contest! - surprise, surprise!

The contest is over. But please add your name to the Facebook petition, if you haven't already done so! The winner will be announced soon!

+

Why can't you people just do as I say?! (I jest, I jest! Or wait, do I?) Alas, I cannot yet make people do my bidding through mind control, so until that capability is made possible, I'll just have to settle for blogs. And begging. And oh right, contests! Cause when you can't get someone to do what you want them to do, giving them something for their time will usually help things along! Hold on. Did I just say all that out loud? Will the very acknowledgement of my plan prevent method lusters from following through simply out of spite? Nah! It's a contest! Yay!

So here's the thing! You all aren't signing method lust's official "bring back method aircare" petition over on method's Facebook page. Oh sure, you have excuses! "I had to wash the dog!" "CSI was on!" (Really, CSI in some version is always on! That's not even a good excuse.) "My house caught fire and my laptop was inside!" (You couldn't have just ran in really fast and grabbed your laptop? I mean, you can always take more photos of loved ones, but aircare is gone! Gone, I tell you?!) Well, I won't hold it against you (yes I will) and instead I'm offering up a dandy deal! It's so easy a chimp can do it! Seriously, I tested my theory out - at the zoo. And Bananas passed with flying colors. Bananas is the chimp's name. No, I'm serious. Yes I am, stop looking at me that way.

All you gotta do is a) add your name to the comment section on this post. Then b) head on over to (let's all say it out loud) method lust's official "bring back method aircare" petition and add your plea for aircare's return! And that's it! (You know you want aircare back, right!) I matchy-match your name from method lust's comment section here with your post over on the petition, and one of you will win this contest! But you have to do both things, ok?

And that's it! Contest ends March 31, 2011, 12 AM EST! And the winner will be announced here! And just to tempt you even more, the winner will receive a super duper rare old school straight from my method vault product, in a scent you're nose has probably never had the chance to sniff! That's all I'm gonna say! But I just know the winner will lust it!

So hurry on up! Get to it! Or I'm gonna sic Bananas on you! (The monkey, not the fruit!? Remember, earlier in this post, from the zoo, oh argh...)

building a business with a social mission

method co-founder Eric Ryan has written a great article over on Fast Company. Check out an excerpt:

"After ten years in business and hundreds of innovations, we can still confidently say that our proudest achievement at method remains our first: launching a company with a social mission to do good in the world. It was the right thing to do for society and the planet, and we’ve proven that it’s the right thing to do for the bottom line too. The rapid expansion of media transparency is producing increasingly well-informed and discriminating consumers. Similarly, the influx of socially and environmentally conscious Gen Yers into the workforce is redefining the war for talent. These two shifts challenge most established businesses -- but they're also significant competitive advantages to mission-driven companies.

Having a purpose larger than profits has been key to our success. By contrast, most corporate values are just that--the values of the corporation. No matter how much ambition, camaraderie, and loyalty an employee brings to work, no one is taking those corporate values home to share with friends and family. But those same values become immeasurably more meaningful when they’re tied to a higher purpose.

It’s human nature to want to be a part of something bigger than oneself. But we're still amazed at how many cover letters we get that open with lines like, “My goal is to work for a values- and mission-driven business.” But working with purpose and values isn’t just a matter of individual growth; finding meaning in work is central to a strong corporate culture..."

You can read the entire piece here.

+

One item of product interest I took from the article was this line "...I was in Detroit looking at how the urban art movement could be supported by our upcoming Design Series product." Hmm! Looks like method is heading into design series packaging (seen on other products that take a specific design, art style or artist(s), and have their designs/art placed on the packaging.) Should be interesting and exciting! But wait, why haven't I gotten a call? (wink!)

sneak peek - foaming hand wash

UPDATED Even more new stuff?! No way! Yes way! Looks like method has finally begun debuting their new collection of hand washes! First to pop up is their new hibiscus flower foaming hand wash, which you can grab right this very moment via their online shop (and thanks to reader Jason for the heads up that the hibiscus flower hand wash has made it's appearance!) method's current waterfall scent will also become part of their foaming hand wash line (pic above for both products.) Both of these foaming hand wash scents are here to stay (not limited editions, my bad!)

You'll also, along with these foaming hand washes, soon be able to pick up new limited edition lemon mint, juicy pear and clementine gel hand washes at your local Target! That's right, method is rolling out five shiny new hand washes - two permanent, three limited edition, giving us method lusters heaps to be excited about!

