One of my goals for this year was to improve the greenness of my cleanness. We have already made Method and Charlie’s part of the routine, but we still have a lot of less than eco-friendly products kicking around. For this month’s product trials and reviews I focused on a few products from each of two trusted companies….Burt’s Beeswax for personal uses and 7th Generation for household cleaning, and Preserve’s tooth brushes. (All items were purchased on Drugstore.com.)

House Hold Cleaning- 7th Generation Trials

7th Generation Natural Dish Soap…2.09 25oz… Sure. I don’t do a ton of dishes by hand, so….I might not be the harshest critic of dish soap. It seemed to do the job for a reasonable price without a whole lotta stink. So…sure. One complaint….plastic wrapped plastic? Is it a rule that cleaners that come in the mail need to be shrink wrapped? Do they take back their bottles for refill? They are recyclable here so it isn’t a deal breaker if they don’t….just wondering.

7th Generation Natural Laundry Soap…$11.51 for 100oz…Maybe…if you are not on a tight budget. Not blown away, but it seemed to clean. (I convinced a girlfriend to try it too and she swears it didn’t do well by her.) Very little scent once washed. I am a little concerned the lack of Tide smell will be seen as a negative by the little people. Out of the bottle it smells like silly putty but it didn’t stick. The price wasn’t insane. Not great, but not sell a kidney high. The plastic cup measuring lines are really had to read though. I haven’t given it a good stain buster test, but I am sure my “assistants” are working up something good right now. I am withholding final analysis until I get a good ol’ fashion nappy blow-out….and then we’ll see what it can do.

7th Generation Trash Bags 2ply 30 Gallon…3.56 for 20… Not Recommended….but more for personal taste reasons. They just don’t taste as good as my old brand. No seriously, I didn’t realize these were twist ties when I bought them. Pain in the butt vs the drawstring kind. Also, they are black. It sounds weird, but I like to see my trash. Once again I remind readers that I have two little people that often select items for the trash that some might not quite consider trash….wallets, shoes, Sir TopEmHat. I always need to give it a good once over before it goes down the shoot. Prefer to do this with my eyes and not my hands. I am such a princess. Plus, the price is not appealing. I pay about $8 for 100 clear drawstring bags the same size, which lasts me close to a year. So….significant price difference. I haven’t ruled out recycled bags…but it won’t be these.

7th Generation Paper Towels…$3.14 for 3 rolls… Run for the Hills. Serious level of suck and not in the good absorbent way. I had to use 4 just to clean the table. ….And still had to resort to a Bounty. One Bounty does the table and the counter tops. For those of you who think I am being a tad dramatic…keep in mind…I have two toddler boys. Paper towels are a crucial part of my daily survival. Haven’t tried 7th’s tp yet, but it was next on my list for reviewing. Having serious second thoughts. Last things I need to add to my cleaning regime are skid marks in the tiny tightie-whities.

Personal Grooming- Burt’s Bees & Recycline Trials

Burt’s Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar with Oat Protein…$6.19 3.5 oz bar…..A keeper. A keeper…get it….BEE keeper? Snicker. Snicker. Ahhh…let me recover. “Weirdly cool,” was my husband’s official review. I found it cleaned without stripping. The smell was very faint and pleasant. My one big concern is my hair color. (Shhhh…yes I color my hair. I love Pantene because it really actually seems to keep the color from turning evil. It doesn’t get a happy environmental smile, but…it doesn’t turn my hair pumpkin color either. Big fan of the not pumpkin head look. ) My husband is convinced. He even wants a special dish for his shampoo bar. Since he washes his hair every day and I am more of a 2 or 3 times a week kinda gal, even if it does voodoo to my hair coloring, him switching would be a huge savings in chemically shampoo and in plastic. The shampoo bar’s packaging is great. Just a little recycled paper box. Completely recyclable. What a difference from the shampoo bottles.

Burt’s Bees Carrot Nutritive Night Creme…$11.99 1oz…Highly Recommend. I really like it. I usually use Nivea Q10 Advanced. This is defiantly comparable. Both come in a glass jar, but Burt’s lid is metal so it is a tad more recyclable. Because it comes in a little clear jar, vs the blue of Nivea, it is also more likely to be reused in my house. The carrot creme has a much lighter smell which is a big positive. There is a warning on the Carrot Creme that it can stain clothing, but for night cream it isn’t such an issue because my jammies tend to be t-shirts that are no longer presentable to the general public. My husband is a lucky, lucky man. Perfect little homemade toothpaste jar. Will probably try the Day Carrot Creme too. Right now I use Origins A Perfect World with White Tea. It is my favorite lotion in the world. Love Origins - tough to replace, but I’m willing to see other lotions on the side. Our little secret.

Burt’s Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme… $8.19 2 oz…Recommend for really dry hands. It is thick and doesn’t absorb super quickly so it is probably best for right before bed. Pleasant light scent. It comes in a glass jar with a metal lid. There is a little very thin removable foam layer over the inside of the lid that is not recyclable. It is also a cute little jar that could probably find a good second use.

Burt’s Bees Hand Salve..Not Recommended. The container is a tiny tin that is impossible to open. If you do happen to get it open the salve is oily and smelly. The container is metal and recyclable, but that is about all I can drum up for this one. Skip it and use the almond creme instead.

Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer….$5.49 one tube…Sure. Just like any other shiny chap stick, but with less scary stuff on the ingredient list.

Preserve Toothbrush…3.89 each…Recommend…if you don’t mind paying a little more. The big drawback, besides price, is that they do not have fun kiddie shapes. My kids have a thing for plastic animal heads on the end of their brushes. Small price to pay for a brushing bribe.

Keep in mind…these are just the humble opinions of a wife, mama, and teeny greeny business starter trying to live a “normal” life. I think I remember what that is…..

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 11:06 am and is filed under green cleaning, product review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.