New Household Cleaners Skimp on Water, Waste
by Trey Granger
Published on June 30th, 2009
6 Comments
A new line of household cleaners by Bumgartens will be sold in tablet form, requiring 75 percent less packaging and reducing the impact of shipping because the products have 85 percent less “water weight.”
The cleaners are part of the Conserve line, which also includes cutlery and dishware. Consumers purchase one bottle and a four-pack of tablets, and the tablets dissolve in water when ready to use. The available products include a glass cleaner, multi-surface, bathroom and odor eliminator.
Along with the new household cleaners, Conserve also makes sugar cane plates and bowls, starch cutlery, flashlights and office products. Photo: Treehugger.com
By shipping cleaners without water, Conserve is able to save 7.5 pounds per bottle. By only including one bottle in a package that provides four uses, Conserve can also ship more cleaners in a single load.
The cleaners themselves only use ingredients approved by the EPA’s “Designed for the Environment” program. Many household cleaners contain hazardous chemicals that require special attention for disposal, which also creates issues of what to do with the plastic containers since they are often considered hazardous. In the case of Conserve, there’s only one container for every four bottles of product.
Conserve claims that its products also save money, costing 40 percent less than the national brands of cleaners.
“We are able to achieve these cost-savings for consumers because our products have eliminated the heaviest ingredient in household cleaners: water,” says David Baumgarten, vice president of Baumgartens. “Conventional cleaner equivalents would require eight trucks versus just one for ours, not to mention all the equipment, time and energy needed to load and unload those trucks.”
Bubbles
posted on July 1st, 2009 at 11:55 am
What a great idea! How about packaging the tablets alone in a bag, without the bottle? Once one gets the bottle, one doesn’t really need another one, saving more plastic waste. I haven’t seen this brand, but I’ll be looking for it now.
David Smith
posted on July 2nd, 2009 at 1:11 am
What a great idea! It’s about time someone came up with it. I just hope it works well as I will be looking for it.
New Household Cleaners Skimp on Water, Waste
posted on July 2nd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
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Linda E
posted on July 3rd, 2009 at 3:13 am
So why do you have to buy a new container every 4 “bottles”? Simple packets of refills would be far more sensible.
Hanan el Sammak
posted on July 8th, 2009 at 8:35 am
I strongly think it’s a brilliant idea, and agree with the previous comments on the idea of selling the 4 dry tablets together without the container, as the consumer will need it only once the first time he purchases the product. Keep up the brilliant ideas!
Carol Rodriguez
posted on August 4th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
In England each household has 3 bins in different colours. One is for real trash, the others for paper, glass, plastics. In small villages they are prominently displayed so you can bag and trash items when entering or leaving the village. I understand this ‘new’ industry has employed thousands. I see on this site that it saves the company trucking costs. There are so many variables to consider. I’ve never seen this brand but will INDEED look for it. Thanks for the effort! I hope others will follow suit.