Wouldn’t it be great if we could get our laundry detergent and dishwasher tablets cheaper than we currently do? As these two items can so often be the most expensive single purchases in our grocery basket if there was a way we could save just a few pence off each purchase it would all go to help in these austere times.
ECOVER Point of Purchase – Environmentally Sound Displays:
Ecover, an environmentally friendly washing up and detergent brand, has come up with a novel way of dispensing their laundry detergent. By providing sturdy reusable detergent bottles when you first purchase their product you can bring these back to the store and get them refilled. If the only benefit and saving was the manufacture of detergent bottles this would be a massive help to the environment as throwing away these usually sturdy and well made plastic bottles is a waste to the environment and economy.
With the cost of crude oil based products rapidly rising as oil demands increase I think it can only be a good thing if we are able to use less plastic bottles and more importantly less drain on the earth’s natural resources.
Now the real question comes – would be shoppers be happy turning up to their local supermarket with their empty bottle of Persil? possibly, although changing consumer habits can take time and effort. However the biggest driver to make this change would be to incentivise shoppers to reuse their old bottles. We have seen it done successfully with plastic shopping bags and people are more than happy to use their Sainsbury’s bag for life while shopping in Tesco’s, something that just a few years ago would be frowned upon. And at the opposite end of the spectrum it has almost become socially unacceptable to use a dozen plastic bags to fill your shopping with rather than getting to the store well prepared with your own bags.
I think we should see the big brands adopt this new way of dispensing the laundry detergent and help everyone.
Our Verdict: 8/10, great idea, lets hope it catches on
Author: Nigel Dench
December 16, 2011 at 10:10 pm
I totally dig this idea and hope we see more of it as our world becomes more sustainably focused. We already do it with bulk food and even the peanut/almond butters, and as you mentioned with our bags. I would love to see us bring back our containers for reuse for most everything. We will eventually need to go this route to preserve our Earth. Thanks for sharing this! I hope this makes it over to the States sooner rather than later.
-Heather