Recommendations for eco-friendly household products
December 20, 2021 9:27 AM Subscribe
We recently switched to detergent sheets for laundry, we've always used bar soap instead of body wash, and used reusable grocery bags before they were even a nation-wide conversation. But looking around our house, we are finding so many things that come in plastic packaging (toothpaste, mouthwash, dishwasher detergent, floss, condiments, shelf-stable pantry items like rice, quinoa, etc). Help us find alternatives we will love?
We would like to start purchasing more earth-friendly products and would love to hear about products you love and tried that:
(1) work just as well as the usual major brands we see in stores in the US but don't have plastic packaging, use less packaging, or they are super compostable
(2) are truly more nature-friendly (because, I don't know, maybe some products don't use plastic but take much more resources to produce??)
(3) are preferably similarly priced when you break down the cost per use or per serving (though we are willing to spend more if needed)
Bonus points if the products can be found at major retailers so we don't have to place individual orders on a million websites, though we are happy to support small companies that are not in stores yet.
And yes, we already know that "bulk bins" for grains, coffee, etc exist at stores... we don't have any near us so it's not always practical.
We would like to start purchasing more earth-friendly products and would love to hear about products you love and tried that:
(1) work just as well as the usual major brands we see in stores in the US but don't have plastic packaging, use less packaging, or they are super compostable
(2) are truly more nature-friendly (because, I don't know, maybe some products don't use plastic but take much more resources to produce??)
(3) are preferably similarly priced when you break down the cost per use or per serving (though we are willing to spend more if needed)
Bonus points if the products can be found at major retailers so we don't have to place individual orders on a million websites, though we are happy to support small companies that are not in stores yet.
And yes, we already know that "bulk bins" for grains, coffee, etc exist at stores... we don't have any near us so it's not always practical.
Self-link alert, but I'll try to make up for it. We drafted and reviewed "plastic alternatives" in Teach Me About the Great Lakes, the podcast that I host. You can listen to the episode here.
For those who don't want to listen to a whole episode or who are grossed out by the self-link, here are the items that we discussed:
- Making your own foaming hand soap
- Safety razors
- The bar soap that you buy in cardboard boxes
- Plant-based scrub brushes
- Toothpaste powder
- Bamboo toothbrushes
- Metal tea diffusers
- Metal dining plates
I can endorse plant-based scrub brushes (like these) and metal dining plates for kids.
posted by griseus at 10:52 AM on December 20, 2021
For those who don't want to listen to a whole episode or who are grossed out by the self-link, here are the items that we discussed:
- Making your own foaming hand soap
- Safety razors
- The bar soap that you buy in cardboard boxes
- Plant-based scrub brushes
- Toothpaste powder
- Bamboo toothbrushes
- Metal tea diffusers
- Metal dining plates
I can endorse plant-based scrub brushes (like these) and metal dining plates for kids.
posted by griseus at 10:52 AM on December 20, 2021
To answer your question better, I think you need to define what "Earth-friendly" means to you. For example, using glass bottles instead of plastic results in more greenhouse gas emissions and less landfill space. More cotton results in more water use in some parts of the world (maybe that's okay or not) but inorganic fibers might degrade less in nature (though over half of fiber residue found on the ocean floor is cotton.) Solid soap releases more salt into the environment than liquid salt, where does your sewage go and is that remediated properly if it needs to be?
Rice in plastic spoils less. That means less of it needs to be grown and transported, which far exceeds the environmental impact of the wrapping itself. One bicycle trip to the store instead of the gas car will save more petroleum than all of the plastic wrapping you are thinking about. Insulating your house will save the equivalent of the petroleum used in millions of pieces of packaging.
So unless you are burning your garbage or just throwing your garbage on the side of the road, concerning yourself with plastic packaging is not an Earth-friendly pursuit.
posted by flimflam at 12:16 PM on December 20, 2021 [6 favorites]
Rice in plastic spoils less. That means less of it needs to be grown and transported, which far exceeds the environmental impact of the wrapping itself. One bicycle trip to the store instead of the gas car will save more petroleum than all of the plastic wrapping you are thinking about. Insulating your house will save the equivalent of the petroleum used in millions of pieces of packaging.
So unless you are burning your garbage or just throwing your garbage on the side of the road, concerning yourself with plastic packaging is not an Earth-friendly pursuit.
posted by flimflam at 12:16 PM on December 20, 2021 [6 favorites]
We started using "Blueland" a couple months ago - their cleaning products actually work well (and smell nice) - and I like the fact that the powder comes in paper satchets. We have ALOT of pets - so there are plenty of accidents that have to be cleaned.
The refillable bottles are extremely high quality and will last. It "feels" better to me than buying a giant plastic jug of solution that is mostly water (i.e. lysol, pinesol, windex). I am old enough that I would re-use plastic spray bottles for years and years whenever possible.
But - I am no expert - I just want to reduce the amount of plastics entering and leaving the household - because, most regions in North America are not really recycling plastics - just storing them, as their offshore dumping grounds no longer want "garbage" shipped to their shores.
posted by rozcakj at 12:33 PM on December 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
The refillable bottles are extremely high quality and will last. It "feels" better to me than buying a giant plastic jug of solution that is mostly water (i.e. lysol, pinesol, windex). I am old enough that I would re-use plastic spray bottles for years and years whenever possible.
But - I am no expert - I just want to reduce the amount of plastics entering and leaving the household - because, most regions in North America are not really recycling plastics - just storing them, as their offshore dumping grounds no longer want "garbage" shipped to their shores.
posted by rozcakj at 12:33 PM on December 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
We started using dropps for our dishwasher and are really pleased. They sent us a 4 month supply in incredibly minimal packaging -- cardboard box, tightly packed with no extra stuffing, just the pods inside. We then transfer them to a glass jar to prevent water/humidity damage and for easier storage. Subscription service, very inexpensive. Haven't tried their other products, but will likely try out the laundry detergent once we finish up our current stash.
posted by carrioncomfort at 6:10 AM on December 21, 2021
posted by carrioncomfort at 6:10 AM on December 21, 2021
It's a small step, but I've been buying cleaning products via commercial or jan/san suppliers. 40-pound bucket of HE laundry detergent powder that lasts me a couple years. 20-pound bucket of automatic dishwasher powder. Sure, these still come in plastic, but they're nice reusable plastic buckets that will get repurposed before eventually being recycled. I buy Zep brand pine cleaner concentrate in a gallon jug that makes like 64 gallons of general purpose cleaner, and if I buy a case of 4 there's enough of a discount that I'm basically getting 2 free. Yes, it still comes in a plastic jug, but in buying the concentrate, it eliminates a lot of the packaging that ready-to-use cleaner would have come in. I guess I'm saying it doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing approach to make a difference; sometimes just buying in bulk or in concentrated form can eliminate a surprising amount of packaging waste.
posted by xedrik at 9:56 AM on December 21, 2021
posted by xedrik at 9:56 AM on December 21, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ook at 9:39 AM on December 20, 2021