great smellin' deals!

And off I went to Big Lots today, to of course pick one thing up, and walked out with way more than that! (Isn't this what always happens?!? And you'd think I'd be all frugal today. During an outing with some of my friends last night, I ended up losing $20. from my wallet! I'd just made that at a yard sale a week earlier... sniff. Ok, I don't even want to talk about it. Let's just put a positive spin on things and think that whoever found my lost $20. must have needed it more than me! Wait, where was I besides lamenting about my poorness... Oh, right! method stuff!)

So Big Lots must have gotten a (slight) new shipment of method candles, in the old school ceramic jars, in stock recently! They've carried some of these for a while, but a couple scents that haven't popped up lately make me believe this was a new shipment. And the really great deal at the moment is they're on sale for only $3.00 (normally $3.50. Ok, not a huge sale, but WAY better than the Target price of $7.99, don't you think?) I found all these scents at my local Big Lots:

Grapefruit pear (when is the last time you've seen that method scent?! This was an old aircare line scent that was discontinued ages and ages ago), beach sage, citrus cilantro, lavender + lemongrass, sweet water, eucalyptus mint, vanilla apple, gingerbread + spice, hollyberry, cinnamon bark, peppermint vanilla, and fresh lychee. Run out and pick some up while the sale is happening (not sure when it's over!) and uh, even when the sale isn't happening, cause I bet these will sell out! Mmm, method candles...

now with more foam!

You know, somedays I'm just not sure what Target is up to. In case you haven't been roaming the aisles of your favorite method store (unlike the insane person that is me. Seriously, I should have some special Gold Target card or something, just for the amount of time I spend shopping there. Or or, maybe I could get some free popcorn and a coke at the food counter with each visit! Or well, I don't know, how about a free item with every purchase! Hmm... I'm liking these ideas!)

It seems that Target has done a rather big shake up with their aisles recently. Rearranging all sorts of areas, moving items to new areas, etc! One of the (unfortunate) results to this happens to be quite a few clearanced method products. It would appear they're no longer carrying the method omop, or any of the cleaning cloths; but have retained their floor cleaners. The almond flower creamy body wash and hand wash is gone from Target (while one store has white tea restocked in their new aisle layout; and another one now only carries olive leaf. See, see, weird?!) And quite a few other items seem to have been removed from Target's shelves. The lucky thing is, many of these products can be found at your favorite Lowe's Hardware store! So fear not! (And of course, on methodhome.com!)

However, one good thing that seems to have come out of this shake up is, Target now carries method refresh mint and waterflower in foaming hand wash (previously they only carried the gel)! So if you like these scents, run out and pick yourself up a bottle or two!

method man

Have you read this great Q&A article with Eric Ryan, method's co-founder over on ANA Advertiser magazine? No, well hey, now you can! (See, I knew I was good for something. I just KNEW it!) Enjoy!

"Eric Ryan, who co-founded cleaning products company Method in 2001, has a simple strategy for competing with the likes of Unilever, Procter & Gamble, S.C. Johnson, and Clorox. "Everything we do has to be different," says Ryan, 36, chief brand architect of the San Francisco company, which is among the fastest-growing private companies in America. "Method is a belief brand being built on what money can't buy. We're a challenger brand, taking on 8 Goliaths."

With sales "just north of $100 million" and 106 employees, the company has a long way to go before it can slay even one of the Goliaths in its space, as Ryan readily admits. Meanwhile, he's betting that "our scrappiness can match competitors' scale." And, perhaps more crucial to the company's continued success, he's betting that consumers will embrace the company's environmentally friendly philosophy of producing cleaning products that are effective, safe, and without toxic ingredients. "Historically, consumers were focused on the best products," he told the crowd during his session to kick off Tuesday. "Now, consumers are equally focused on how things are made." Ryan was joined on stage by Scott Potter, founding managing partner of San Francisco Private Equity Partners, a key investor in the company.

Ryan's presentation created quite a buzz among the 300+ attendees, who were fascinated by his entrepreneurial spirit and optimistic outlook. "The difference between successful and unsuccessful companies is that the unsuccessful ones gave up too early," Ryan said as he described the launch of the company in 2001, during an economic downturn. "We constantly push ourselves and remind ourselves that standing still is not an option."

Ryan had much more to say, on a range of topics, when ANA Magazine Editor Bob Barrett sat down with him under the 100-degree Phoenix sun. Here's a transcript of the interview.

Bob Barrett, ANA Advertiser: You've created an instant buzz here and I've seen you shaking a lot of hands since coming off stage. What kind of response have you had to your presentation?

Eric Ryan: Usually, the word I hear most often, which is really cool, is inspiring. That's what I try to do, as far as a lot of people working for really big companies and legacy brands. I feel like the one thing I can do is just help try to inspire them to think a little differently and give them the confidence to do that. So I try to design my talk, as much as possible, to be uplifting, anything's possible, and then here's some real simple ways of how to think about it to try to create change. People want something they can use, versus just talking about it. So I don't want to just talk about what we do. If I talk about something we do, I want to make it easy for someone to take that and run with it.

BB: What role has traditional marketing played in the growth and success of Method, to the extent that anything Method does is traditional? And how close are you to the marketing function?

ER: I'm really close to marketing because I come from a marketing background, and the only asset we own is the brand. So, creating and building the brand is my number one priority. Now, with that, we've got a big team and we've got a head of marketing, a creative director, and other people who that's their daily responsibility. But it's something that I still get my hands quite messy on, so it's still very focused.

BB: As you look forward and you think about the next level of growth for the company, what role will marketing play in allowing you to achieve the success you're targeting?

ER: Well, we're in a great spot, depending on how you look at it — glass half full, glass half empty. Our awareness is high for how new we are as a brand and how little we spend. But, compared to our competitors, our awareness is very, very low. So, the role of marketing, more than anything else, is going to be trying to get our story out there in a broader way and bring more people into the brand. If you look at our growth drivers, our number one growth driver is getting more people into the brand. We have a lot of distribution opportunity, a lot of products opportunity, but what's really going to be our number one focus is just creating more advocates, as we call them.

BB: Today you talked about differentiation and how you really work hard to differentiate Method from the mega-competitors you face. But what have you learned from them? What are some things that maybe you're doing similarly to them, even though they have much bigger scale?

