This article is part of Rubicon’s Spring Greening series, where you can learn how to green up your cleanup this spring.
Every spring we get the need— the need for clean. It makes sense. As the sun starts to show its face more frequently, the world literally becomes a brighter place. Perhaps that’s the reason we begin to feel the dirt – we can see it! As the days grow longer and the sun sheds its light on Spring, something dark tends to be revealed. That new light might reveal the accumulated mess that managed to quietly take up residence in our homes as we were hiding from the winter month’s coldness…
Or, maybe it’s simply warm enough to do it (less dramatic of a reason, I know!).
Whatever your reason is for Spring cleaning this year, while we applaud the efforts that you are about to make to de-dirt your home, we have a single challenge before you start.
Step away from the environmental nightmares known as bleach, harsh detergents, and abrasive scrubbing chemicals. That’s right – we are here to tell you that there is a better way…
To get your home really clean, use more sustainable, eco, and human conscious products that will not only leave your home spotless and sunshine worthy, but also a healthier and safer environment to spend time in with friends, family, and pets.
Below we have showcased Five Certified B Corporations who have strayed from the cleaning product pack to create highly functional, eco-conscious products, that are guaranteed to de-toxic your spring cleaning
1. METHOD
Displayed prominently for sale in popular retailers such as Target and Walgreens, Method products have become some of the most recognizable eco-conscious and human conscious products on the market today.
Method started as a marriage between two desires – a desire to design better packaging and a desire to make the contents inside that packaging greener. In a brief 5 years after their humble beginnings in 2001 – an initial sale of four cleaning sprays to Mollie Stone’s grocery store in Burlingame, CA – founders Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan hired a packaging designer, distributed nationwide with Target, and began distributing in the UK and Canada.
Method lost no momentum in the past decade as Inc. 500 ranked them as the 7th fastest growing private company in America, they joined the ranks of trailblazers by becoming a Certified B Corporation, they became one of the first Cradle to Cradle® endorsed companies, they joined forces with Ecover to create the world’s largest green cleaning company, and they opened the industry’s first LEED platinum-certified soap factory in Chicago.
In addition to Method’s commitment to protecting the planet and the people that live in it, Method has never strayed from its roots. The now recognizable teardrop designed bottles are made from recycled plastic while the products inside are non-toxic, biodegradable, free of harmful vapors, and use naturally derived ingredients whenever possible.
This is one marriage that truly is a perfect union.
2. DAPPLE
Baby products can be messy, and so can the “baby-friendly” products that are needed to clean them up. When regular detergents and dish soaps weren’t doing the trick, two moms, Tamar Rosenthal and Dana Rubinstein, decided to create alternatives that were not only effective but also baby and eco-friendly… that isn’t even the best part.
Dapple products are safe, non-toxic, plant-based cleaners created specifically for households that are raising babies and children. Every Dapple product is biodegradable, paraben free, formaldehyde free, SLS (Sodium laureth sulfate) and SLES (sodium lauryl ether sulfate) free, and free of synthetic dyes or fragrances.
Dapple is also a socially conscious Certified B Corporation that donates through Dapple Donates, champions supporting local economies, supports their employees volunteer efforts, and believes in the importance of educating parents about the value of using plant-based and non-toxic products in their homes for their children and the environment.
Dapple wants what every parents wants – happy and healthy babies and children. That is why they insist on complete transparency and list all ingredients on their products and their website.
To put it simply, Dapple makes parents feel good about using their products while providing safe cleanliness for even the messiest baby mess.
3. DR. BRONNER’S
When a company has 6 core values that they have never wavered from since their 1948 beginning, you know that they have products worth talking about. Emanuel Bronner’s story, and products, are as unique as they are effective.
Dr. Bronner’s believes in responsible growth so they function in a way that allows the company to continue to do right by their customers. They do this by providing products made of only organic, fair trade, and vegan ingredients. They never use synthetic preservatives or foaming agents. To be eco-friendly Dr. Bronner’s utilizes ingredients from regenerative organic farming projects and 100% post-consumer recycled packaging designed to continually reduce their overall waste and water usage every year.
As is the case with other Certified B Corporations, Dr. Bronner’s treats their employees like family and offers them the best benefits and compensation available. To make sure that they are always fair with their suppliers Dr. Bronner’s keeps their relationships direct, local, personal, sustainable, tangible, and verifiable. Dr. Bronner’s also funds and fights for what’s right through the activism that Emanuel Bronner believed in: regenerative agriculture, fair trade, animal advocacy, industrial hemp and drug policy reform, and living wages, just to name a few.
The Dr. Bronner’s brand is a true representative of what Emanuel Bronner stood for – making the world a better place.
4. SEVENTH GENERATION
This company proves that plant-based products can be some of the best cleaning products on the market. It may have taken nearly 28 years but Seventh Generation is now one of the leading sustainable brands available.
This Vermont based company takes a lot of pride in their founding Certified B Corporation status, and they have good reason to. Seventh Generation functions on core values that drive them to be better for their workers, better for the communities where their products are sold, and better for the environment. All of their products are created with the intention of providing clean air, surfaces, fabrics, pets, and people while keeping a close eye on minimizing their environmental impact and nurturing a sustainable supply chain.
Even though Seventh Generation has grown exponentially since they began in 1988 they remain loyal to their roots, independent, and a privately held company that now distributes their products to online retailers across the United States and Canada.
With the aim for a better future, Seventh Generation derived their name from the “Great Law of the Haudenosaunee,” the founding document of the Iroquois Confederacy (the oldest living participatory democracy on Earth). The Great Law instructs that, “in our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
5. FULL CIRCLE
The above cleaning products, although great on their own, work a lot better when used with the right tools. The Certified B Corporation Full Circle provides those products in ways that complement their sustainable cleaning counterparts.
The cleaning products that Full Circle creates combine beautiful design, innovative materials, and thoughtful creation practices. Their products are also made to last in an effort to greatly reduce landfill waste. Full Circle values are as durable as their products. That’s why they are committed to the development of safer, beautiful, and functional products intended to make the planet a healthier place to live.
All Full Circle products are made without the use of harmful coatings, dyes, plastics or chemicals, and are BPA-free. Full Circle products are also made to be long-lasting (some have replaceable parts) from renewable, compostable, or recycled material when available.
Conscious materials that Full Circle utilizes are Bonterra™ (a plastic alternative made from plant cellulose and starches), glass (100% recyclable, non-toxic, non-porous, non-leaching, and chemical free), bamboo (strong, fast growing, and renewable requiring zero pesticides and fertilization), recycled plastic, natural latex, organic cotton, cellulose (100% plant-based and biodegradable squishy sponge alternative), and other plant-based materials.
Full Circle is the final piece of the sustainable cleaning lineup.
If you combine their well-designed products with Method, Dapple, Dr. Bronner’s, or Seventh Generation it is a safe bet that this Spring cleaning will be your cleanest and least toxic to date!
Editor’s Note: Rubicon is not affiliated with the companies referenced in the blog post, and any references to companies in the post are not meant to convey an endorsement of Rubicon by those companies in any way.
This article is part of Rubicon’s Spring Greening series, where you can learn how to green up your cleanup this spring.