Be sure to let method lust know when you start spotting these new products on your local store shelves!

keepin' it comin'!

Even more new (or perhaps, for one, newish!) goodies have popped up, method style! method luster Jeff let me know via email and the pic below that he just found method laundry detergent in water lily + aloe at his local Whole Foods! Whoa! That's an old school scent making a comeback, peeps! method used to have water lily + aloe detergent a long, long time ago! Looks like they were fond of the scent! Not sure if It's a Whole Foods exclusive, but you can also purchase it on method's online shop! (One thing I did notice is the lavender + cedar 50 load is now missing from their shop. I'm hoping they haven't discontinued it! I lust me some lavender + cedar! And the bigger, the better! The 25 load is still showing, though. So that's good news!)

Along with that, while roaming around in Earthfare this weekend (a store similar to Whole Foods, and Fresh Market, etc.) I stumbled upon method squirt and mop floor cleaner in ginger yuzu! I've never seen ginger yuzu scent in this product! Now, I know Whole Foods holds most of the exclusive ginger yuzu method products (spray cleaner, dish soap, etc.) so this may also be a part of that line, and Earthfare just happens to also carry it? (And, that's the only method item Earthfare carries!? method, get on this!) I asked why this was the case to the store manager, but he didn't really have much of an answer besides "shelf space" (sure didn't seem to keep Mrs. Meyers and Seventh Gen. from taking up a huge area of the shelves!) You can also purchase this floor cleaner on method's site, as well!

new debuts!

Spring is just around the corner (March 20th!) and true to fashion, method has begun sneaking out some great new products for us! And we all lust new method products, right? Take a look at the first two photos which feature method's spankin' new bottle design! You can view the new clementine scented all-purpose spray bottle here!

Their all-purpose sprays have also been reformulated with something they are calling powergreen technology, which helps the cleaners work even harder at naturally tackling stains and messes! And the glass cleaner is now a glass and surface cleaner. So you can use it all over your house, it's not just for glass anymore! (Mint scent everywhere? As the Kool-Aid man would say, Oh Yeah!)

Next up is a nifty new scent for their antibac line (oddly enough still in their old bottle design.) The new scent, which will be added to the lemon verbena kitchen line, is orange zest!

And finally, we have a-freakin-dorable new kids hand washes shaped like Mickey and Minnie Mouse heads (with official Disney logos on the bottle!) These will be available in lemonade and strawberry fizz scents! I'm not sure if these are Disney park products, or if they'll show up in stores; but they are available on method's online shop right this very minute (along with everything else I've mentioned here!)

And this is just the beginning, because in just a couple of weeks (mid-April) we'll also be seeing four, yes four, new limited edition hand wash scents hitting shelves (including lemon mint! Yes, you heard me right! And I've already announced another of the scents in a recent post here on method lust, so if you're a good little reader, you already know two of the four!) And speaking of limited edition scents, I noticed recently (this obviously passed me by) that their waterfall scent is now permanent (no more limited edition wording on the bottle!) Mandarin mango and waterfall are here to stay, while violet bloom and red currant are currantly currently still limited editions.

Are you excited for these new products? What will you snap up? (Cause it's all about the snap!)

sneak peek - clementine all-purpose spray

Take a look at method's newest all-purpose spray addition! - Clementine! (It's become a very popular scent! First dish soap, now spray cleaner, soon to be hand wash... no wait, I didn't say that last one. You've heard nothing from me! What? I can't hear you!...)

This also gives you a look at the newly designed spray cleaner bottles (which are starting to show up at some Targets!) You can even purchase the clementine spray cleaner right now on methodhome.com. Let method lust know when you start seeing the clementine hit your local store shelves!

a lil' eric ryan...

Sometimes I just take a moment or sixty, and hunt and peck around ye ole' internet to see what method goodies I can find! (You all might think method just hands me these news items on silver trays with little mints! But alas, it's about 90% detective work (just ask method, they'd agree!), 8% you amazing lusters sending me photos and scoops (thanks!), and 2% method actually laying it all out for me. It's work, peeps, work!) With that said, I've stumbled upon a few dandies I thought you'd enjoy, coming via tweets, chirps, and blog posts from method co-founder Eric Ryan! Enjoy!

