You know the green movement has gone mainstream when an industry giant Clorox launches a whole line of more eco-friendly cleaners. Greenworks hit the shelves just one year ago, but has already become the #1 line of natural cleaners with 42% of the market. One factor in Greenworks growing sales is their lower prices. Some estimates show many eco-friendly cleaners charge 50 percent to 60 percent more than regular products, while Greenworks is priced only 10 to 20 percent higher. (Although the main reason for the huge success of this brand likely has as much to do with Clorox’s huge distribution network)
Greenworks cleaners claim to be 99% natural, made primarily with coconut oil, corn and lemon. Perhaps most surprisingly, they contain no bleach. They are not tested on animals, and use recyclable packaging.
So are Greenworks cleaners as eco-friendly as less mainstream alternatives?
According to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) from Clorox, and data posted on the Treehugger website, hazardous or non-natural ingredients include Alkyl polyglucoside (lowers water surface tension, enabling chemicals to spread and penetrate easily) Ethyl alcohol, preservative (Kathon) and colorant (Milliken Liquitint Blue HP dye and Bright Yellow dye X).
There are ‘greener’ cleaners out there, (Seventh Generation, for instance, boasts only 0.05% non-natural preservative) but the bottom line is, Greenworks is a great choice for anyone who wants to clean green on a budget.
Look it up on londondrugs.com here.
February 20th, 2009