ER: The big thing we're trying to do is use their strengths against them, right. We can't outspend them. We can't outmarket them on claims. So we've got to try to use their legacy against them. So, that's anything from the way we try to reframe products. It's all about shifting the conversation, right. These are brands that have been around for decades and decades, so they own the conversation. If you're Windex, you own the conversation on streak clean. We can't come in and join that conversation and do a better job, so we've got to shift the conversation to a different topic. So, in that case, we shift the conversation to non-toxic and the fragrance and the beauty of it and the overall experience. So, that's the biggest thing we've got to do, is keep trying to figure out what is the conversation that our competitors are talking about and then how do we shift it to something different.

BB: You are ever-mindful of your competition, including the fact that many of them were listening to you today. Given that, how do you approach a presentation like this? Are you cautious about giving away secrets and strategy?

ER: We're cautious about what we share. But, also, anybody can look at what we do and dissect it. It's not rocket science, it's soap. And the things we're sharing we know are difficult for them to do in some cases. In other cases, they're really, really great at it. And I don't think we're giving anything away. But, also, if we really are a challenger brand, we've got to keep innovating and keep challenging. So, our story shouldn't be static. It should be dynamic. And what I shared here this year, by next year, this story should've evolved. So, if they're following what were doing today, that's fine, as long as we're evolving.

BB: How are your competitors reacting to Method's early success and your presence in the market?

ER: Quite aggressively. We're seeing it come from all spaces, but it's coming in a very different way. So, I think CPG really struggles to build tensions into a brand. So, what makes Method unique is the tension of style and the tension of substance. Bringing those together is really challenging because there's constant trade-offs that you've got to work through. Typically within the world of consumer products, brands are built around a single attribute, so there is no tension within it. It's a single plot. The way you're seeing competitors come after us, the way it's manifesting, is they're focusing on green or they're focusing on design. Nobody's focusing on bringing them together. Design's not something you talk about; it's just something you do. It's your tone. It's who you are. It's your personality. And the ones who are focusing on what we call substance, which is the green, they're also doing it in a very single-dimensional way, which is selling green as a product feature. Whereas, to us, it is a product feature, but it's bigger than that. It's the entire philosophy behind the brand..."

Make sure to head on over and read the rest!

what's new, ceo?

Check it, check it!

"Method Products, Inc. Names Drew Fraser President and CEO

Method Products, Inc. announces today that Andrew (Drew) Fraser, former Senior Vice President at Whirlpool Corporation, has joined Method as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

Method is the leading innovator in healthy, eco-friendly home care products. Fraser brings to the 9-year-old company 20 years of experience with some of the world’s leading consumer product companies, including Whirlpool, Clorox and Procter & Gamble.

“Drew’s breadth of knowledge and experience leading global brands to success will be a wonderful asset to Method as the company continues its trajectory of growth,” said Tim Koogle, Method’s chairman of the board. “We’re delighted to have Drew join the Method team and help guide the company to the next level.”

Prior to joining Method, Fraser served as a Senior Vice President of North America sales and trade marketing at Whirlpool, where he led the company’s sales for all products, brands and channels. Previous roles at Whirlpool include Vice President and General Manager of the fabric care business, Vice President and General Manager of the U.S. Whirlpool brand, and Vice President and General Manager of Whirlpool Canada. Before joining Whirlpool in 2004, Fraser spent 10 years working at the Clorox Company, where his last position was VP and general manager of Clorox Canada. He spent four years at Procter & Gamble prior to joining Clorox, where he served in a number of sales and marketing leadership positions.

“I am honored and excited to be joining the incredibly talented Method team,” Fraser said. “This is a unique brand with a dynamic company culture. I look forward to building upon the Method success and to helping the company continue its innovation and growth.”

Fraser replaces interim CEO Dan Swander, who serves on Method’s board. Fraser will step into his new role with the company on June 15."

my big method post!

Are you ready for the longest post in the history of method lust?...

The email said "Danny Seo and I will be in Charlotte at the end of next (keep this word in mind, it's slightly important. Well, more so just to show how slow I am sometimes!) week for a media tour we're doing with Lowe's. Wondering what your schedule is like Thursday? But wanted to see if you would be free and would even want to meet us? - Rachel, method PR"

Alright, a couple points to note here. A) Would I want to meet Danny Seo, method's Healthy Home 'co-conspirator' and Rachel Goldberg, method's Squire of Scoop? Nah, not really. I mean, I'm pretty busy and all, and it would just be disruptive to my extremely packed calendar, and it's not like I've lusted meeting folks from method for freakin' ever, so well, uhm... HOLY CRAP YES! Oh my word! Is this a dream?!

Oh and B) See that part of the email that says "would you be available Thursday?" Well, I received this email Wednesday night... at 8 PM. Oh oh, and yes, I somehow MISSED that "next" in the "next week" portion of the email. So my hair stood on end, and I jumped to my feet, still dizzy at the whole prospect of what this email was offering me, and screamed "Tomorrow?!?" So I ran to the phone, trying to get a hold of Rachel, to let her know that HECK yes, it WAS ok to get together, and not miss this amazing opportunity! But she wasn't available! (What in the world? Isn't California like, five hours time difference?! Shouldn't they still be at work?! (Yes, yes. I know. No, Nathan, California is indeed, NOT five hours time difference. Did you actually even pay attention in school? I mean, really, ok? Sigh.) So I left a message... With Rachel, and oh, I think about three other folks at method (all voice mail, cause well, see that whole five hours thing.) And then I sent Rachel an email. And then I sent Rachel a Facebook message. And then I twittered Rachel. And then I launched smoke signals into the air to Rachel. And I hired a sky writer, and... Oh ok, maybe not those last three. But pretty much I gave her just enough ammunition to prove I was, indeed, a method stalker who would stop at nothing to meet them! Ha ha!

Oh oh, and this was during the Lost season finale! Ok, you KNOW what that says? Don't you? Because the quote I give to my friends is "Wednesday night, at 9 pm; if you are not dying, or body parts have not been removed from your person and you're in need of immediate 911 assistance, DO NOT call me. Cause I won't answer. CAUSE, it's LOST!" But for method, I was emailing, calling, and cleaning my house like MAD (What if they came over? What if they wanted to see the house that method cleans?! What in the world would happen if this house wasn't spotless! Clean, AND watch Lost at the same time! See what sacrifices I'll make for method! I just hope they don't need an organ anytime soon.)

Then later that evening I get an email saying "So sorry for the confusion!" (or the fact that I couldn't read her email correctly the first time around should have been what she really said.) But it's NEXT Wednesday. Cue huge sigh of relief. Drop omop to the floor, scream "NO, not Juliette!" and fall into bed. (Lost fans will get that one!)

