3 million plastic straws from entering our oceans and landfills. Additionally, we also been able to develop other household alternatives to single-use plastic such as safety razors, shaving soap and bamboo washing up brushes which are all stocked at hundreds of stores in the UK and beyond!
After 3 years of developing replacements for single-use plastics, hearing feedback from small businesses and consumers, we feel absolutely inspired to keep going! The response to what we’re doing from everyone has been nothing but positive. There is 100% a willingness to change and find solutions to improve the state of the environment from the general public, and all we need is for more businesses, entrepreneurs, bloggers, influencers and everything in between to get on board and start trying to affect change and create solutions.
To anyone reading that wants to make a change, but doesn’t know where to start… Eco Action Families has some inspiring content, but here are a few other websites that you may find useful as well:
Blogs:
https://greenecofriend.co.uk/
https://www.almostzerowaste.com/
https://www.goingzerowaste.com/
https://pebblemag.com/magazine/living/sustainable-home-guide
Zero Waste Shop finders in the UK, EU and US:
https://pebblemag.com/magazine/doing/plastic-free-shopping-13-of-the-uks-best-zero-waste-stores
https://www.bepakt.com/
What I would like to say to anyone reading is that the tide of change (much like real tides) starts small, as a ripple and gathers momentum over time until it’s a tsunami!
Try making some simple, easy swaps away from plastic products that you normally use. See how it goes, see how it makes you feel and maybe make the moves permanent!
Finally, don’t feel bad if you aren’t perfect and don’t be too harsh on yourself! We all use plastic in one way or another, we all create waste. Nobody is technically “zero waste” - just do your best and be proud of your efforts!