+ The pic above is a sneak peek for method's new dish soap refill pouches! Ready to hit store shelves this spring!

+ This happens to be an old school photo of method's very first shelf display, sold into Mollie Stones in San Francisco (notice the price!) It's method's tenth anniversary! Can you believe it? Congrats, method! You can check out the complete post over on method's official people against dirty blog, which includes this "who would have imagined that 10 short years later we would..." list:

• beat the odds and become a thriving + enduring business
• live up to the dream of creating a business that is an agent for change
• work at a company where MacGyver is a role model
• convince millions of people to switch to non-toxic cleaners
• attend the prom. every year.
• stand up to Goliath over a flower… and watch them back down
• give people a professional outlet to be weird… and get paid for it
• launch green revolutions including: 100% post-consumer recycled bottles, marvelously concentrated + precisely dosed laundry detergent, smarty dish, bamboo wipes, pouch refills, bio-diesel trucks and all of our incredible green chemistry
• moonlight as front-desk receptionists on a regular basis
• hone our ping-pong skills to a butter-knife edge
• sell products that people use the word “lust” to describe (we got a shout-out, lusters!)
• get sunlight 24 hours a day, with offices in Chicago, London, and Hong Kong
• and most importantly… have the opportunity to hear from amazing people like you and make the world a little bit cleaner.

I've still got three of the four bottles pictured above, under my kitchen sink. Can you believe that?! No, wait, you can. (They're all empty. Actually no, hold on, I decided to take the "vintage" ylang-ylang bathroom spray bottle out of retirement, and refill it. So it's sitting in the bathroom at the moment. And I still have a 3/4 bottle of the kitchen cleaner. Man, that grapefruit mandarin kitchen cleaner was the bomb! I love those pics method used to have on their bottles. Unfortunately, I never got around to picking up the glass cleaner when it first debuted in this bottle style.)

+ Look for a new method book to hit store shelves late Summer, titled The method method! You do all have a copy of method's previous book, squeaky green, right?



+ method recently had a segment on the CNBC show "How I Made My Millions"! (You can see their new spray bottles in the video! Man, those are some great bottles! I have yet to see any hit my Target shelves, but I can't wait!) - Full video above! Enjoy!

slapping some cents into you?

Lawmaker puts price on use of plastic bags | By Jimmy Vielkind

"If Assemblyman Micah Kellner has his way, someone carrying a plastic bag full of groceries would get the same disdainful looks that might be directed at a pregnant lady smoking, or someone walking away from the stinky contribution their pooch has made to a New York City sidewalk.

"I want to make it a faux pas to be seen on the street with a plastic bag," said Kellner, a Manhattan Democrat. "While we may use plastic bags for a couple of minutes to bring home our groceries, they stay in the environment for thousands of years."

Kellner is sponsoring a bill, introduced late last month, that would impose a 25-cent tax on every plastic bag used to carry groceries or other store merchandise in New York City. The same bill would incentivize the use of reusable shopping bags -- made of canvas or thicker, sometimes recycled plastic -- by allowing grocers to give them to consumers if they leave a quarter as a deposit. After a year, the unclaimed quarters would be swept to City Hall's coffers. A tax break would be offered to cover "a majority" of the cost of reusable bags, which cost over $1 on the low end, more if you want hemp or recycled cotton.

Kellner notes that because plastic bags often end up as litter, his measure would keep streets cleaner. And if the bags do make it to landfills, the non-biodegradable, petroleum-based sacks outlive us all.

Kellner cited a reusable bag company's claim that the average American will go through 60 bags after four shopping trips.

David Vermillion, a spokesman for Hilex Poly, the nation's largest recycler and manufacturer of plastic bags, framed it this way: "By that math, he's taxing a family $3.75 every time they go to the grocery store -- money they could use to buy milk for their children."

Vermillion notes that plastic bags are 100 percent recyclable, and many municipalities have taken steps to make it easier for consumers to have them reprocessed. Albany County unanimously passed a law in 2008 requiring stores larger than 10,000 square feet (the size of the average Price Chopper or Target) to place bins outside their doors allowing consumers to drop off used bags. It mirrored a similar law that went on the books in New York City earlier that year.

Price Chopper stores also offer a 3-cent-per-bag rebate for customers who bring their own reusable carriers. But the Big Apple's residents still go through 5.2 billion plastic bags a year, according to a 2009 estimate by the New York City Department of Sanitation.

