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.

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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!