On buying eco-products in bulk

14 May 2008

Got questions about the environment? Ask Umbra.

Dear Umbra,

Why can't I find environmentally friendly products (laundry soap, shampoo, etc.) in bulk packaging? It seems like there are many companies that make products that are not so hard on the planet, but they are only sold in little tiny containers, which of course increases packaging. I would love to find eco-friendly laundry soap in a five-gallon bucket ... after all, if I think clean clothes are important today, why wouldn't I think so next month?

Sharon
Socorro, N.M.

Dearest Sharon,

Maybe next month you get sick of doing laundry and join a nudity cult, or next month you move to a tropical Pacific island, where swimsuit and flip-flops are all you need. Laundry detergent manufacturers are concerned about weighing you down and hindering your ability to quickly end the laundry-filled lifestyle. They think only of you.

I launder as I wander.

If you have abandoned all hope of moving to Vanuatu and eating only coconuts, though, the detergent folks and their shampoo-ey friends will provide. Two ideas from me, and I'm sure many to follow from Grist readers.

Natural food stores, co-ops, and health food stores should be able to sell you bulk supplies. Maybe you've seen the kind of bulk buying where you fill your little bottle of detergent off the spigoted five-gallon container in the store. You can buy that exact five-gallon container by using the health food store's wholesale supplier. In Seattle, for example, all the natural stores are supplied by United Natural Foods Western Region. At my co-op, I can look at the UNF product book and ask the co-op to order any bulk product on my behalf. Your store will charge a minimal fee plus wholesale, or charge 10 percent off the suggested retail price of the item, so you'll come out a little ahead and won't need to pay for shipping.

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If you have storage space, browsing through the wholesale catalog is a little like going to an eco-Costco. Why not buy all the toilet paper you need for the rest of your life? No one can argue against it. And who doesn't need 12 bottles of organic lemon juice? They'll last six months, after all. Shampoo doesn't seem to come in five-gallon tubs, but I have seen one-gallon jugs.

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If you have no access to a friendly health food store, the internet will eventually yield some riches. I found online resources for you by knowing a few of the brand names for bulk eco-detergent (from my days trolling the United Natural Foods product book, of course). Naturally, the stuff is for sale on Amazon. Now, I don't really want to get into recommending certain detergents (or shampoo, for that matter). I haven't evaluated them, I'm not a chemist, and I'm terrible at cleaning clothes. I am going to tell you the brand name of one detergent I found on Amazon so you can see the price, the shipping costs, and the search terms necessary to bring up any other hiding buckets o' suds: Biokleen. You can search on the web for other brand names familiar to you, with the terms "five gallon," "bulk," etc.

In other words, the bulk packaging is out there, you will realize your dream of less waste and cleaner clothes, and if you move to Bora Bora you'll be able to wash your one sarong for the rest of your life using the same bucket o' suds.

Surfactantly,
Umbra

Yours is to wonder why, hers is to answer (or try). Please send Umbra any nagging question pertaining to the environment -- but first check out her FAQs!

The claims made in this column may not reflect the views of this magazine. Neither the magazine nor the author guarantees that any advice contained in this column is wise or safe. Please use this column at your own risk.

Umbra Fisk is Grist Research Associate II, Hardcover and Periodicals Unit, floors 2B-4B.

Comments: (17 comments)

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Biokleen

I was able to find Biokleen at Costco in a huge container for a decent price. It's lasted my husband and I almost a year, and cleans very well. You have to have a membership, but I've found that Costco is carring an increasing number of environmentally friendly products.

by demeest at 11:10 AM on 14 May 2008

Bulk cleaning products

Hi Sharon - I'm guessing you get up to Albuquerque occasionally. Your local co-op - La Montanita - has two locations there. They have nice website at www.lamontanita.coop. One store
store is at:
2400 Rio Grande NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
Phone
505-242-8800

The original store is at:
3500 Central SE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
Phone
505-265-4631

Hours for both are:
Monday-Saturday
7am-10pm

Sunday
8am-10pm

Go Co-op!