So the big day arrived this past Thursday! Now, here's another email I received that really made me nervous. The paraphrased version was, I was to meet them at a nearby Lowe's at 5 PM, and they were concocting up a bit of a surprise for me; Oh, and would I be comfortable talking to a reporter? Sure, not a problem! A reporter... what?! A tv reporter? A newspaper reporter? (Believe it or not, I'm rather shy until I get to really know you well. Then, you can't get me to shut up. And you wish I were once more, shy. But alas...) I was really scared about this whole reporter business, as Rachel was determined to keep it a surprise!

So the big day arrived this past Thursday (oh wait, I already said that...) and I showed up at Lowe's; and two of my friends were also there to enjoy the experience, and take lots of great pics of the fun! And there standing in front of MY Lowe's (well, not really MINE, you know, I don't own it or anything. Wow, that would rock. I'd be rich! But you know what I mean.) was none other than Danny Seo and Rachel Goldberg!

Now let's pause here for a moment. We're talking Rachel Goldberg! Straight from San Francisco, and the method offices; plastic bag rehab totes at her side; standing there in all her beauty (seriously, I think it's safe to say that, since it's coming from a gay man! LOL She won't think I'm trying to throw her a pickup line! But she's beautiful! If you don't believe me, you'll see what I'm talking about, a few pics further down!) AND Danny Seo. Ok, uhm, Danny does segments on the Today Show. CBS This Morning. HGTV! He has multiple books discussing his eco way of living; a bedding line at JCPenney's; a Wholearth body care line that is being carried by Anthropologie! Uhm, he's got star power here (I like to think of him as the eco-Martha Stewart. I wonder if he'd find that offensive, or complimentary? Hopefully complimentary!), and they're taking time out to visit with ME? (Who spiked their coffee?! Psst - You did good, the check will be in the mail.)

So here they stand, with a newspaper/online reporter for our local paper the News & Record, Morgan Josey Glover. She writes for their gogreentriad.com (which I didn't even know existed! I've learned something new and great so I can now follow going green in my home town more easily!) Cool!) I felt SO much better now that I knew it wasn't a tv reporter (me and photos/video, GAH! We don't get along well at all. Uhm, you can tell by these photos here! Photogenic, I am not! And you're not even seeing the ones I DIDN'T put up here!) She asked me a multitude of questions pertaining to how method lust got it's start, the first method product I bought, my eco habits, what I was doing to help the environment, if I was clued into the green movement in my hometown (something that honestly, I haven't been following! But will begin doing so now!), and what my next eco-challenge might be? You can read the interview, AND win method goodies too! (The link is further down this post. Hold on, patience is a virtue, my lustful friends!)

Meanwhile, Rachel and Danny had gone into Lowe's to scope out the method section! We actually have a really great set up at our local Lowe's, two end caps (you can only see one in this pic) full of method products! Hmm, what were they up to?

Once the (painless) interview was finished, Rachel and Danny came out to take us inside, and we all stood around the method products! Now, (as far as I know) my local Lowe's had no clue what was going on, so I thought it was rather funny that as more photos got snapped, and method products got grabbed, more employees started roaming around us wondering what was going on!? Oh oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself... (no surprise there!)

So we all stood around the method end caps,and Danny started giving this oh so sweet speech about how he'd suggested at the method office that they go meet their #1 advocate (out of thousands!) and who would that be, and everyone at method yelled "Nathan!" Crazy, seriously! That's so freakin' nice! And because of that, they took a little side trip during their Charlotte Lowe's tour, JUST to meet me, and vice versa. They had no business plans in Greensboro! But drove an hour and a half out of their way for me! I was quite overwhelmed!

He continued "So since you mean a lot to us here at method, we wanted the opportunity to..." and then he stopped, and said "Wait, wait, it sounds like I'm about to give you a brand new car! That's not the case, sorry! This is a recession! No brand new car!" and everyone cracked up laughing! "But we're going to give you a shopping spree! A method shopping spree! No shopping carts, but whatever you can carry on your arms from these shelves, you can keep!" CRAZY! Freakin' crazy! I was so excited! I had no idea (and had literally, just two hours earlier, bought some aroma pill refills at Target. Yeah, I am that obsessed! But it was to make the house smell all pretty in case they stopped by! I knew they probably weren't going to, but you have to be ready for these things! Well, I do, cause, I'm nuts.)

BUT first, before I could start grabbin', just in case my newspaper interview hadn't been stressful enough, Rachel had me do another interview while she recorded it, for the method offices! She tells me it's for internal use only, but I'm not sure I believe her! (Joking!) I could never be a politician or uh, anything dealing with quick reponses to questions, because I'm the worse. I know on more than one question she could probably insert the sounds of crickets chirping to cover up my delaying as I pondered her questions! I'm not good at this stuff! I'm sure what I lacked in answers, I'll more than make up in crazy facial expressions! And then, once the interview was over (which included the question of "what one method product would you like to see them make? ANYTHING!" Whoa, that question is so wide open! I couldn't think, I started sweating, I was feeling light-headed! So I just ended up going with a rather pedestrian (but oh so honest) wider range of body care products! Toothpaste, shaving cream (I'm down to only four bottles! I lust this stuff!), deodorant, all of it!

...And then the grabbing began! Danny told me I needed to start with the big stuff first, and layer! Ha! So I first grabbed two big bottles of laundry detergent (I was going to go for the new squeaky green detergent. But the only big bottles of that which were available were in sweet water. I went "eh, sweet water." and Rachel said "oh, not a fan of sweet water?" and I said "not really, can I say that out loud?" Ha ha! And then, an omop! Come on, you gotta grab one of those!

From there on out, Danny went nuts! (Though he did mention at least once "Don't forget, we're in a recession!") I'd mention like, one bottle of lil' bowl blu, and he'd grab three! it was hard work getting this stuff to stack and stay. A couple items did the jump of death, but luckily they survived their fall!

Danny, what ARE you doing?! In the end, they were putting products on my belt loops, and in my shirt pocket, anywhere they could fit them! It was madness, and I was loving every minute of it! The list of products is insane! Ok, ready?

