We are two friends living on opposite coasts (Brooklyn, New York and Santa Monica, California) that share a passion for living a minimal, zero waste lifestyle and on a mission to help others do the same.
Harper. Lives in Brooklyn with a +1. Sassy pup. Matcha. Wine. Whiskey. Cheese. Proscuitto.
Charley. Lives in Los Angeles with a +1. Doofy pup. Coffee. Wine. Whiskey. Cheese. Pasta.
All in Bathroom
Its a STRONG BUY! We really loved the experience of using Evolved by Nature’s Hand Soap. It smelled incredible, felt amazing on our hands (they really do feel more moisturized after!) and you really can’t beat this price. This product is really a win-win in almost every regard. This will likely be our go-to non-foaming hand soap from now on!
MOSTLY A BUY. We love Blueland’s commitment to zero plastic and it stays consistent with their Toilet Bowl Cleaner tablets— no plastic in packaging, no PVAs in the formula, no harmful ingredients. We also loved the scent and experience — it foamed up very nicely, and it is convenient to use tablets rather than liquid which can get messy. Of course, the tablet format also reduces carbon footprint from shipping — liquid is just so much heavier. Our only flag is that these toilet tablets are pricey. We break down just how pricey below — so it comes down to how much you use, how much you want to pay up for convenience and no PVA.
We tried the entire suite of Blueland products for a month and break it down for you, from cost to efficacy and more.
We think that Nature Clean Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner is a buy! We like how it dissolves and foams up nicely, is biodegradable* and comes in slim, recyclable paper packaging and very convenient to not have to deal with a bottle of liquid. However, you are paying a bit of premium for this strips format (versus a bottle) so we’re mainly using this for the powder room and guest bathrooms when we need to quickly clean up before company comes over!
*Note: this product does include PVA — read more about it in our article.
We think Better Life Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner is a BUY, though it is fairy similar to Seventh generation’s toilet bowl cleaner - a bit of a toss up between the two in our book. We like that its Leaping Bunny certified, clean plant-based ingredients and smells great! It also cleans really well!
MAYBE buy. With so few ingredients, and none of them being toxic, we really love the earth-friendly Eco-Me Toilet Bowl cleaner. It cleans really well and has just a faint mint scent. The drawbacks are that it costs a bit more than other available toilet bowl cleaners, and to us, we think the bottle could be reformed into the traditional toilet bowl cleaner bottle.
NOT a haul we recommend. The recycled loofah was a highlight, but unfortunately not enough for the whole haul. We liked using almost everything in this haul (zero waste dish soap, natural sponges, laundry sheets, laundry sheet), but we were confused at the hand soap sheets. Moreover, many items were on the pricey side - the biggest reason for our overall no recommendation
Not a buy. While we are a fan overall of Butter Me Up Organics and their commitment to zero-waste, we did not think the efficacy of Butter Me Up Organics Toilet Tabs or the price point warrants a buy recommendation from us.
Its a buy! We really loved the experience of using Puracy’s natural liquid gel hand soap. We liked that the consistency wasn’t too thick (easy to refill) and that the scent is relatively light. Most importantly, we appreciate that this is a sulfate free soap that is naturally derived and biodegradable. The packaging is also generally great — large refill bag means less shipments (less carbon footprint) and the very small spout makes refilling super simple (no mess!). Our biggest complaint - the plastic pouch isn’t really recyclable as it is labeled at a “7” 😔
We cannot recommend EC30’s toilet bowl cleaner. Super cool product, smells great, love the foaming action, but the price is outrageously high. We’re talking 5-10x the cost of other toilet bowl cleaners, and not with any real added convenience. We don’t understand.
NOT a buy. The Seventh Generation Zero Complete Bundle for home cleaning includes the hand washing powder, toilet bowl cleaner powder, laundry tablets, dishwasher tablets, kitchen cleaner powder and bathroom cleaner powder. For a lower price, the whole home bundle omits the hand washing powder, which we like.
The ingredients are non-toxic and the canisters are made of steel — the world’s most recycblable material. However, as an example, with dishwasher powder, we prefer Seventh Gen’s old school powder in a cardboard box, which is already pretty zero waste.
BUY. We love Seventh Generation as a company and love many of their great products — especially the toilet cleaning powder. It is not the cheapest option, but we think may last longer than 2x liquid cleaners. Also, we look forward to Seventh Generation’s upcoming refills for their products since the price will probably come down even further, while keeping the same canister.
Because of potentially cheaper options, we do NOT recommend the Seventh Generation Bathroom Cleaning Powder. We could be wrong though: we think the powder is 4x concentrated (1oz powder = 4oz of spray). If the powder lasts 5x-7x instead, then it competes with Blueland and Public Goods on price. Additionally, we hope with Seventh Generation’s upcoming refills for the bathroom cleaner, the price will come down (and we can keep the canister!).
The powder is made of only 5 non-toxic ingredients, unlike other powders cleaners that contain bleach among other chemicals. Seventh Generation also employed waterless technology so that the powder will not cake.
We like Grove’s mission of being a b-corporation and its curation of eco-friendly, zero-waste and natural brands —we are going to use it like our online convenience store.
Based on the money report, the fact that Grove Collaborative is a b-corp, we feel comfortable suggesting the VIP membership if recurring items are in your basket. Otherwise, there is no necessary commitment to support your favorite green brands by purchasing through Grove Collaborative — you would just need to hit the threshold for free shipping; otherwise shipping is $4.99.
Pubic Goods has incredibly clean packaging and an admirable mission of making sustainable and earth friendly products available on one site. Unfortunately, we barely break even when considering the cost of membership against the products we tried and would actually continue to order.
Redecker’s 100% recyclable, durable double-layer copper cloths are gentle on most surfaces and tough on stains, stuck-on food, and rust. Great for bathrooms, kitchens, automobiles, silverware and more. And they last forever. We especially like that they are a bit softer to hold than pure copper scrubbers, and the form factor allows you to use like a cloth (for smaller crevices) and fold it up and use like a sponge.
This is an exfoliating shower pouf and soap holder in 1 - and compostable to boot - we like, we like! They work up a nice, rich lather (not as much as a pouf, but definitely enough for our taste..) exfoliates your skin, and allows you to hang your sustainable bar soap of choice in it! Better than a soap dish, and made of sisal which is compostable.
We tried Truman’s Reporting for Doodie (chuckle) for a week. While we love the humor in the brand, this is crazy expensive. And we’re not sure it cleans our toilet bowl any better…
One more positive reason to pay for the Public Goods membership: the bathroom cleaner is a BUY. It works really well, has zero toxic chemicals (no SLS, ammonia, synthetic fragrance) and is really affordable when looking at refills in the future.
Exfoliates your body better than plastic or natural loufah options, with activated charcoal to draw out impurities.
