At a glance, most laundry rooms are full of plastic. Plastic detergent bottles, plastic laundry baskets, plastic pegs and more. Sure all these things are designed to make our lives easier for us but their long-lasting impact on the planet cannot be ignored. Some easy and clever switches such as using zero-waste laundry detergent can help your laundry keep both your clothes and the planet clean.
In this article, we are going to explore everything you need to know about waste-free laundry detergent. In doing so we will give you recommendations on choosing the best solution for both your laundry and environment.
Why Choose a Zero-Waste Laundry Detergent?
Each year in the US alone, over 700 million detergent bottles end up in landfill. What doesn’t make it to landfill often ends up in our oceans and waterways or shipped overseas for processing. When you consider that this is just one tiny fraction of all plastic that is thrown away annually, it is pretty horrifying. Year on year, this only gets worse - thankfully innovations in the laundry detergent market are set to create great change in this area.
Ditching your favorite liquid detergent for a zero-waste laundry detergent might seem as simple as switching to a powder. However, while the boxes are cardboard, these options almost always come with a plastic scoop, often there is a plastic seal inside the box also. So while your waste is minimized, it’s not reduced to zero.
Alarmingly, commercial detergents both powder and liquid contain a veritable cocktail of chemical compounds that do not biodegrade well and can cause skin irritation. These chemicals wash down our drains and create catastrophic conditions for marine life. Creating algal blooms that use up essential oxygen and reducing the surface tension of the water allowing other pollutants to easily penetrate and poison aquatic life. The impact of those plastic bottles and their contents is far-reaching. Understanding how toxic traditional laundry detergents are is another important step towards understanding the need for zero-waste laundry detergent.
How To Choose The Right Waste-Free Solution?
Choosing a zero-waste laundry detergent is thankfully now easier than ever. There is a huge array of both toxin-free and waste-free options on the market. Knowing which one to choose however means careful consideration. It’s important to note that many brands purporting to be ‘eco-friendly’ or toxic-free, still come in environmentally unfriendly packaging. What’s inside the box is just as important as the packaging itself when pursuing a zero-waste laundry detergent.
Many waste-free advocates make their own laundry detergents at home, there are hundreds of recipes online all purporting to clean your clothes as well as the major commercial brands. However, many of these recipes lead to buildup on clothes, dulling them and not adequately removing dirt and stains. They still also require the purchase of multiple ingredients, some in plastic packaging and are time-consuming to put together. So what is the easier solution?
Kind Laundry Sheets. These waste-free laundry detergent sheets are made using just four simple ingredients that completely dissolve in your wash, pack a powerful cleaning punch and biodegrade entirely. Spectacular wash results and no impact on aquatic life. This coupled with the eco-friendly packaging and shipping practices makes it the easy to source and the zero-waste solution you’ve been waiting for.
What Are Zero-Waste Laundry Detergent Sheets?
If you have never heard of a laundry sheet and wonder how it works, think of it like a new and improved detergent pod. If you love the convenience and no mess option of detergent pods, then zero-waste laundry detergent sheets are perfect for you. The upside Kind Laundry Sheets being that they are non-toxic (especially safe for families), fragrance-free, environmentally friendly and waste-free.
Simply take a laundry sheet and add it to your usual wash cycle. The pre-measured and completely dissolvable sheet easily lifts dirt and grime to leave your laundry fresh, without using any irritating chemicals or synthetic fragrances. Bonus, no mess, and next to no storage space required.
Our waste-free and lightweight packaging also has a significantly lower eco-footprint. This is due to the transport involved in our shipping requiring less fuel as the load is so light. Ever ordered an ‘eco-product’ online only to have it arrive in a plastic mailer? Kind of defeats the purpose right? Not Kind Laundry, we use 100% compostable mailers. Our commitment to zero-waste is at the core of what we do and influences every part of our business.
Other Ways To Reduce Your Laundry’s Environmental Impact
Once you have made the switch to zero-waste laundry detergent, don’t stop there, consider making other easy changes in your laundry room that are kind to the planet and your wallet.
- Choose cane washing baskets and hampers over plastic, some are linen lined to stop clothes snagging, both materials are compostable at the end of their lifespan.
- Choose the most water and electricity efficient machine that you can.
- Only wash when you have a full load, a few larger loads each week is more efficient than multiple small ones.
- Buy your detergent in bulk, less transport means less carbon footprint.
- Line dry your clothes whenever possible, sunshine is a powerful stain remover and line drying is kinder to your clothing. Tumble drying can stretch, shrink and create pilling on clothing.
- Make your own stain remover using environmentally friendly ingredients such as lemon juice, bi-carb soda and other waste-free items from your kitchen. Then simply pop in the usual wash cycle with your Kind Laundry sheet.
- Choose cold water washes as much as possible, our laundry sheets are just as effective in cold water as hot.
The Hack You’ll Never Go Back From
Your laundry room is the easiest and arguably most impactful place to begin your waste free journey. By choosing zero-waste laundry detergent, you’re not only ridding your home of plastic waste and toxic chemicals but protecting the environment. Its a seriously smart laundry hack that we know you’ll never look back from.
