Seventh Generation liquid laundry detergent will soon have a new look. They are introducing a new bottle made of recycled cardboard and newspaper and 66% less plastic.
As part of plastic-free February, I became very aware of every plastic thing I used. I found out that now only do I use a lot more plastic than I thought, but that it’s virtually impossible to cut back. Many items just don’t come without a plastic package.
How It’s Made
Seventh Generation teamed up with EcoLogic to design a new bottle for their liquid laundry detergent. The bottle consists of an outer shell – made of 70% recycled cardboard and 30% recycled newspaper – and an inner plastic bag. The plastic bag is made using 66% less plastic than typical 100 ounce liquid laundry detergent bottles.
Laundry detergent bottles are recycled about 29% of the time, so most of them end up in landfills. It takes about 500 years for one of the bottles to decompose in a landfill.
Fewer Resources, Less Cost
The outer shell composed of cardboard and newspaper can be recycled with other paper products, upcycled up to seven times, and then composted. The inner plastic bag is #4 plastic and the cap is #5 plastic. Both plastics can be recycled.
Inside the new Seventh Generation bottle is an improved version of their liquid laundry detergent. It’s twice as effective as their current version, meaning you can use half as much to get your clothes clean. This saves on transportation costs.
New Milk Bottles
This same bottle was tested with milk and sales increased by 72%. The Straus Family Creamery used the new bottle with their nonfat milk and ran the test at Whole Foods Market. This gives me more hope for being able to reduce my plastic use and still satisfy my family’s milk habit.
The new bottle is being rolled out on March 16. It should be in stores around the U.S. by the end of March.
You can read more on this new eco bottle over at our sister site, Green Building Elements.
Cool new bottle! Love it. However, it should be noted (and I think this is not taken into consideration enough when people talk about plastic recycling) that a #5 plastic cap is not recyclable in all places in the United States. Plastic recycling is confusing for a lot of folks, and depends totally on the end market as to whether or not it is “recyclable” in that area. Where I live in Minnesota, they are not technically recyclable…FYI.
Thanks!
That’s a good point. Just because something is recyclable doesn’t mean we can recycle it. It still happens in a lot of places.