MNN - Mother Nature Network

Concerned people like you are making better choices for a green world. And we want to help!

 

American consumers buy 320 million cleaning products in trigger bottles each year, and millions of them end up in landfills. By comparison, concentrated refills use less packaging, decrease shipping impacts and reduce waste.

 

In fact, if just 20 percent of those 320 million bottles were refilled rather than discarded, it could save plastic equal to the weight of about 1,170 minivans.

 

A Change Worth Making
That's why back in July 2011, SC Johnson launched an online test of Windex® Mini concentrated refill pouch. We hoped to create dialogue about the green choice concentrates can offer, and to start a revolution.

 

We wanted to start creating demand so that someday, concentrated refills might be sold on store shelves right next to pre-mixed starter products.

 

The response was exciting! In the first 30 days of online sales, Windex® Mini orders came in faster than any other Windex® product sold online. Over the course of the test, we heard from more than a thousand consumers who shared comments and recommendations about the product and about concentrates in general.

 

Better Products, Recyclable Packaging
Now, we're taking concentrates to the next level. We listened to the feedback we heard - for example addressing pourability, the importance of recyclable packaging and having different products for different cleaning needs.

 

Our new concentrates lineup comes in small, easy-to-pour bottles made of the same recyclable plastic as a milk jug. There are products for numerous cleaning jobs, from kitchens to bathrooms and wood to marble to carpet. You can also mix and match to build whatever order you want - whether it's a single concentrated refill or a starter kit to get on the path to refilling.

 

Small Change, Big Difference
Trigger bottles for almost all the concentrate brands – Windex®, fantastik®, Pledge® and Shout® – are already produced with 50 percent post-consumer-recycled content. The Scrubbing Bubbles® trigger bottle is made with 30 percent.

 

Choosing to refill has an even greater positive impact:

• Requires 79 percent less plastic& than the standard bottles
• Avoids transporting 19 to 23 fl. oz. of water, depending on the formula
• The refill bottle can be recycled in most community recycling programs

 

But that’s just the beginning. If just 20 percent of the 320 million cleaning products sold in trigger bottles were refilled each year, it could:

• Save more than 7 million pounds of plastic -- the weight of about 1,170 minivans
• Avoid using 3.5 million pounds of virgin plastic -- that's about 230 adult elephants weighing 15,000 pounds each
• Avoid transporting nearly 11.5 million gallons of water -- enough to fill about 17 Olympic-size swimming pools

 

Help Us Lead the Change!
Please join your friends in trying green choices. Together we can all make better choices for a green world.