January 17, 2008 | Reviews, Broom Hugged, Cleaning products
Clorox, the famed makers of bleach and 17% of the cleaning chemicals listed as “most toxic” by Women’s Voices for the Earth (an environmental health and justice organization), just released their “Green Works” brand.
This is the first product launch of this type by a major consumer brand, and it’s Clorox’s first new brand launch in 20 years. They’re doing it right though.
Green Works carries the Sierra Club endorsement, lists its ingredients on the label (which is virtually unheard of in the mainstream cleaning products industry), one of the products is available in concentrate, and 99% of the ingredients are natural, biodegradable, and non-petrochemical. Moreover, according to Joel Makower, Clorox is actually trying to make the production of GreenWorks carbon neutral. For a mainstream brand, that’s enough to knock my socks off.
I’m much more pleased with this than I am Clorox’s other ‘less toxic’ products - like their Anywhere Spray (which contains bleach). With Green Works they’ve really made a huge step in the right direction, and we can only hope other mainstream manufacturers will follow their lead.
Now for the nitty-gritty. Green Works products, according to their website, does not disinfect. That significantly curbs its effectiveness. Other steps they could have taken to make their product a little more earthy? Get rid of that 1% of artificial colors - they use petrochemicals as artificial coloring, and frankly, who gives a flip what color it is, if it works well? Get rid of the petrochemicals and I’d be a lot happier. Finally, offer the whole range of products as ‘dilutable’ (highly concentrated), not just the glass cleaner. Dilutable means that they save on packaging, shipping, and production costs, and it’s also much better for the planet. But perhaps that’s already in the works, with their plans to go carbon neutral. Time will tell.
But to be sure, they’ve taken huge steps in the right direction with this, and I sincerely hope it starts a trend in the marketplace. I’ve already started noticing more and more products offering ‘greener’ alternatives, but Clorox is the first to launch an entire brand devoted it. I’m certain it won’t be the last - other manufacturers are sure to jump on the bandwagon. And for those of us who work in the ‘green cleaning’ industry, that’s awesome news.
I’m off to buy a bottle or two of Green Works to see how it works. Give me a week or two to test it, and I’ll get back to you with my review.
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Environmental Health » Clorox Green Works says:
[…] Here’s another interesting post I read today by Broomhuggers […]
January 17th, 2008 at 9:47 amPatti LaFevre says:
Bought the bathroom cleaner and it worked as well or better than many other products on our shower. Haven’t tried the others yet.
January 24th, 2008 at 2:31 pmBreona says:
I purchased the bathroom cleaner and the toilet bowl cleaner. Both work just as well as the Clorox cleaners I used before them and have a more pleasant smell. I’m proud of Clorox for taking a step in the right direction, but am left wondering about their factory practices. A lot of companies jump on the green band wagon when it becomes popular. Green is from the ground up. Not just in the products you make. We’ll see what they change when they become more carbon neutral.
January 24th, 2008 at 4:04 pmDavid Brookins says:
My wife and I own a family cleaning business. We maintain both commercial and residential properties here on the east coast. We have tested and tried each of the Clorox Greenworks products and have been very satisfied. We have since decided to Go Green. All of our crews will be using only Greenworks products. Thanks Clorox!
January 26th, 2008 at 10:24 amJudy says:
This does not work. I tried natural all purpose cleaner, did nothing. That means, I won’t be trying any of the other products.
February 26th, 2008 at 10:28 amThis was just as bad as the “Bam” claeners. Too bad. I really wanted it to work.
Broomhuggers » More on Clorox GreenWorks says:
[…] wrote a post about GreenWorks when it was first released, and most of our readers commented that they love it. […]
February 29th, 2008 at 7:47 amKelly says:
I love the products and the smell, but the thing I worry about is that they don’t disinfect.
April 27th, 2008 at 9:16 pm