Ommaega Mosquito Repellent - My solution led to another problem, and I found my own solution again

Ommaega is grounded in ecopsychology, an emerging discipline that views the health of an individual in the context of the health of the planet, embracing the notion that the two are inseparable; signifying a bi-directional relationship. Bringing individuals out to nature is the core of what we do.

We first started with the focus on the positive emotional and physical benefits of being out in nature. Along the way, we veered off course, but for the better - I had an ecological epiphany during that particular trip to the beach for a clean-up. There were so much trash and so many beach-goers. I asked myself, “Why am I continuously clearing the trash continuously generated by them?” It made me realise that all my efforts in beach cleaning are futile. Instead, I should be targeting the root cause of the problem - there is a lack of environmental awareness, inaction, or individuals simply not being mindful about their consumption and the way they live. There are many individuals who are not aware of environmental issues or they are aware but are not yet actively taking tangible steps in caring for the environment.

....the root cause of the problem is individuals simply not being mindful about their consumption and the way they live."

What if we can get these individuals to rethink the impact of their consumption patterns on Mother Earth? What if we can get them to come around and understand that the way they feel during our yoga class in nature is attributed to the nurturing beauty and power of Mother Earth? What if they are made aware that the way they feel during class will be short-lived if we do not start taking action in caring for Mother Earth?

Research shows that in order to truly care about “being green”, one must actually have meaningful exposure to nature. Sustainability of the planet is not merely about being a good citizen and recycling; it is ultimately about maintaining an intimate relationship with nature. The more connected a person feels to nature, the greater the sense of meaningful involvement in something larger than oneself. That is how we want to leverage our yoga classes as a form of experiential environmental education to meaningfully expose the community to nature to develop a greater depth of environmental concern.

Sustainability of the planet is not merely about being a good citizen and recycling; it is ultimately about maintaining an intimate relationship with nature.

A-ha! I found the solution.

But wait.

While solutioning to address the root cause, I was confronted with another problem. How can we get individuals to go outdoors? One of the many factors people do not go out to nature is discomfort (weather, mosquitoes/insects). Even if they go outdoors, people are using mosquito repellents full of chemicals e.g. DEET that is harmful to the environment. These repellents are also stored in plastic bottles that are not recycled/cannot be recycled.

So how can we remove this barrier to entry while keeping it environmentally sustainable? That’s when I thought of an environmentally-friendly bug repellent.

There is a wealth of insecticidal compounds found in plants as defences against insects that we can use in the field of repellent development.

So that’s when we kickstarted our R&D process.

A year on, we have developed a mosquito repellent that is 100% natural using essential oils from plants. It is completely chemical- and DEET-free, which is harmful and has a negative impact on wildlife and water sources in production and during use.

It is a gift from Mother Earth, to us. I hope you will embrace it with me.