Grove Collaborative Haul Review Round 2 | Sustainable, B-Corporation e-Store
The Top Line
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.
Read our previous review of Grove Collaborative here.
The Setup
The Products & Our Thoughts
Grove Collaborative Laundry Sheets - $12.95 for 32 loads 😔 Not a buy
Lavender Blossom scent is super lovely!
Clothes came out clean
The sheets are larger than our previously purchased laundry sheets, but you still save on carbon emissions (lightweight!) and no heavy plastic packaging.
The cost is prohibitive. If each large sheet can actually be 2 sheets, ie, 64 loads per box… that would make it a deal.
Ingredients are a mixed bag. Contains d-limonene which scores high on EWG. But like other ingredients on this list that rate high, the ingredients are considered harmful for products that you’d apply directly to your skin. Still, we would rather not have these if given the option.
Yes, you save on emissions and there is less plastic waste, but with the ingredients and cost to your wallet, we can’t recommend this one.
Hand Soap Sheets - $4.95 for 40 sheets 🤔 Not buy for daily use - pricey!
Even though it says there’s a scent of Lavender Blossom, we don’t sense any.
Like every other sheet-based product, we have to keep these dry, which is a challenge in a bathroom setting.
Contains fun ingredients like kaolin and allantoin, but also one that could be irritants per EWG. Since this is a product that is being rinsed away, it should be less concerning but not great to have an irritant/allergen as a daily hand wash.
We didn’t do a formal price comparison given that this is a sheet versus liquid concentrates… however, most of the soaps we’ve reviewed cost between $20 and $40 annually. If you wash your hands just 3x a day, that adds up to over $135 per year. Wild!
We think these sheets are a great option for those that are traveling or camping. We will be packing ours in our suitcase
For daily use, based on price, we cannot recommend these sheets! For travel, these are a great choice!
Daily Shower Cleaner Concentrate - $6.95 for 2 concentrates 🤔 Maybe buy - pricey.
As usual with Grove products, we loves the scent of Orange and Rosemary through it does come in a scent-free option.
The concentrate comes in a small glass bottle (hello recycling!) and each one makes 16oz shower spray.
Grove’s Bottles are glass, as we reviewed here. Even though there is a silicon bottom, we opted to use an existing plastic given that we did not like the heavy glass, with the possibility of breaking, in our shower.
Ingredients are decent, with all but one scoring a low score. Potassium Hydroxide is a concern, per EWG, for cosmetic products.
It’s very pricey but one of the only concentrates around. If your wallet can handle it, and you like daily shower cleaners without all of the plastic and chemicals, we would recommend Grove’s concentrate.
Recycled Plastic Loofah - $4.95 for 1 loofah 😔 Maybe buy
We’ve been using a cotton cloth for some time, but this recycled plastic sponge caught our eye. We like using it a lot, it reminds us of a fuller standard plastic loofah we used.
It’s not 100% recycled plastic, FYI. 😔
A bit more expensive than drugstore brands, but not nearly as high as natural loofahs.
Is it the greenest option out there? No, but if you like the plastic mesh loofahs out there, and want to get a bit greener, this is an ok option.
Coconut Scrubber Sponge - $4.95 for 2 sponges 🤔 Not a buy - pricey
We liked using this sponge! We love that this is made from 100% vegetable cellulose and helps suds up the soap very nicely. Unfortunately, the sponge is on the pricey side.
Dishwashing Soap $24.85 $9.90 for 2 refills + 1 Dish Soap Dispenser 😔 Not a buy - pricey
We loved the scent of this dishwashing liquid and also a really tiny drop goes a long way.
The bottling is aluminum, so it is 100% recyclable.
The dispenser is glass and reusable with a silicon bottom.
Grease is gone very quickly, leaving our dishes sparkling without gobs of product.
Sadly, while it’s not the most expensive option, it is still pricey to be green here.
Also, while less product is necessary because of its sudsiness, it’s not quite as carbon friendly.
Walnut Scrubber Sponge - $4.95 for 2 sponges 🤔Not a buy - pricey
Similar to the other sponge, this one is also 100% vegetable cellulose. Also similar, while we enjoyed using it, the sponges are on the pricey side.
The Money:
Unfortunately, overall, this haul cost us much more than we would have liked to spend.
The Ingredients and Packaging:
We liked the packaging very much: lightweight and generally zero waste! Mostly glass and paper packaging, apart from the sponges and loofah, which were wrapped in plastic.
Ingredients were overall an improvement to drugstore quality, but still a little mixed bag. None of them warranted us to not recommend a product outright, as none of our products are intended to be applied on the skin directly.
The Shipping/Shopping Experience:
Shopping on Grove Collaborative is much easier on the desktop site versus mobile.
Shipping is lightening fast and free after $50.
Minimum purchase of $29 to ship (we like this — less packaging)!
Unfortunately, our box was a little too big for our items. The empty space was filled with crumpled recycled paper (yay) but hopefully over time Grove fixes this.
General Pros:
We love that Grove Collaborative is a B-corporation. Read here for their B-Corporation goals (in addition to making a profit!).
Grove Collaborative has also been pushing for more zero-waste options with their Beyond Plastic line as well as generally better ingredients across the brands they offer.
General Cons:
The subscription experience is a bit of a pain. You have to modify or cancel after the purchase, otherwise, for new items, it defaults to some pre-calculated frequency on your behalf.
In Pictures
Cost Details and Comparisons
We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!
