Our hotly anticipated Laundry Detergent Strips are (finally) back in stock – thanks so much for waiting! These tiny eco-strips of ultra-concentrated detergent have some big cleaning powder and will help you save the planet one load at a time. We think they’re one of the best eco-swaps since the rise of the bamboo toothbrush – read on to find out why we fell in love.
Their Compostable Packaging
One of the easiest ways to reduce the amount of plastic in your household is to stop buying big plastic jugs of liquid laundry detergent. Only an estimated 30% of these jugs are recycled, with the other 70% ending up in landfills, clogging up our oceans and waterways. Even if you don’t use liquid, you need to be careful with powdered detergent as most cardboard boxes come lined with plastic, with a plastic handle, a plastic strip embedded in the cardboard to facilitate opening, and a plastic scoop. Most of that packaging will never be recycled.
These laundry strips come in a sustainable card box which is 100% plastic free.
There’s No Measuring & No Mess
Let’s face it, traditional laundry detergent is messy. Measuring out detergent whether it’s liquid or powder almost always results in a spillage. We don’t know about you, but when we’re doing laundry, we don’t want another thing to clean up! What’s more, over-sized, hard-to-read laundry caps and powder scoops can lead to some serious overdosing, costing you money and gunking up your washing machine.
Swapping to these laundry strips is one of the few eco-friendly changes that’s actually easier than the traditional options! Just throw in one strip for an average load of laundry, an extra strip for a larger load, or less for a smaller load.
They Have Great Cleaning Power!
We’re firm believers that just because we want to swap to a more environmentally-friendly option, that shouldn’t mean that we have to give up on cleaning power. These strips might be thin, but they’ve got mighty cleaning powder – even with cold water! Each strip really does a brilliant job and are just as effective (if not better!) than traditional liquids or powdered detergents.
We put these strips to the test on the lovely EcoVibe team’s laundry and the results were sparkling clean – even freshening up the sports kits of the gym bunnies among us (which is no small feat!), and getting rid of ketchup and grass stains with no trouble. Our whites came out bright and radiant without nasty toxic bleach or oxiclean and the colours came out great too. The strips have got a light, fresh linen scent that’s not overpowering but very clean smelling. And to top it off, everything washed with these strips came out with just the right amount of softness too!
They’re Animal Friendly
Many products that leave your clothing looking brighter and smelling great actually contain animal-derived enzymes and/or get tested on animals. But don’t worry, these laundry detergent strips are completely vegan, with no animal-derived ingredients used in their production. Tru Earth and their ingredient suppliers have never and will never test on animals.
What’s more, lots of detergents contain harmful ingredients like phosphates which find their way into lakes and streams, wreaking havoc on aquatic life by releasing chemicals into water that cut off oxygen supplies. Next time you’re in the supermarket, check out the back of cleaning products and you’ll see lots (like Persil Non Bio Detergent Capsules, Surf Biological Liquid Washing Detergent, Bold 2 in 1 Washing Powder, Ariel Gel – to name a few) carry the message “Harmful to aquatic life with long-lasting effects”.
So, it’s a much kinder idea to shop for laundry detergents (like these ones) that are phosphate free, non-toxic and 100% biodegradable. This means that they contain ingredients that can naturally break down while not being harmful to the environment or its inhabitants.
They Take Up Less Space
Most laundry detergents are bulky and waste so much space, which is really bad for the environment because of the transportation fuel needed to post them around. However, these laundry strips have the smallest packaging and transportation footprint of any detergent that we’ve seen.
And this isn’t just better for the environment, but better for us too as we definitely enjoyed not lifting up those heavy bottles of regular detergent! They’re also perfect for travelling. When we go on away, we’ll just throw a couple of these in our suitcase so we can do hand washes or use a washing machine wherever we’re staying.