Failure To Be Green
his was just so stupid that it was worthy of a quick post.
A couple of months ago, in my quest to be more Earth-friendly (yes, it is a little quest, not a big quest, mind you…baby steps), I bought a cleaner product that was touted as being “plant-based” and more green because the refill was in such a tiny little bottle. I’m thinking to myself, self, here you are bringing in your own grocery bags and attempting to use less toxic products around the munchkin, so hey, why not try the Arm&Hammer Essentials MultiSurface Cleaner?
According to the 1 Green Product Blog:
From an ingredient standpoint, the Essentials cleaners are similar to other eco-friendly cleaning products. They use biodegradable plant-based components derived from coconuts and palm kernel oil. They contain no ammonia or phosphates.
But where they really break the mold is in packaging and un-mixing the cleaners.
When you buy Arm & Hammer Essentials, you buy an empty spray bottle with a small concentrated bottle of cleaning solution. After you get home, you fill the bottle most of the way with tap water and then mix in the cleaning solution.
Months later, instead of running out and buying a big new plastic spray bottle, you can just buy a double pack of the cleaning concentrate and mix it in with more tap water.
Why does this make good eco-sense? Well, as Arm & Hammer points out, traditional cleaning products are up to 95% water. That means, when you buy a traditional cleaning product, you’re mostly buying water. Naturally, there are also environmental costs to package and ship all that water.
By switching to refillable spray bottles and smaller tubes of cleaning concentrate, Arm & Hammer uses far less petroleum (in the form of plastic) to package its product and uses far less gasoline to transport its product. Quoting from the press materials we received, “The refills were designed to use 80 percent less packaging than two standard, prefilled 32-ounce cleaners, reducing potential landfill waste.”
Now that was all great when I bought the cleaner to give it a try. Skeptical AdoringHusband looked askance at the empty large bottle, until I explained that I had to fill it with water and the contents of the small bottle. I mix, used, and have been pleased with the results: good cleaning, no harsh chemical smells, and no residue left behind.
So last night we get to the part where things get stupid. We’re running low on the cleaner, so I head out to Giant to do our weekly grocery shopping. After spending way too much time in the cleaning aisle mesmerized by the possibilities of cleaners that might do something about all the juice (and other liquids we prefer not to think about) stains in our microsuede sectional, I finally pulled myself away to find the Essentials refill.
I found the starter bottles easily. But refills, hmm… I’m not seeing them. I move stuff on the shelves. I look at the labels on the sections (perhaps they ran out…they did after all run out of bananas this Sunday evening…how a suburban grocery store runs out of bananas, I do not know…) but there is no sign of the refill.
Reluctantly, I go in search of help. (I hate asking for help since they inevitably go back and look in the same place you just looked, as if you had failed elementary and college level looking.) Yes, they drag me back to the area I had already searched. (I did very well in my looking courses, thankyouverymuch.) No refill has magically appeared since I left 2 minutes before. (Those refills can be tricky, you know!) We go back to the computer at the front of the store. She types into this magical divining device and suddenly proclaims, “We don’t sell the refill.”
“You don’t sell the refill?!” I repeated, utterly stunned.
“Nope, we don’t,” she stated with finality.
“Well what’s the point of selling a product that is supposed to be refilled if you don’t sell the refill?”
I got a shrug by way of a reply.
So Giant, as far as being green goes, despite your reusable bags and other pretensions to greenery, you have failed to understand a basic concept here. If the refill saves plastic, petroleum, waste, and money, then stock the damn refill.
Giant: Epic FAIL
So silly, as my kidlet would say.
As you know, I’m nowhere near green. I drive a ‘72 Ford after all. But somehow I’m not surprised at the huge oversight in failing to make refills for their refillable product. Companies are funny that way, having the insight to design a perfect left shoe but not a right. I am intrigued, however, by the reasoning that smaller bottles require less petroleum to produce and reduce the impact of plastics on the environment. I’ve often thought bottled juice should be outlawed for the same reasons…you’re buying a big plastic bottle full of mostly water with a little juice mixed in. So now I just buy concentrate, which comes in a cardboard and metal container and is much lighter to carry. Now if I could just get my ‘72 Ford to run on apple juice.
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Hey Charlie!
Thanks for the comment! But let me clarify. There is a refill for the product but stupid Giant has decided not to carry said refill. So I must expend gas visiting other stores in search of this refill or just buy another starter kit. This is what boggles my mind. Why would Giant decide to carry the starter and not the refill? Do they expect their customers to go elsewhere to find the refills? Makes no sense to me.
And the juice question does make sense, but then there is the laziness factor which explains why my Crystal Light goes unmade, but I drink seltzer by the bottle. (Baby steps, I tell you!)
Ah, my bad. Should have said that the purchasing manager at Giant is an idiot.
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Hey, this is Aaron, editor of the 1GreenProduct.com site. Thanks for citing my review of Arm & Hammer Essentials.
Oh my gosh! I can’t imagine how frustrated you were with not being able to buy the refills! Did you ask the manager of the store to order some? (Sometimes they’ll do that if they get enough requests…)
If you haven’t been able to find the refills locally, it looks like you can buy them online at Drugstore.com – http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=195576&catid=33265
Best wishes in your ongoing efforts to live Greener!!
- Aaron Dalton, Editor, http://1GreenProduct.com
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Hi Aaron,
Thanks for stopping by!
I didn’t ask the manager because it was late on Sunday night, but I did e-mail the corporate offices of the chain today with a link to the blog. Maybe that will help them see the illogic of having the starter set but not the refills. And thanks for the drugstore.com tip. I do have to order some stuff from them tonight.
I laugh (not unkindly) because this is the story of my freaking life.
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I’ve seen that at other stores as well. They’ll sell the starter kit for say, the Woolite rug cleaner stick thing. But no refills. Stupid.
I’m going to look for your Arm and Hammer product. We’re trying our own baby steps for being more green as well.
And Charlie, you may drive a big ‘72 Ford, but think of all the “green” in not purchasing a new car and having yours sitting in a landfill or something.
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I strongly encourage you to cc this post to your local paper, Giant store head office and Arm & Hammer head office (or whoever makes it). (never mind, I read you already have) I’m sure whoever is in charge of buying the stuff made an oversight and neglected to see the need to stock the shelves with refills. I hope. I think Arm & Hammer should send you free refills!
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That is so stupid. Just…wow. More proof that being green is just a fashion to some rather than a real effort, no matter how small.
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