The final tally would be (if I can actually remember everything!) 1 omop, 3 bottles of lil' bowl blu, 2 large detergent bottles, 2 bottles of le scrub, 2 aroma pills (lavender + lemongrass), 1 lavender + lemongrass aroma stick set, 1 squeaky green free + clear wet dryer sheets (haven't tried the new ones!), 1 pink grapefruit all surface cleaner (haven't tried this scent before, either!), 1 lavender all surface cleaner, 2 daily shower spray refill bottles, 1 wood for good spray cleaner, 1 lavender hand wash refill bag, 1 best in glass spray bottle, 1 all floor one (cute name! I hadn't noticed they named their floor cleaner!) lemon ginger floor cleaner, 1 almond wood for good floor cleaner, 1 floor cleaner cloth, and 1 package of leather wipes! Whew! Oh my word! AND, if that wasn't enough, they brought along two Plastic Rehab Totes for me (and one for the news reporter, which was so sweet!) and my tote had some pink grapefruit dish cubes in the new pouch packaging (oh, and hey, method lust note here; these dish cube pouches are now showing up at your local Target stores!), a Danny Seo Simply Green Parties book, an empty hand wash bottle signed by both co-founders (so cool!), and a t-shirt! Madness!

See that facial expression? Here's where the weight of all those products was starting to take it's toll. Now mind you, I'll usually bend over backwards for anything! So Rachel was asking "Are you alright? Is it too heavy?" and I responded "No, NO. It's FINE." Which, if you knew me as my friends do, my voice had raised pitch to a high soprano, meaning I was totally lying. Darn that body language! But it was all fine, I survived! Danny grabbed around four or so items from the stack (luckily I didn't have to walk to the register carrying all this stuff!) and went "Wow, these are heavy!" and I said "Trust me, my arms agree! I won't be able to pick up my fork for dinner!" Cause not only were they so amazing and did all this wonderful stuff at Lowe's for me, but they took me out to dinner (at a restaurant of my choice), too!

So Danny started piling up the products in the check out lane, the cashier rang them all through, and then EVERYONE, Danny, Rachel, my two friends Crissy and Sam, and the reporter, Morgan, all whipped out their cameras to take a photo of the total on the register! At which time the cashier says "Uhm, so what IS going on here?" and they just simply stated "Oh, we're just letting Nathan buy as many method products as he wants." and she just went "Oh, ok." Ha ha! A hysterical plastic bag incident ensued, which I won't even get into; and off we went!

At that, we said our goodbyes to my two friends, and the wonderful Morgan for being part of the fun! And drove over to Lucky 32, this great local Southern kitchen restaurant here in Greensboro. I didn't want to take them to just some chain restaurant, but rather some place in Greensboro that they couldn't find anywhere else. It was delicious, from the sweet potato hushpuppies (man, they were like dessert!) to the black bean cakes, crab cakes, and potato cakes with smoked salmon. Yes, apparently we liked our fried "cakes"!

Danny mananged to snap this one photo of me inside the restaurant. I had my camera with me, but remember that shy thing, so I should have taken a pic of them, but didn't even think of it! I was too busy chatting them up about method (expect some great things coming this year! But trust me, that's ALL I got out of them! And I tried. I even told them I wouldn't post about whatever insider info. they told me (and therefore wouldn't have been able to share the news with all you lusters, sorry!) but they STILL stayed tighted lipped. Sigh!

Hopefully they had a great time as well! It was a long day for both of them, so again, taking the time out of their schedules to do this was just amazing. And I'll remember it forever! I hope I was witty and chatty enough at dinner, and they weren't bored to death. Ha ha! At the very end, as I gave them hugs goodbye, Rachel told me I definitely had to make a trip to San Francisco (I've never been there!) and if I did, we'd all get together and have dinner with the co-founders (hear that Adam and Eric! Get ready!) I swore to her I'd be seeing her again, and would definitely do that! I'm already saving up my pennies, and dreaming of all the fun we'll have!

+

And now, here's your chance to not only read the interview by Morgan Josey Glover over on gogreentriad.com, BUT win everything I snatched up! How freakin' cool is that! Hurry on over, the contest ends May 28, 2009!

Oh, and this pic? Why does everyone look so unhappy? Did Danny and I get into a yelling argument? Nah! I was just teasing and tormenting you guys! He's the greatest! I actually thought this photo was hysterical when I saw it, because I really don't know what was going on. I think my friend Sam just happened to capture all of us at some crazy moment "inbetween" and I thought all of our facial expressions and body language were too funny! So I just had to share it with you all!

Oh, and PS. Now everyone at method thinks my thing is to place my thumbs into my front pants pockets, cowboy style. For some crazy reason I picked this nervous habit up during this method fun, and in all of the photos, my freakin' thumbs are stuck into my pants pockets! I swear I never did this before, who knows?! Ah, what can you do... (therapy, Nathan, therapy.)

clean sweeps

+ method's new citrus leaf dilutable cleaner is starting to pop up at Target stores! It will be stocked with the floorcare (well, at least at my Target!) With an insanely great price of only $2.99!

+ There are some new polls up! Word, that took forever! This time around it's all scents, scents, scents! (And your favorite method line!) Go at it, vote! It's your democratic duty! (That and, I just don't want to end up with empty polls!)

otters on tour

This has got to be seen to be believed! Head on over to method's official blog, people against dirty, now, and read all about the method otters and their first official tour!

oh.my.word.

Uhm, yeah, ok. So who might be in this photo? Well, could it be none other than 1) Rachel Goldberg, method's Squire of Scoop; 2) sorta like, me, method lust guy; and 3) Danny Seo, method's Healthy Home 'co-conspirator'! Yeah, I've got a BIG blog post coming this weekend, get ready!

clean sweeps

+ Every once in a while I'll stumble upon some method product that I didn't even know was still around, right there in a store! So just in case there might be some products you too were wishing and longing for, I thought I'd give you a quick list of "extinct products that aren't" that I've seen recently:

+ Eucalyptus mint foaming hand wash can be found at Lowe's Hardware
+ Green tea + aloe, and sweet water hand sanitizer is available at Office Max
+ Did you even realize method made a water flower, and refresh mint foaming hand wash to go along with their marine naturals body wash? I've never seen either in stores, but they're available for purchase on methodhome.com
+ You may also be surprised to know that you can find method's past Holiday line (winterberry, frosted fir, spiced pear and toasted hazelnut), gingerbread spice candles and aroma pill refills, fresh lychee aroma rings, citrus cilantro candles, pomegranate tea aircare, bloq body citron leaf lotion, bloq body green mint body wash, ginger yuzu gel hand wash, water lily + aloe laundry detergent, and the original wet dryer sheets in a variety of scents; all discontinued product, STILL available on methodhome.com! Pretty cool!

+ Target has FINALLY started getting in stock for the new method laundry detergent! I about fell over when I saw it yesterday! Right now I've only seen the larger 64 oz. size in free + clear, but hopefully they'll also stock the other scents soon. Until then, remember you can find the new detergent at Lowe's Hardware, and Lowes grocery stores! (And, compared to Target, both of these stores carry a wider scent and size range.)

