In many areas of my life I already try to live more sustainably – for example, riding a bike instead of a car, choosing energy from sustainable resources, buying natural cosmetics, regional fruit and vegetables. But, of course, there is always room for improvement and even though I’m not really known for being crazy about housework, I decided it was time to try some sustainable cleaning alternatives. For this article I tested Everdrop’s “World Saviour” set and other eco-friendly household ingredients in order to replace the hygienic-smelling cleaning supplies in very colourful plastic bottles on my shelves.
Before we start scrubbing, washing and wiping, this is not a product test which compares multiple products and then declares one heroic winner at the end. It’s more an attempt to change my habits, learn about the differences and see how well more eco-friendly products perform. So let the cleaning begin!
When the parcel with my new supplies arrived, I was extremely surprised about how excited I could get unpacking cleaning products. The products are very easy on the eyes – which is never a bad thing for a neat graphic designer. Each product – the set contains laundry detergents, dishwasher tabs and three different cleaning tabs for the bathroom, the kitchen and for glass – is wrapped in paper, not plastic. Additionally, the set contains reusable white storage boxes and three glass bottles. Now I’m supposed to produce my own cleaners by filling up the three bottles with tap water and throwing in one tab each. The benefit of this procedure is clearly the elimination of plastic bottles and the carbon emissions from transporting heavily filled plastic bottles from A to B. When my glass bottle is empty after many rounds of cleaning, I just go and buy a new tab and that’s it. I can’t complain about the performance either. The only difference I noticed was that the new products don’t leave the supposedly clean smell that automatically creates this special, satisfiying and totally conditioned feeling of a clean apartment. In fact, they hardly smell at all and are rather neutral. On the plus side, I know that I have not just released clouds of microplastics or unnecessary disinfectants into the world. By the way, there are several companies with similar eco-friendly and plastic-free cleaning concepts, for example, Biobaula or Sauberkasten.
