Method eco-friendly home cleaning products

Credit: Courtesy of Method

Method products look cool and are a good ‘light green’ cleaning option

Method is leading the cleaning products industry in a major way by making eco-friendly cleaning products widely available and easily accessible.

With super stylish packaging and vibrant colours, Method products look cool. It’s not until people read the label that they find out about the health and environmental benefits, being non-toxic, derived from natural materials, not being tested on animals and using recycled plastic in their bottles. All these things are good and it’s great to see them influence the big boys.

With Clorox releasing a line of green cleaners this year, it’s no surprise to see the shift while watching rising stars like Method. I’ve yet to try out the Clorox product yet so I don’t know if it’s legitimately green. But it’s release on the market signals that the big players are listening to consumers and are starting to understand that we care about our health and want products that respect us as people, families and communities.

Method has helped to influence this change in the marketplace, as have the millions of people who pick up Method products off the shelves to take into their homes.
 

Does Method really work?

I’ve tried a bunch of the Method products and I’ve been happy with them all. The glass cleaner works exceptionally well, as one should expect. They’ve even got reusable microfibre clothes so you don’t have to throw away paper towels again and again.

The tub and tile spray does the trick, too. The shower is a neglected place in my home so I’ve definitely given Method a challenge and it’s stood up. I was expecting to have to scrub and scrub to get the tiles clean, but it really wasn’t that much work. No toxic foaming sprays in my bathroom anymore, why would I go back?

I’ve used the dish liquid a fair bit as well and it gets my dishes clean. The only thing is that toward the end of the bottle, the liquid builds up inside the cap making it hard to squeeze through. This seems to be a problem with many dish liquids, both green and conventional, and I’ve yet to find one that’s got this issue sorted.
 

3 good things about Method

1) Widely available and easy to find – With Method in stores like Safeway, Shoppers Drug Mart, London Drugs and IGA, even my mom is finding it easy to switch from the conventional products she’s bought for years.

2) Cost competitive – Comparable in price or marginally more expensive than national brands, it’s not a big hit in your pocket to try Method out.

3) Cool packaging – Who doesn’t want an interesting bubbly cube pumping out soap in their bathroom? Method’s brought in popular designers such as Karim Rashid to come up with great looking products that are easy to put out in your home. No more hiding cleaners under the sink!
 

Is Method really green?

Method has done a lot of good, and it’s my opinion that on the whole their influence of the industry is for the best. Influencing major players to develop new more environmentally and socially responsible products helps to improve society. This is good and hard to dispute.

Method does use ingredients like Sodium Laurel Sulfate, which many people believe to be dangerous and a skin irritant. Other cleaning products are definitely more green, with a few local companies leading the space.

Method also uses corn-based alcohols, another area of dispute for environmental concerns with genetic modification and the amount of energy required to manufacture it. It’s a complex problem without a simple answer. In my opinion, Method’s playing a positive role in society and empowering consumers to show they care about health. Companies listen to consumers, so let’s speak with our dollars.