+method's Anna Boyarsky is so totally seriously asking method advocates for fragrance suggestions! Really, honestly! She twitters in method tweet "We're looking for some fragrance inspiration. ideas?" So this is your chance! I've asked you all before, and oh, before too! Ha ha! But tell her again! Here's your chance to let your scent lust be heard! Mmm, lemongrass sea flower basil verbana fig lust! I know, I know. I'm living in method scents past! Be sure to let her know not only your favorite method fragrances that have gone to scent Heaven that you'd love seeing return, but what new, never before sniffed method scents you'd lust seeing brought into this world! Butt slap and all! Comment away!

sneak peek - dilutable cleaner!

Check it, check it! One, two three! (In my past life, I was a rapper! Can't you tell? I was born to wrap! I mean, rap!) So, how about a little sneak peek on method's latest and greatest!

Great ready to pick up some method dilutable cleaner in citrus leaf scent! The packaging is the same as what they use for their floor cleaner products, minus the squeeze spray top (this just has a screw on cap.) The back of the bottle says (paraphrasing) "this is for most hard surfaces. Pour in a half bucket, mixing with water. For tough jobs use full strength, rinse immediately. This is not a spray cleaner refill." The scent, which I at first thought was them bringing citron leaf back (a scent previously used in their body wash line) is actually a new method fragrance! Well, sorta new. You know how, even though the lil' bowl blu cleaner says it's eucalyptus + mint; it actually has undertones of beach sage in it (method told me this after asking, I'm not making it up!) Well, this scent reminds me of a combination between citron leaf, and citrus cilantro! It's nice and fresh, just like we want the fragrances in our cleaners to be!

I'm not yet sure what the store date for this product will be (but I bet very soon!) As I receive more information, I'll (of course!) post it here! In the meantime, method lusters, do you think you'll be picking this product up? What would you be using it for? Comment away!

ka-ching!

...That's the sound of saving money! method lust reader Katie (and method tweet!) let me know that you can currently download a $1.00 off coupon from Ideal Bite, for a method product! Now, since we all know how rare method coupons are, I say download before it's too late! Enjoy! Be sure to get yourself something pretty! Maybe something that matches your outfit. Purple always did go nice with your eyes, you know... (And the coupon doesn't expire until January 2010! Sweet!)

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Note: The site will only allow you to print up to two coupons, after that you'll start receiving "household limit exceeded" pages. So don't try to print out more than two, unless you want to waste some paper. LOL Just thought I'd let everyone know (as some readers have commented about this.)

method: balancing performance, looks and safe materials

Greener Design has this very indepth Q&A with method co-founder (do I need to even say that anymore? Don't we know the co-founders by now! Oh wait, I guess I do for new readers. Ok, I've answered my own question. Thanks!) Adam Lowry! Read on, lusters!

"By Jonathan Bardelline | Published May 14, 2009

One of the biggest and most recognizable companies in the green cleaning world is San Francisco-based Method. One of the companies' hallmarks, and one of the reasons it's stayed so successful and grown its reach, its it multiple commitments to improving the ingredients in its products, making visually appealing packaging and ensuring that its products work just as well or better as everything else it sits next to at stores.

Adam Lowry, co-founder of Method, spoke with GreenBiz Radio about the indepth work needed to clean up cleaners, and why all the new green products from mainstream companies don't worry Method.

Lowry is just one of the many innovators working in the world of green design who will be speaking at next week's Greener by Design conference.

Jonathan Bardelline: Method has been making cleaners for about eight years, and could you give me an overview of the history of your ingredients? In those years have you made any major changes to the actual ingredients you've been using?

Adam Lowry: Yeah. We've made a lot of changes to ingredients. We're continually looking to bring in the leading edge of ingredient chemistry and really product packaging materials as well. So we're constantly changing both of those.

Sometimes we're doing that from suppliers that come up with novel new chemistries or packaging innovations, materials innovations. And then sometimes actually we're partnering with packaging suppliers or ingredient suppliers to develop proprietary solutions that are sort of new and unique things that are kind of solving both design problems as well as environmental problems within the product's design.

JB: More on the ingredient side, have you had to swap out ingredients where you find an either safer or more environmentally friendly ingredient?

AL: Well, yes. We're always doing that. So what we use is we actually use a scorecard. Think of it as sort of a green, yellow, red. And we've got it for every single ingredient in every single Method product. And we work with Dr. Michael Braungart and his team at MBDC and EPEA, and we outsource material evaluation to those guys so that it is independent, third party, peer reviewed science.

And if you think about each ingredient as a green, yellow, red, we won't do any product if any one ingredient is a red, okay? But there's a lot of greens and yellows. Not every product is perfectly green in terms of across its entire lifecycle, not as perfect as you want it to be. And so in some cases, those are yellow, which means they're okay to use, but you're constantly looking for better alternatives. We're not going to rest on our products until every single ingredient is green across the board. Does that make sense?

JB: Yeah. And to get to those green ingredients, is it people within Method doing the work, your suppliers finding the alternatives?

AL: Yeah. It's usually all of those because - for example, preservatives, which are in some products, some Method products, and they're required in certain products. Like personal care products, you have to have preservatives to keep them from going rancid. Those are products that are inherently a little bit more difficult to make green because they kill bacteria, of course.

And so those are ones where we're not manufacturing those preservatives, our suppliers are. So we have to work with our suppliers, show them what's important on our scorecard in terms of coming from a natural source, being biodegradable, being nontoxic, non sensitizing - like (not) causing irritation and things like that - educate them on what we're looking for, and then provide for them the carrot of our preservative business to say, “Listen. We need to develop a new and novel solution in this area that solves a need, that makes our products a little bit greener because it's a better preservative than what's been available in the past."

And so we do a lot of that in a very targeted way. We do that in the surfactant world with the detergents and products. We do that on preservatives. We do that on fragrances. We do that on enzymes, all of the different functional ingredients that make up a cleaner.

JB: Has that been something difficult to get suppliers on board with?

AL: Well, I'll tell you one of the things that has been difficult is when we first started that process nine years ago now, a lot of times the suppliers didn't even have the information that we were asking for. So if we were saying, “Okay. Hey, you've got this enzyme material. Where does it come from? How are you making it? Does it have any issues with causing allergic reactions?,” things like that..."

Head on over to Greener Design to read the rest!

bike it!

Uhm, yeah, ok, so Nathan, you're late. Like, four days late. Wait, wait, I know! But, I'm not totally really, well, you'll see, ok?

