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Redwood City residents Mika Peterman and her husband Joel Brown consider themselves nature lovers, planning their holidays and leisure time around hiking trips and national parks. In recent years, they, like many, have become increasingly concerned, specifically with the issue of plastic waste and its harmful effects on the planet.
“We just became more aware of how much waste we were contributing and how much waste was in the environment,” Peterman said. A few years ago, they were living in London, England, which she said felt a bit more “eco-forward” than the U.S. They began frequenting a local refillery there – a concept they hadn’t encountered when they were living in New York previously – and got inspired to take another step in the zero-waste direction.
“We wanted to create a company where we felt like the ingredients were naturally sourced, plant-based, good for people but also had that big environmental impact,” she recalled.
With Greatfill, the company Peterman and Brown launched last year, customers can purchase specially designed stainless steel bottles and repeatedly refill them with Greatfill’s hand soap, body wash, laundry detergent, dish soap and multipurpose cleaner delivered in reusable pouches. When a customer has five empty pouches, they can simply get a prepaid envelope from the company and mail them back (or return them to a participating retailer, where Greatfill will pick them up). Greatfill then sanitizes and refills them at its warehouse in Santa Clara and sends them back out, making it a closed-loop, zero-waste packaging system. For retailers, Greatfill also picks up and reuses the large containers it delivers its bulk products in, which is not always the case with some brands, Peterman said.
Part of Peterman and Brown’s motivation was the dismaying realization that even containers that are billed as recyclable often are not actually recycled, and the rate of products getting recycled is declining.
“That was really earth-shattering to us. We wanted to do our part to get as many people as possible to refill, and make it as easy as possible,” Peterman said.
They also wanted to make their products aesthetically pleasing as well as practical, and worked with a design agency on the sleek, stainless steel “forever” bottles, which can also be personalized via engraving.
“We really wanted to create a product that would look nice in your home, that you’d give to a friend as a present,” she said. Their own past experiences with refilling also taught them the importance of bottles designed with a wide-enough neck to easily accommodate refilling from the pouches with minimal mess or waste.
The bottles are designed in Australia, which is where Brown is from originally, and are manufactured, along with the reusable pouches, “responsibly” in China, which Peterman defined as meaning working conditions and payment are comparable to standards at U.S. factories.
The liquid cleaning products themselves are made in California, and Greatfill works with a chemist to come up with the formulations, which Peterman said are plant-derived, biodegradable and enriched with essential oils in a variety of scents. The company plans to add an unscented line to its offerings and more products in the future. There are small and large pouch options (28 or 112 fl. oz.), and the “forever” bottles come in 18 and 28 fl. oz. sizes, with spout styles depending on their intended uses (e.g., pump, spray or pour). The 28 oz. pouches, Peterman noted, are made from post-consumer recycled plastic.
Raising their two small kids as the business evolves, Peterman and Brown have their hands full, although they do have some part-time employees helping out now, and plans for a lot of growth.
“It’s just been the two of us,” she said, “but we have big aspirations; we really want to accelerate.”
So far, Greatfill products can be found in around 40 stores, and they’re hoping to expand to 200 this year. Refilleries, such as Right On! Refillery in Los Altos, will always be a significant part of their plans, but they also have a thriving partnership with Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco and are in talks with other grocery stores on the Peninsula, such as Draeger’s markets.
They will also continue selling directly to consumers online, where around 40% of their customers opt for their subscription model (products come shipped in recyclable cardboard printed with soy ink).
“We are looking to go on Amazon, unfortunately,” she added, in the interest of reaching as many customers as they can.
“If it’s not convenient and it’s not easy, they’re not going to take the plunge,” she said. Mainstream society “prioritizes convenience over the environment.”
They plan to get more involved with the community, including at local farmers markets (Burlingame and College of San Mateo are first on their list), to meet potential customers directly, get feedback and explain their products. They also hope to expand their connections with local restaurants and other businesses. Currently, Greatfill cleansers can be found at Barre3 fitness studios in Los Altos and Menlo Park, as well as at Nola in Palo Alto.
“That’s really a big area of opportunity, if you think about all the plastic waste these businesses are consuming,” she said. “We really want to provide zero-waste solutions to anyone, whether you’re a consumer or a business.”
Partnering together both at home and at work isn’t always easy but Peterman said she and Brown make a good team and have been able to divvy up responsibilities in ways that play to their strengths. Peterman, who grew up locally and graduated from Castilleja School in Palo Alto, comes from a marketing and business development background, including several years working at Meta. Brown is a former lawyer who then pivoted to business, with experience in product development and finance (the couple met while working for American Express in New York).
They’re realistic about the challenges involved.
“We’re a small family business. We don’t have a huge marketing budget. We’re still trying to figure out what the economics look like,” she said. “It is quite a competitive market and a saturated market. We know people have options. We really feel like from a zero-waste perspective we are offering a different experience.”
While Greatfill is her first time starting a company, “being raised in Silicon Valley, you’re kind of around that entrepreneurial spirit. It was always something that was in the back of my mind,” Peterman, who moved back to the Peninsula in 2021, said. “It’s exciting but also scary. It’s been a great learning opportunity. We’re both so passionate about the mission we’re trying to achieve.”
For more information, go to greatfill.com/. Instagram: @greatfill.