The Story So Far
romance , adventure and an
unrelenting passion to do good
for the planet.
From little things big things grow...
Zero Co began as an idea, dreamed up by an unemployed bloke in need of a shave, a shower and a good hard look in the mirror. That blokes name is Mike Smith (yep that's his actual name). This is the story of how Mike (along with Alyssa, Kate and Alana) brought Zero Co into the world...
Oct 2018
Zero Co founder Mike Smith comes up with an idea to tackle the global plastic problem while trekking and camping his way through some of the most far-flung corners of the planet with his partner, Alyssa.
Apr 2019
Mike and Alyssa move back in with Mike's parents, hire Kate (the marketing lady) and set up Zero Co HQ in Mike's sister's childhood bedroom. Mike puts his life's savings on the line to get Zero Co started.
Oct 2019
Zero Co launches a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising $251,313 to help fund its first production run. Mike turns the campaign live from his childhood bedroom turned office.
Nov 2019
Zero Co's Kickstarter kicks ass...becoming the most funded Aussie Kickstarter project of 2019, raising $742,427 from almost 7,000 Aussie households.
Dec 2019
Mike, Alyssa and Kate head to Indonesia to take part in Zero Co's 1st ocean clean-up. 6,000kgs of plastic is pulled from the Java Sea off the coast of Jakarta to be made into Zero Co dispensers.
Mar 2020
COVID19 strikes, the world goes into lockdown and Zero Co's official delivery window is pushed back to September 2020. Mike gets cabin fever from #ISOLIFE and starts making friends with cleaning equipment.
May 2020
Zero Co officially launches its website and starts taking orders (for Oct delivery).
Nov 2020
Zero Co officially starts shipping and becomes a real grown-up company: slightly wiser and sporting a few more grey hairs after sending out a whopping 11,500 pre-order boxes. They officially launch The Great Australian Plastic Purge to stop 1 million single-use plastic bottles from ending up in landfill over the next 12 months. They need another 8,500 orders to get there... C'mon Australia!!
Dec 2020
Ever wondered what it’d be like to snorkel, kayak, or paddle-boat with a lifetime’s supply of single-use plastic bottles strapped to your waist? That’s weird, us too! Mike embarks on a plastic-busting road trip from Cairns to Canberra, with 3,109 plastic bottles in tow in a giant fishing net to show the crazy amount of plastic Aussies who join Zero Co could stop in their tracks. He meets with celebrities and politicians along the way, even an ex-PM!
Mar 2021
Zero Co launch their most epic idea yet...Oceans 21! 21 million tonnes of plastic flows into our oceans every year. That’s one truck of garbage every single minute. Single-use plastic is the main culprit. So the aim for this year (2021) is to pull 21 tonnes of ocean bound plastic from Aussie oceans so we can turn it into our forever bottles! Let's go untrash the ocean!