So method has this great post over on their official people against dirty blog, focusing on method employees that did their part and put foot to pedal on San Fran's very own Bike To Work Day, part of National Bike Month! What's really extra great is (along with all that gas they saved!) if you happen to be part of a Bike To Work Day, be sure to send in a photo of your bike excursion, and you could win a bottle of method hand wash, signed by co-founders Adam + Eric! How cool is that! Just send your pics to info@methodhome.com Good luck!

happy bottle

So while walking through the grocery store yesterday, I stumbled upon this new product for babies (well, new to me, anyway!) It's called Happy Baby. But, what really caught my eye was the packaging for the cereal puffs! They're old method wipes bottles! Who knew? It's sort of like the Virx antibacterial hand sanitizer I found at Big Lots around a year ago, using what appeared to be method spray cleaner bottles.

Did Happy Baby rip off the packaging? I decided to do some investigating, and came around this article on Greener Design:

"When cleaning product maker Method switched the packaging for its cleaning wipes from tall plastic containers to flat packages, they ended up with hundreds of thousands of containers in storage that they weren't going to use.

By partnering with Happy Family, a premium baby and toddler food brand, they found a new life for the containers: Packaging Happy Family's new Happy Baby Puffs.

Happy Family says that there are enough extra Method containers to last them up to a year. The containers include 25 percent post consumer recycled content and are made of HDPE, the commonly-recycled number 2 plastic. The containers are also free of bisphenol A, Happy Family notes, since the organic snacks inside do not come in pouches that separate them from the plastic.

One of the main concerns over bisphenol A, a chemical found in hard plastics and other products, is babies and children being exposed to it when it migrates from packaging into food and drinks, especially when the packaging is heated."

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Wow, who knew companies reused one another's packaging! Pretty cool, huh? A nice way to use something up, instead of simply disposing of it (even if it would be via recycling.) So now when you stumble upon Happy Baby Puffs, you won't have to do a double take! You'll know the whole story! Now I'm curious if this is what happened with the Virx hand sanitizer, as well...

into the sunset

Well howdy, partners! You ready to rustle up some method? Cause these fillies will be ridin' into the sunset soon! So you better saddle up and ride on over to your local Target, folks! Buh'for all the goodies are gone!

Looks like the citrus cilantro and pomegranate tea aircare line has officially hit full clearance at Target. All items in those two scents have been red stickered! Since these were special edition scents from method, I'd pick up what I want because they may or may not come back from method scent Heaven! And while you're making the trip, the bamboo special edition aroma rings are also on clearance. (These only came in sweet water scent; but of course could be refilled with any scent you lust!) I'm sorta surprised method didn't keep these around, I think they're much more stylish than the white plastic ones they have. Time will tell, maybe they'll bring them back! But until then, grab a couple for around the house!

And the barn! That place dag'gum stinks, what with all the cows, pigs, goats and horses! Now, giddy-up and go!

lavender lounging

These pics are cracking me up! Having fun with method products. That is what I like to see! Continuing from yesterday's Star Trek post, this one says:

"After a day at the movies lavender relaxes with a glass of wine."

clean trekkies

Check out this hysterical image! method posted it recently via their method tweet (twitter!) and says:

"Stressful day for our french lavender hand wash... time to catch a mid day Star Trek Imax flick."

Man, I wish I could go see a movie in the middle of a work day. That french lavender has it easy!

tipping point?

My friends lust torturing me. They jab at me. Make slight fun of me. Torment me. All about my eco-craziness. Really, I think it's secretly gotten to the point that some of them are OVER me talking about method, and going green. Oh, and sorta about the fact that mankind is DOOMED! Doomed, I tell ya! Because you know what, there is a tipping point. And once we've passed this tipping point, there is no going back, unfortunately. Have we already passed it? I don't know. I hope not.

So, a friend of mine sent me these photos last night, and I about had a stroke (in fact, he wrote above the link "Please call 911 now... you'll at the very least need some oxygen after you view this." Because he knows just how worked up I can get! And really, I was in shock. These photos have probably been making their rounds on the net, but I thought I'd share them with those that haven't seen them. They're scary.

"(photos below) Citarum River, West Java, Indonesia - Rapid urbanisation over the last 20 years has seen a rise in untreated household sewage, solid waste and industrial effluents, affecting public health and threatening the livelihood of poor fishing families. a new industry has sprung up - collecting the plastic waste in the river for recycling."


"(photos below) Dharavi, Mumbai, India - Because water in Mumbai, India is prohibitively expensive, many residents of this slum rely on leaks found - or created - in the massive tubes that carry water to more affluent neighborhoods. The poor of the city avoid the garbage and human waste surrounding their dwellings by walking on top of the pipelines."


(photo below) Oh hey, look! A street filled with trash! How crazy, you say? Ah, no. This is... a river! A river, that has literally become a river of trash.

Dennis Villegas writes:

"(photos below) Manila, Philippines - This is Estero de Paco, once the cleanest and loveliest creeks in Manila. Now, it has become the dirtiest, most polluted, and garbage-laden esteros among all the creeks that flow directly to the Pasig River.

I have observed that the water of the Estero de Paco is now slimy, thick, and dark-colored, with floating garbage of all kinds (plastic materials, household wastes), animal carcasses, and human feces. The garbage in the river has become so thick that rats are able to run on top of it--chased by cats. The river and its surrounding areas has a very hideous odor."






Luckily, many of these areas are getting ready for a huge clean up by their governments. (Though unfortunately some people will lose their homes in the process; which is not the best solution, since we're already talking about people of poverty.) I think we all just need to realize that trash/garbage does NOT go away. The trash man picks it up, and off it goes, and we can live happy lives - but, where does it go from there? Something to think about. Thoughts?

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original post from deputy dog

she won, she won!

So I finally (I'm so ashamed!) managed to get Karin her winning "The House The method cleans" contest prize goodie box! Anyone who's won a contest here on method lust knows first hand just how slow I am at mailing packages! But never fear, the good news is, you DO get your package!

So here I am, blogging about Karin, who blogged about the winning box she just received over on her awesome What The Font? blog; after winning this contest, on the method lust blog! Yeah, that's a whole lot of blog going on! She says:

"A while back I entered a contest over on method lust...and I won! Yay! Above are the method goodies that arrived in a big package yesterday. I just love receiving packages!"

Congrats Karin, and to all who entered! AND can you believe I have yet to showcase the photos I received from people's homes, sent in for this contest! I have become so freakin' slack, it's unbelievable. Well, no... actually, I can believe it. Well, I promise to post those pics very soon!