"That's billion with a B," said Kellner..."

Read the rest over on TimesUnion.com

Thoughts?

spankin' new bottles!

Check out the great new bottle design method's all purpose cleaners will be sporting (the grapefruit cleaner in this photo!) They've had the squared off bottom bottles for years now, so I'm glad to see this new look! Thanks to method luster Jason for the photo!

And this photo was just sent in to me by lust reader Jeff! Thanks! (Take notice that the glass cleaner is now listed as glass + surface cleaner. Hmm!)

clean sweeps

+ People! I know many of you who read this blog! And I know you are not doing your method lust duty! Shame, shame, on you! Don't make me plead and beg, please! Or, ok, I will, if you want! On my knees! Whatever it will take for you to snatch up a mere ten seconds of your day and go here! It's the "official bring back method aircare" petition! And I need YOUR help with this! I want as many signatures as I can get on this sucker! Do it for me! Or your dog, or your mother, or your favorite tv show, or for Oreos! But purty please, just do it. So simple, so quick. Sign your name (with a "please give us aircare back, yo!") and you're done! Thank you from the very bottom of my big ole' heart! (But do it already! Don't make me come to your house! You know I will. And I know where you live. Oh yes, yes, I do. Don't test that, you might be surprised...)

+ Be on the lookout for select method all purpose spray cleaners which are sporting nifty .75 cents off coupons good for any method item of your choosing! Coupons are always a good thing! method coupons are like, doubley good! I'd even yell out a tripley good, but my therapist tells me I tend to over exaggerate. So let's all just keep it real, and stick with doubley, ok? Alright.

laundry is in the bag!

UPDATED ...the refill bag, that is! That's right, on Target store shelves at this very moment (and at drugstore.com!), method is debuting their new laundry detergent refill pouches! How totally, awesomely, completely, unbelievably (but believe it, cause I've seen them with my own two eyes!), gnarly, wicked is that? Ok, maybe not wicked. Cause that word is like so totally played out!

You'll find both free + clear and fresh air in 85 load (yes, 85 load!) pouches, for around $19.99 at Target! (And hopefully we'll be seeing lavender cedar and peony blossom pouches soon! I'm sorta surprised they didn't already hit. I mean, didn't lavender cedar scent sorta explode, in a good way? I thought so! It rocks, so it should have!) $19.99 for 85 loads (and such a small pouch! It's madness, I tell ya, madness!) is a great deal! If you bought the 50 and 25 load bottles, it would cost you around $23.00 (and you'd still be missing out on 10 extra loads!)

It looks like method has listened to their advocate's refill requests! Hand wash refill pouches have been popular for ages (if only they'd come in more scents) and now we have laundry, and this spring will bring us dish soap refill pouches! All great news for us lusters! Perhaps it's the Year of the Pouch! Or of the Kangaroo! Cause, you know, it has a pouch, and all.. and it's always animals. You know? Ok, we'll just stick with Pouch.

+

method luster Jason recently commented saying "I spotted the laundry refills at Target a few days ago. I wish the packaging was recyclable" to which I went "wha?!" and ran to my hand wash refill pouch to check. Sure enough, no recycle logo. How odd? So I did some research, and stumbled upon this on method's site:

"Is the hand wash refill pouch recyclable? Great question! We put a lot of thought into this packaging, so we're glad to see it getting some attention.

First off: this pouch design is not recyclable in US recycling systems, although it is in some other countries in the world. It may seem counterintuitive that a non-recyclable package is more eco-friendly, which is the reason we thought about this option for so long.

An ecological impact calculation was performed on several packaging options by a Swiss company (Migros) that makes food products. It concluded that the pouch had one seventh the ecological impact than an equivalent-volume PET bottle even if this bottle was assumed to be recycled 80% of the time. Given that US recycling rates are far lower than this, the degree of favorability is even higher. The reason for this is that the packaging weight of the pouch is drastically lower than for the PET bottle, with the result that all of the material, water, air and energy inputs in the production, manufacturing process, transportation, usage and retail are scaled down significantly for the pouch.

The pouch is the resoundingly preferable packaging option; however, it is clearly not perfect. The ideal solution would be a version of the pouch that is recyclable. method is currently pursuing this option and hopes to eventually replace the current pouch."

