When you’re cleaning, the idea is to remove toxins and pollutants from your space, right?
Unfortunately, many of our favorite cleaning products might kill germs, but they replace them with substances that are very bad for the environment (and by proxy, for us, because humans are part of the environment). That’s why it’s important to choose products like Dropps, which ensure both an effective and environmentally safe cleaning experience.
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Why Cleaning Products Are Bad for the Environment
According to the EPA, products that contain phosphorus, nitrogen, ammonia and chemicals grouped under the term “Volatile Organic Compounds” are the worst for the environment.
VOCs are used in many cleaning products, as they can burn through germs and stains, but they can be problematic when flushed down the toilet in large amounts, and can build up in waterways, sometimes leading to mass die-offs in freshwater systems, which can make that water not usable for drinking and bathing. VOCs can also result in extensive smog and air pollution. In addition, many other common cleaning supplies are quite bad for the environment, including microbeads and single use wet wipes.
And that’s not even to mention the wastefulness of the packaging most cleaning products come in. From individually wrapped pods to the endless plastic containers that hold all our favorite bleaches and vinegars, cleaning creates a huge amount of waste.
Enter Dropps, which uses biodegradable, compostable material to package its eco-friendly products. Its products are dye-free, phthalate-free, phosphate-free and animal-cruelty-free, and they recently won the EPA Safer Choice Partner of the Year. For just $18, you can get a subscription to a package of 56 laundry detergent pods smelling of citrus and pine, all wrapped up in compostable packaging and ready to use a unique enzyme formula to naturally attack stains.
Beware of Greenwashing and Emphasis on Personal Choice
In recent years, a huge number of brands have started promising that they’re environmentally friendly, but they may not actually be at all. This is a phenomenon known as “greenwashing,” wherein advertisers and companies use the illusion that they’re environmentally friendly to sell products without actually making any tangible or significant changes. It’s important to choose brands like Dropps that have actual recognition from legitimate sources like the EPA rather than just believing what you read on packaging.
It’s also important to remember that no matter how many eco-friendly products you buy and how much you recycle, climate change and massive environmental devastation can only be combatted by massive collective action. After all, only 100 companies produce 71% of the world’s fossil fuel emissions, and it will take huge initiatives like the Green New Deal to actually wean us off fossil fuels and away from the deadly pollution and waste we’re producing at an unbelievably rapid pace.
However, buying eco-friendly products and reducing waste can certainly help you live a healthier life, and it is important to play your small, individual role in reducing waste and releasing the amount of toxins you unleash into the air while you also fight for bigger causes and large-scale change.
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That said, Dropps is doing a pretty good job as a company. They partner with 3Degrees to offset carbon emissions from every shipment, and they are the exclusive home cleaning partner with Oceana, the largest ocean conservation organization in the world. Plus, they offer kitchen products, scent refreshers like diffusers (which can work wonders on your mood!) and of course, all you need for the best load of laundry ever. Saving the planet, supporting the oceans, and saving your health — what’s not to love? The only thing better than great eco-friendly cleaning products would be an end to climate change, but short of that, it’s a pretty sweet deal.