Barbara

by BMendenhall at 11:48 AM on 14 May 2008

Believe it or not

I have found many of my favorite organic shampoo and laundry soaps at costco in very large bulk containers. (We don't have a large co-op where I live). You may want to check your own local store.

by daisyalea at 12:00 PM on 14 May 2008

Costco and Trader Joe's

The Costcos in my area (Chicagoland) are carrying Clorox's new Green Works in large bottles as well as many large containers of organic and eco friendly products. I like their organic instant oatmeal in a massive box.
Trader Joe's also sells a laundry detergent in large quantities if you are luck enough to have one near you.

Kevin Wright

by Wrightsfd at 12:02 PM on 14 May 2008

Green suds from the Big Box

Also - buying from a "regular" store - Costco, Sam's Club/Wal*Mart (shudder) and the like, tells them back at corporate that there's a market for this stuff and makes they stock more eco/green/hip products. It's like buying the organic produce from the regular store (only when you can't get it locally, of course). And don't hesitate to ask management if they have it, or can get it (probably can). And if we all keep asking and buying and making noise, the organic, green, sustainable product selection will grow.

by levijw at 1:08 PM on 14 May 2008
[ Parent ]

Azure Standard, local grocery, Kettle Care

I get all my bulk eco-products from Azure Standard (azurestandard.com). They are a co-op type of organization. If you live in the northwestern U.S., deliveries (including perishables and frozen foods) are made through their own refrigerated delivery fleet. There is a required minimum order amount of $400, but they have a system where you can either join an existing drop point near you or start one of your own so you can aggregate orders with friends and neighbors to meet the $400 minimum. There is no delivery charge and, in my case, no sales tax. Deliveries are scheduled every 2 or 4 weeks, depending on your area.

If you don't live within their delivery area, you can't order perishables and frozen foods, but you can get staples delivered via UPS. The $400 minimum doesn't apply in this case, but you pay for shipping.

They have a good selection of, well, everything, from organic frozen meats to 5 gallon buckets of laundry detergent to plant starters to organic cotton underwear to mouthwash. Order a single, case or bulk package of many staple items. Their wide selection and good prices make up for the inconvenience of either ordering $400 at a time or dealing with drop points. We don't have a problem meeting the $400 minimum because we basically do our grocery shopping through Azure and order frozen meats, canned goods, cleaning products, personal hygiene products, etc. But then we order once every 2-3 months and we have two freezers. Word to the wise, though, their fresh produce can be hit or miss. And the eggs aren't super-fresh. We get fresh produce and eggs once a week through our local co-op (Fresh Abundance) and/or our local grocery store.

Our local Fred Meyer supermarket also has a nice nutrition center (i.e. where you find the organic products and bulk food bins) and anything the nutrition center normally stocks, as well as a few things that are in their catalog but are not normally stocked, can be ordered by the case (which unfortunately doesn't address the packaging issue). Nutrition center special orders receive a 10% discount, whereas normal grocery special orders do not. So it doesn't hurt to ask your local grocer if you can order by the case or bulk package and if you will receive a discount. I haven't tried, but I imagine that any of the bulk bin items would also be available for order (like oatmeal or flour).

For shampoo and conditioner, we get one gallon jugs from Kettle Care. Very, VERY eco-friendly products with a wonderful smell.

by mxphile at 1:30 PM on 14 May 2008

caution on bulk buying

I don't want to rain on the bulk parade since I also strive to minimize packaging waste, but I do want to point out that one of the components of your carbon footprint is the size of your house (or extra storage space). If you end up increasing your storage area, you may be inadvertently increasing your carbon footprint. If you can stow it in an underutilized space, you may not have a problem, but you may want to factor in your carbon costs if you are creating additional finished areas with racks and lights and things. As we all know, it's about balance.

by oldtimey at 3:39 PM on 14 May 2008

Soap nuts

I buy my Maggies Soap Nuts from here: http://www.betterlifegoods.com/ProductDetails.asp?Product ...
I can get 5 kilos at a time.

