Moving Beyond Plastic

Though most people wouldn’t know it, we are right in the middle of Plastic-Free July, an initiative of the Plastic Free Foundation.  As I noted in a previous post, we are in a global plastic pollution crisis.  It’s a gnarly problem to be sure, but in a hopeful turn there are finally significant efforts underway to begin to deal with it.    

Just switching consumer choices isn’t going to solve the problem, since globally human consumption levels are way beyond what the planet can support.  The deeper necessity of for wealthier nations to greatly reduce overall consumption and waste. That said, the exercise of conscious consumerism is a powerful step.  I recently tried out a product line that is worthy of sharing. 

The Grove Collaborative is a company that offers a whole host of household, cleaning, personal care, and even pet products that are plastic neutral.  They accomplish this by using minimal plastic-free packaging, plastic alternatives like aluminum and glass bottles, and investing in plastic-pollution clean-up to offset the plastic that is included in their products (like the spray head on the reusable cleaning bottle).  The company claims that so far their orders have removed nearly 10 million pounds of plastic from nature. The company’s stated goal is to be 100% plastic-free by 2025. 

I tried out their starter kit, most of which is pictured above.  I didn’t like the fact that you couldn’t opt out of the free gift of the little Grove bucket; I didn’t need or want a little bucket and I almost didn’t go through with the order because of it.  However, genuine interest in their model carried me forward.

So far, I am most impressed with the use of aluminum bottles for their refill products and the very low-footprint, lightweight packaging.  I also like the walnut, plant fiber, and recycled PET plastic sponges – it will be interesting to see the innovation that will enable them to drop the plastic component. 

The next thing I am interested in trying is their non-plastic compostable band-aids. 

A word of caution.  Grove Collaborative is set up as a subscription.  After placing my starter kit order I had to go into my account and unsubscribe from several of the products I had ordered.  I don’t want stuff just automatically showing up at my door. 

In addition, to being plastic-neutral, Grove products are also carbon neutral, non-toxic, and cruelty-free.  This is an important example of deep ethics, innovation, and leadership in business.  I’d love to hear from you if you check it out. In the meantime, here is a link to Plastic-Free July’s list of things we can do right now to reduce plastic consumption in every day living.  

Happy Friday!

Cylvia