Method’s New Detergent Both Clever and Sustainable

With all the brands jumping on environmental bandwagon with their messaging lately, it’s hard not to have green fatigue. As marketers, we know that people are now expecting companies to be more responsible – and are more likely to spend their money on brands that are. But there are few companies that put their money where their mouth is when it comes to actually developing and packaging products sustainably – with Method being one of the clear exceptions.

Method just introduced its new 8x concentrated laundry detergent, which smokes all of the competition in efficiency (most are still at 2x). They were able to do this via their “Smartclean” technology, which involves putting the water inside of the ingredients, thereby significantly reducing the amount of water needed to wash a load of laundry. Additionally, Method’s formula is plant-based, made with 95 percent natural and renewable ingredients, requires 33 percent less energy and oil to produce, and is packaged in 36 percent less plastic. Pretty impressive! Not to mention, the packaging is made completely of HDPE (a widely recycled plastic) with 50 percent post-consumer recycled content. All of this has resulted in the product earning Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certification, making Method the first detergent brand to carry this seal.

“What we do at Method is constantly re-innovate,” said Method co-founder Adam Lowry. “We felt like it was time to shake the category up a bit again.”

In addition to being smart with their product development, Method has also though about how consumers will use the detergent. The new packaging includes a pump that squirts out the detergent, a more accurate alternative to the typical measuring cup. In addition to ensuring the consumer doesn’t use more detergent than they need, the pump also inhibits the user from spilling detergent, improving usability and ultimately saving the consumer money from overuse.

“Overdosing (of detergent) is a huge problem,” Lowry said. “The dosage line on bottle caps is only a small fraction of the total volume of the cap and that is not an accident.”

The new detergent will be launched via Method’s first major ad campaign, supported with its own website – a $10 million effort.

[via greenbiz.com]