I can also buy gallon jugs of Dr. Bronner's soaps.

That takes care of the bulk of my cleaning. I get my bathroom cleaner by the gallon from my local health food store.

by raevynn at 4:39 PM on 14 May 2008

Bio-Pac

I buy Bio-Pac's 128 oz detergent - its fairly concentrated, so their standard gallon bottle lasts a long time.

view their wares:
http://www.bio-pac.com/

by Second Beach at 8:16 AM on 15 May 2008

Charlie's Soap

Just got some and I love it! It cleans great and dissolved so fast. I never used powdered detergent before but I really like it and you only need a tablespoon. And....it comes in a 5 gal bucket for 1,280 loads. Wow! (I personally have no room for that big boy)

http://www.charliesoap.com/

by mearph at 8:30 AM on 15 May 2008

Shaklee Fresh Laundry Liquid Concentrate HE

Shaklee is a brand you can only get through a distributor. If you are intereted in the product you can go to www.shaklee.net/ccarroll
This product is great for high efficency or energy star washers because soap suds are a problem with these washers and the HE compatible formula controls suds. It does not come in a 5 gallon, instead it is 100 oz., but it is triple concentrated so you only need 1-2 oz. of it.

Christina Carroll

by tinare23 at 1:31 PM on 15 May 2008

Frontier Co-op

Have you checked into Frontier Co-op stuff? www.frontier.coop You can access their retail catalog online, and buy things in bulk. Also, you might inquire if there is a buying club for Frontier in your area (there is in mine). For buying clubs, you get to buy at the wholesale rate, and if your club order is over $250, you get free shipping. If there's not a club in your area, maybe you have enough interested friends & acquaintances that you could put one together? Frontier has lots and lots of mainline stuff, including natural home & garden products, health & beauty stuff, herbals, spices, and so on, and a lot of well-known name brands (7th Generation and Aura Cacia come to mind). Frontier is frequently the supplier for the spice section of co-ops, too. I really dig my Frontier buying club here. Good luck!

by jedimomma at 7:07 AM on 16 May 2008

Bulk laundry for clean clothes

I want to second the reply above about using Shaklee Liquid Laundry Concentrate. I have found that it outcleans all the "green" cleaners mentioned above and is super-concentrated so that a bottle lasts a long time. Shaklee Corporation has been the long-time leader in biodegradable and effective cleaners and continues to lead the way in this arena.
You can buy by the bottle or case or whatever suits your storage area and it comes right to your door.
I live in Albuquerque and I am willing to answer any questions for you. www.shaklee.net/pat-morrison

Changing brands can change your life; try Shaklee, it's guaranteed!

by patamino39 at 10:15 AM on 16 May 2008

DIY green cleaners

You could always make your own:

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/files/NC/newsletter/Recipes_DS ...

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/NatureChallenge/newsletters/ap ...

by Ian Hanington at 3:25 PM on 16 May 2008

DIY

Ian - great minds think alike - I found a great recipe - here are 10 recipes for your own laundry detergent:

http://www.homesteadblogger.com/HSBFrontPorch/82791/

by jennconspiracy at 11:13 PM on 19 May 2008

eco-products in bulk

Although not "in bulk", I use Shaklee products, which are concentrated so that packaging is significantly reduced. A gallon sized container of laundry liquid lasts my family of 2 more than six months. To cut down on shipping costs and their environmental impact, I order "doubles" when I order.

Susi

by seg420 at 8:45 AM on 20 May 2008

More soap....

Here on the West Coast, Oregon Soap Company has looong blocks of soap that can be cut off into any size chunks--<www.oregonsoapcompany.com>, 800-549-0299 (I don't believe they print a catalog).
Sarah

by lovelydust at 7:41 PM on 29 May 2008

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