How interesting! I had no clue. Now, method has in the past had packaging/products that didn't achieve what we might consider 100% of the goal it should have been reaching for (given the eco/green/environmentally friendly designation.) But they have indeed down the line reworked, replaced or rethought the particular item/packaging (the omop bamboo packaging comes to mind, as well as the bamboo aroma ring. Both were originally made from plastic.) So what are your thoughts? Is the pouch still a better deal at the moment, for your wallets as well as the environment; with hopes that shortly down the line method will find a better eco-solution? Or does the bad out weigh the good? Thoughts!

zero-waste

method lust reader Kirby sent me this really intriguing article! A California family that says they run a zero-waste home! The piece showcases some hardcore ways in which the family makes this happen (things that, honestly, I don't even think I could manage to do.) But man, it's eye-opening, and gives you plenty to think about (such as recycling plastic can only go so far. No matter what, that plastic will one day still end up as garbage on this planet, never to go away.) The piece begins:

"The zero-waste home | Meet The Johnsons

On trash day in Mill Valley, California, the Johnson home has no garbage. Nothing. There is a hefty compost bin and a teeny recycling bin—one that Béa Johnson is embarrassed exists at all. “So much recycling really goes to waste, so you need to try to reduce that too.”

Garbage, though, is something that happens rarely in this modern, minimalistically decorated house. That’s by day-to-day intention—to live simpler and lighter on the planet. Their quest started three years ago when Béa and husband Scott downsized from a 3,000-square-foot home to their current 1,400 square feet. But it had been on Béa’s mind ever since she’d nannied for a family that lost everything in a fire. Béa decided she wanted to truly love and use and know everything she kept in her home. “Even down to the vegetable peeler,” she says.

“When we started getting rid of things, it was kind of addictive,” she continues. “In a recession, people are inclined to keep things, but I feel the opposite. The less I have, the richer I feel. Stuff weighs you down.”

Even life memories and heirlooms. Béa says, “Photos are a good way to keep the memory of something without keeping it because of emotional attachment or the guilt of letting it go.” Put another way: Hang onto the photo of your grandmother in her fur coat, but if you never wear the coat, it’s just taking up space in your closet.

Scott and Béa still have “vices.” Makeup has been hard to purge for Béa, and English muffins for Scott—both come with some nonrecyclable packaging.

“We don’t do everything right,” she says..."

+

Two things she says that really resonate with me:

"Clean up is done with microfiber cloths. “People are really attached to paper towels,” Béa says. “But they’re the easiest thing to give up.” - How many times have I told you lusters this? It's so true. You simply cannot imagine. I've been paper towel free since July 2008, people! You can, too.

"Recycling is not bad, it is simply best to reduce and reuse first.. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle are to be excercised in order. Many people seem to forget that." - Really true, and something I don't really think much about (as when I recycle I always think I'm doing "the right thing.")

You can read the entire article here on Sunset.com! And the family even has a blog, Zero Waste Home.

What did you think of the article? Too hardcore? Were there some things that you could take away from the piece, and use in your daily life? What have you been doing to help make your home into a less-waste place?

dish soap lustin'

Lust the video! So cute! Two things: 1) the cap actually does come off the "leaf" shaped method dish soap bottle (it just takes a little more elbow grease); and b) look for dish soap refills to hit store shelves this spring! Yay!

(Cue camera shot looking down on Nathan as he stares up at the sky. Camera pans away slowly as Nathan shakes his fists angrily in the air while yelling "Sea minerals! You are the new sweet water!")

...and speaking of a better sponge (she has some great suggestions!) I just found these (new?) Scotch Brite natural sponges at my local Target. I hadn't seen them before, but apparently the scrubbers and sponges are made from 100% natural fibers (50% natural agave plant fibers); while the soap pads are made from 100% recycled plastic. Therefore you can compost the scrubbers and sponges (at least that's what their website says,) along with some other nifty info. You can find out more about these products here.

Now I'm not about to claim these are some amazing earth friendly sponges, but I've used Scotch Brite sponges for a while now (hey, I'm not perfect, as much as everyone thinks I may be - right, right?) and I was happy to find a more natural, eco-friendly version. And they're all beige colored! I love my beige. My entire house is beige, brown, and tan. LOL with the occasional pop of orange or grey blue. I know, I know. But I love my beige. Leave me be.