Karin's goodie box included:

+ Eucalyptus mint hand wash
+ Beach sage aroma pill refill
+ Gingerbread + Spice aroma pill refill
+ Hollyberry aroma stick set
+ Go naked wet dryer sheets
+ Leather wipes and
+ Eucalyptus aroma ring refills

Enjoy!

o'my

In the need for an omop? I'd run on down to your local Target, before, well, it's too late. Looks like our beloved omop might be the next on the Target method product chopping block. There seems to be a whole lot of confusion right now as to what exactly Target is doing (see this previous post), having placed a whole bunch of method products on clearance. I've even received conflicting reports from method themselves. Comments range from method products being put on a limited price reduction to boost sales (which unfortunately is not the case, as these are actual stickered clearance items), to Target re-staging/realigning their displays (which could be possible, but I find it really odd they'd clearance out around fifteen or so method products, just to bring them all back?)

So it looks like for the time being, we'll just have to take a "wait and see what happens" approach. But (hold on, I'm about to make my full circle. You knew I could do it, if I tried really hard!) it looks like the omop might be gone from Target. I noticed at one of my stores, they were put on clearance (all the omop stock there is now gone), and another store had failed to replenish their omop supply, and has now removed the shelf sticker, replacing it with method floor cleaner stickers, and spread out the floor cleaners to take up that area. So if you're in need of a grand ole' omop, I'd pick one up quick! If you miss out at Target, luckily Lowe's Hardware carries the omop, so for the moment, we're safe!

I'll keep you posted as I know more. But it appears everyone (including method) is a little confused on this one!

impress your guests

The oh so über cool website, Apartment Therapy, has a nice little write up on hand soaps people have in their homes that help to "impress your guests!" The article goes:

"Perhaps it's a case of the grass always being greener, but it seems that whenever we go over to a friend's house and use the bathroom, their hand soap smells better than ours. Maybe theirs is more expensive or perhaps they just stumbled on the best Method scent or it's just nice to smell something different, but we tend to appreciate this little detail more at others' homes than in our own. Does this happen to you?"

They then go on to mention method hand wash!

"Method Hand Soap in Green Tea and Aloe is the cleanest smell ever, but we can't always find this elusive scent at Target, so when we do, we stock up. It's eco friendly and it's cheap, $4.99"

You can read the complete article here.

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Uhm, if that price is right, I'm glad I don't live in Los Angeles (the area the article is taken; they break up Apartment Therapy by "hip" cities, LOL; San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, etc.) $4.99?! My local Target carries it for $3.29! (Though I'd imagine Los Angeles would be a tad bit pricier.)

I love some of the comments readers left, including this one:

"We have both bathrooms stocked with Method's Rain (or something like that). It's a great smell, and it's clear, so it would go with any bathroom." Obviously they're talking about Sweet water! I just love how they got Rain out of that!

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So, what method hand wash scent do you keep in your bathroom/kitchen to "impress your guests?" And do you think the following comment is true (left by another reader:)

"I always keep bar soap as well as liquid because I've noticed that some people (AHEM, MEN) seem to prefer it, and at least in the case of my boyfriend and dad, don't wash their hands properly with liquid soap. Sigh."

what's your idea?

...And my latest empty candle bowl idea? A cat's food dish! This is Bruiser (he's really sweet, I promise. His name is all talk, no action.) A couple of weeks ago his sister had to be put to sleep due to kidney failure (they're both 16 years old.) Well, he's sort of finally caught on that she's not coming home, and he's not doing that well at the moment; so I decided to cheer him up a little with some wet cat food (they didn't get this often, so it's a treat!) And I went to open the cabinet, and right there staring at me were my small stack of empty candle bowls. Ding ding! Wet cat food dish.

He'll be fine after a while. (I've read that pets can mourn anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks, sometimes longer.)

In more cheerful news, what was the latest thing you've done with an empty method candle bowl? Let us know! (See, method really is pet friendly!)

remain calm

Slight Update So, while I don't have any specific news from method to tell you yet (sometimes even they don't know, and have to do a little research! Who knew?) I will say that as of this moment only one of the three Targets around me have the listed method items on clearance. But as I've said before, every Target store runs on it's very own clearance schedule (something I've always thought was mighty weird.) So, I have a feeling that sooner or later, the others will catch up. If you happen to see a bunch of method products go on clearance, let method lust know!

I don't think this is a case of Target no longer carrying method products; more so they're just clearing a large group of them out. BUT that's never a good thing (less opportunities to find the items!) I did see that white tea body wash was part of the clearance as well (I missed that one on my list below) and it looks like the baby line is safe. More info. as I get it!

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Alright everyone. Breathe deeply. We'll get through this together, I promise.

Ok, on my latest trip to Target, I've discovered the retail store seems to be decimating their method line! Clearance stickers out the yahzoo! I'm talking the omop, omop all purpose floor pad, omop wood pad, omop sweeper duster cloths, glass, granite and stainless steel microfiber cloths, go naked dish soap, go naked and pink grapefruit smarty dish cubes, almond flower creamy hand wash, almond flower body wash, squeaky green kids crisp apple body wash, fuzzy peach body wash (I didn't get a chance to check out the baby line), almond flower and white tea soap bars, and more! All on clearance! Gah!

What's going on here? I'm checking with method and will soon have a report back to let you know if these are going away at Target (forever?!), or making room for updated product (which would be the case with the dish cubes, I'm betting, since they're in new pouch packaging.) More information as it becomes available (cue news bleeps here!) These are only on first markdown at my local Target (but markdowns vary store to store.)

have you hugged a tree today?

Over on treehugger.com, you'll find a new interview with method co-founder adam lowry! AND, you can listen to the interview via podcast (right click to download), or read it the old fashioned way!

"Adam Lowry, The Man Behind the Method (Cleaning Products)
| by Jacob Gordon

method cleaning products are the fitting accoutrement for the style and hygiene-minded ecophile. But Method is more than boutique toilet bowl cleaners; it is booming into one of the great success stories of the new economy. Adam Lowry, with his business partner Eric Ryan, has reinvented his field (and made huge returns). Method is a certified B Corporation, its products bear the Cradle to Cradle seal, and renewable energy and upcycling are daily fare. Adam Lowry explains to TreeHugger what’s new in the lab, and divulges Method’s problem-solving motto: “What would MacGyver do?”

TreeHugger: Give us a quick perspective on the size of Method—what's the reach, the size, the revenue?

Adam Lowry: Well, we try not to pin down our revenue numbers (specifically because there are a lot of people that want to know that info) but we're north of a $100 million company; we’ve got 100 employees or so, and we've gotten there in about seven years, which is pretty quick when it comes to soap companies.

