Clorox launches a green cleaning line with the Sierra Club's logo

Supermarket shoppers found a green addition in the cleaning products aisle this week. Yesterday, Clorox launched a green line of cleaning products called Green Works. And these products have the Sierra Club's logo on them!

The great news is that now, people shopping pretty much anywhere will have the option of cleaning green without going out of their usual routine. The Green Works line -- which includes general purpose cleaner, window cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, dilutable cleaner and bathroom cleaner -- is available at 24,000 stores nationwide, including Safeway and Wal-Mart.

Plus, the items are reasonably priced, from $2.99 to $3.39. And because the Clorox brand is well known, eco-cleaner skeptics who might have steered clear of green brands before may choose to give Green Works a try.

Of course, the launch of a green line from a company known for committing many eco-sins brings up concerns from environmentalists. One is that while this Green Works line is green, most of Clorox's $4.8 billion family of cleaning and household products is not. In fact, the "conventional" Clorox products don't even list their ingredients (the Green Works line does) -- which include toxic, petroleum-derived chemicals. The fear is that the Green Works line will give the entire Clorox company an undeserved green halo.

And there's also concern over the fact that Clorox -- by paying an undisclosed fee based partly on sales -- gets to use the Sierra Club logo. That logo is not on any other cleaning product, which makes Clorox's Green Works look supergreen. However, Clorox's Green Works is hardly the greenest product on the market. As Collin Dunn of Treehugger points out, Green Works products still include some petroleum-derived ingredients; Dunn concludes that "Green Works is better than a conventional alternative, but not perfect."

In contrast, all-green companies such as Seventh Generation use NO petroleum-based ingredients but don't get to use the Sierra Club's logo. If the two products went head to head on a supermarket shelf, Clorox could have an unfair marketing advantage, partly because Clorox is paying the Sierra Club.

That said, Green Works and Seventh Generation don't exactly share the same supermarket shelves. I see lots of Clorox products but no Seventh Generation when I drop by Vons to buy bus tokens; the situation is reversed at my favorite green grocery store, Co-opportunity.

My guess is that fans of Seventh Generation and Method will continue supporting those companies, while Clorox's Green Works turns some non-environmentalists onto green cleaning. Then maybe the new Green Works consumers will notice the ingredient list and decide to become Seventh Generation and Method buyers to say bye-bye to petroleum-derived ingredients altogether?

That last part might be a little too idealistic on my part.

Comments

[Kim Hover]

Don't forget the very important animal testing part of products, of which, Clorox is definately guilty of! Seventh Generation, Aubrey and other cleaning products found at Whole Foods and other "health food stores" do NOT test on animals. No animal should suffer in pain for a cleaning product - especially when you can clean most of your house with vinegar (kills 99.9% of bacteria). Always look for biodegradeable & cruelty free! :)