TreeHugger: Method is certified as a B Corporation. We recently we spoke with Jay Coen Gilbert, the co-founder of B Corporation, and we heard his perspective on this. But I'd like to hear yours. As an entrepreneur, what does it mean to be a B Corp?

Lowry: I was really excited when I met Jay and heard about his vision for B, because what it does is codify and make legally binding what Method is already doing in its business practices. What's really missing right now for sustainable business is a clear and transparent set of metrics for what is environmentally and socially good in a business.

And what they're doing is filling that gap, the social and environmental version of generally accepted accounting principles, so that we have a standard measuring stick that we can use to assess the social and environmental quality, along with the financial quality, of a business. And because it's publicly reported and it's completely open and transparent, it also creates an incentive to improve over time. It's a real apples-to-apples way of measuring businesses versus one another, as well as creating that incentive for all businesses to strive to get better over time.

TreeHugger: Method is also certified as a Cradle to Cradle business. Method must be one of the few companies that carries both of these badges. What do these mean, how do they work together, and do they overlap at all?

Lowry: I think that's a great question because there is a proliferation of environmental quality labels or eco-labels out there. We like the ones that are most broad-based, the ones that assess the broadest set of things, not just a product but an entire company's practices. And the B rating system goes all the way down to the way that your business is governed and its board composition, for example. And Cradle to Cradle assesses the entire life cycle of a product and how it's made.

So those are two very broad-based validators of environmental quality, and therefore ones that we really like. And we've chosen to go ahead and get certified by both of those agencies.

There are also other product certifications that are narrower. We have the Design for Environment recognition from the US EPA, which is about the chemistry that you use in the product. That's another nice one.

But ultimately, I think the role of each one of these is really just to have an objective third party validate the environmental and social quality of the product or service that you're providing. And then it's our job, as the people running the business, to make the brand meaningful to consumers so that they understand that the product experience they're going to get is superior to what they might get with another brand.

TreeHugger: Do you feel like these certifications have provoked you to change the way you do business, or are they really just a way to, as you say, codify what is already underway?

Lowry: Michael Braungart and Bill McDonough have been a great inspiration of mine personally, and they also have been a great inspiration to our business. And the same could be said of Jay and what they're doing over at B Lab. But really, I wouldn't say that it's necessarily changed the way we do business. It's inspired us to do the way we do business better.

TreeHugger: You were invited to Washington recently, along with a gaggle of other leaders in the new economy (the founder of Twitter and others) to advise the Obama administration. What did they want to know?

Lowry: That was a really interesting meeting. We were asked in advance to put together some policy ideas, things that we thought the administration should be doing that either they weren't doing yet or the previous administration hadn't done.

And when we got there we really learned that that was just a thought exercise and that, really, the administration knows what policies don't work. They know that there are perverse incentives created by subsidies to oil and gas companies and the wrong type of agriculture, for example. And also—because they've got tons of policy experts—they know the right policies that would work.

The problem is, they can't get from point A to point B because they don't have the popular support. And so what they were doing was enlisting us business leaders—or, as they said, young entrepreneurs that are exemplary new-economy businesses—to make an example of us. They wanted to be able to point to companies that are not asking for handouts from the government yet are still succeeding, and doing so using an ethos of business that doesn't create collateral damage socially and environmentally.

And if they can point to us as great examples, they can start to build popular support around a new way of doing business and actually enact some of the changes they already know are necessary.

So I really thought it was an interesting meeting, and really inspiring. I was impressed with the caliber of people that are involved in the administration. I was really impressed.

TreeHugger: Method makes a family of products that, typically, are very petroleum-intensive. Do you feel like you are head-to-head with the petroleum industry? Are they the bad guy in this scenario?

Lowry: I don't think so. I think the bad guy is more just convention. I think that our economy is very much a petroleum-based economy. That's a fact. And even at Method we have to ship our products around. We use a little bit of biodiesel transport to do that, but most of it is regular old diesel transport.

We do everything that we can, but we still aren't de-linked from that petroleum economy. And I think that when you really get down to brass tacks about how to change that paradigm, it's something that's going to happen through a series of small innovations that are catalysts for larger innovations.

I mentioned biodiesel, for example. We have two biodiesel trucks that we're using in a pilot program in the State of California. They're actually the cheapest trucks that we run. And so it's a great proof of concept that doing the green thing can also be the economically viable thing. We're trying to expand that program now, a tiny program that can build into a much bigger one over time.

You have to think differently and from the ground up if you want to try to change those set conventions.

TreeHugger: When we interviewed Gary Hirshberg on Treehugger Radio—the guy who started Stonyfield Farm—we asked him why the type of plastic they use for their yogurt cups is not recyclable in most areas.

The answer that he gave was very counterintuitive: they can make a lighter package from this particular type of plastic. No, it's not recyclable in most areas, but the reduction in the carbon footprint, strictly from transporting a lighter product, far outweighed the benefit of being able to recycle more of their plastic containers.

What's going on at Method that might be a counterintuitive measure?

Lowry: We've got a bunch of things going on. That yogurt cup example makes me think of a particularly interesting example that we recently did with wipes packaging. At Method we have a mantra. It's a very cradle to cradle-esque mantra about our packaging which is: we want every package to have a past and a future.

And so we think about designing packaging from what it was before it was a bottle or a flow pack or whatever, to what will it be when you’re done with it. We don't like the types of tradeoffs that are inherent in that yogurt cup example: where you either use less plastic that's not recyclable or you use more.

And that exact thing came up when we had a canister for cleaning wipes. It was a recyclable HTPE bottle made largely out of post-consumer recycled resin.

We did a lifecycle analysis and we realized that if we made it out of a flow wrap film, like a potato chip bag, we could cut the plastic down by about 80%. The problem was that flow wrap plastic is a multilayer film and it's not recyclable.

At Method we fundamentally believe that any time you get one of these environmental tradeoffs where you are saying, “yeah, this product has no future because it's not recyclable, but there's less of it so it's better in the present.” That trade off is just a symptom of poor design.

We set out a couple of years ago in partnership with a film company, we developed the world's first recyclable flow wrap film. Actually if you buy Method wipes product today, it is made out of a single film, not a multilayer film. You can put it in your recycle bin and it's 80% less plastics.

We've created a win on both the present and the future and we're now working on making that film from post consumer recycled resin so it can have a past, a present, and a future.

We really try to bring that to every package and every ingredient that we use..."

Head on over and read the rest!