sneak peek - wood for good

method's wood for good polish in old (left) and new (right) bottles

Check out wood for good's spiffy new bottle redesign! I noticed these the other day during my usual obsessive run to Target (really, I want to know if they have a file on me at this point. Cause they should. No, but seriously. - They should...) The new bottle is taller, thinner and flat-ish. It has squared sides, which I think is awfully cute! You can view the old, rounded bottle in the above photo (left) for comparison! I also found these at Lowes Hardware (which is where this photo was taken. Hence the woodland shelves!)

sneak peek - spring 2012!

The sneak peeks for next year keep on comin'! And after method gave editors and bloggers a special presentation of these new spring 2012 product assortments, online site Core77 revealed the following products and information. And excerpt from the article:

"The company has also continued to increase their use of the shrink-wrapped labels that first appeared on the detergent bottle. Shrink-wrapping enables graphic flexibility while keeping the plastic eminently recyclable. Method "Product Czar" Don Frey told us that coloring the plastic bottle itself would mean downcycling when it reached a recycling facility: it would become a lower grade plastic bench instead of being reconverted into a higher use plastic bottle. But if the graphic treatment is shrink-wrapped rather than integrated into the form, the bottle's plastic can be recycled at a higher grade and the materials used longer.

Using the shrink-wrap tactic also means that method can visually differentiate clear liquid soaps without resorting to the use of artificial dyes.

But in spite of all this awesomeness, method isn't getting lazy or relying on greenwashing, either. On their website, co-founder Adam Lowry writes:

At method, we want to be a sustainable business, but we recognize that no business is sustainable yet. That's why we've geared our company to be the best at getting better. Our sustainability philosophy starts with our mission to Inspire a Happy, Healthy Home Revolution, and centers around using innovation to create positive change. But mere sustainability is not our goal. We want to go much farther than that. We want to become restorative and enriching in everything we do so that the bigger we get, the more good we create. We are striving for sustainable abundance.

Amen. Lookout for method's new packaging for their toilet bowl cleaner set to come out this Spring!"

You can read the entire article here!

Awesome! I have to say, while I haven't seen any of the new hand washes in person (so far nothing has hit store shelves), I will say at first I wasn't too keen on the idea of shrinkwrap packaging. It can simply look sloppy. But if they can get away with making them look as amazing as the (hopefully soon to hit stores) Designed for Good line, and this new spring hand wash line look, I'm all for it. The designs on these bottles are absolutely gorgeous!

Starting at the top we have, in new spring scents: (first photo) watermelon patch, daffodil bouqet, and (second photo) coconut grove.) Below you see the updated wood for good polish bottle (left), and new wood for good oil soap! And of course, as the article states, they're also working on new packaging for their toilet bowl cleaner set. Notice the word set, there. Hmm... (I have to say, I like the toilet bowl bottle, so I'll be sad to see it go.) 

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!)

soap dish!

The New York Times has just ran a (very to the point) article both in print and online touting some of method's awesome new products (appearing soon at a store near you!):

"Method’s Single-Handed Soap Dispenser | By Tim McKeough

The cleaning-products company Method is updating its range, aiming to keep every corner of the home spotless — and equipped with sculptural bottles. The new line of dishwashing soap ($3) is notable. “We had been trying to crack dish soap for years,” said Eric Ryan, one of the company’s founders.

Method’s new pump bottle is designed to appeal to people who apply soap directly to a dish or sponge as well as to those who fill up the sink with suds. It has a beefy base and a pump with a wide top so it can be used with one hand, without being picked up.

Method is also introducing its first antibacterial products, with cleaning sprays and wipes ($3 per container) that the company said kill household germs with a patented botanical formula; another addition is kitchen soap that removes food odors from hands ($3)."

+

look for the new products to start hitting Target shelves (hopefully) this weekend!

the dish

Recently over on method's Facebook page, an advocate posted the following:

"I've been using Method now for over a year and I love, love, love your products. But I must say - you need to re-think your dish detergent bottle. When your hands are wet - it's hard to hold on too. I've dropped that bottle [thank god it's plastic] so many times. I got tired and switched to Greenworks. If you remake the bottle I would gladly switch back..."

to which method replied:

"Hey carolyn, we hear you loud and clear. keep you eyes open come fall, we think you'll be pleasantly surprised!"

+

Sounds like we're getting a new dish soap bottle! (In fact, while it's all extremely vague at the moment, I believe this fall we'll be getting more than just a new dish soap bottle for the kitchen! Tease, tease.)

What do you think? Like the current bottle, have the same issues? Some people have suggested taking the new laundry "lighthouse" bottle, and using that design for the dish soap. What do you think? I mean, sure, I've dropped the bottle a time or two, but it really hasn't bothered me as much as it seems to do other method users. What's your experience?

same clean, smaller footprint

Smarty dish has changed it's packaging! (Well, actually method changed it, but you say tomato, I say tomahto? Ok?) It's now being packaged in a lightweight pouch, which just happens to use 87% less plastic than the original. Now THAT is crazy! 87%?! Wow! Amazing... so be on the lookout for this new packaging!

And hey, if you liked the old containers you can always save yours and use these as refills, just like the hand wash! Win, win! These should be available at stores near you soon, and can already be purchased at methodhome.com!

new dish?

Might we be getting a new dish bottle? Sounds like a maybe from method's latest methodtweet (their twitter!):

An advocate twittered: "Any shot a redesign for the dish soap package is in the works? Love the product, hate the package. Gets so messy & hard to use."

"Once 1/2 empty the dried soap hardened at the top prevents soap from coming out. Also hard to squeeze as plastic crunches then."

to which method responded: "Hey, it's sarah from method. We totally feel you! and are working on changes as I type!"

+

My only surprise is, method had apparently reworked the dish soap formula to solve this problem within the last couple of months, and had let us know (again via methodtweet, which you can regularly read on the right sidebar here on method lust!) that the new formula should already be in stores! But I guess now they've decided to try out a new bottle! Personally I've grown to really like the current bottle. At first it wasn't my fav, but I like it a lot now! I do wish the plastic was just a touch thicker, as it ends up getting dings and dents in it from squeezing (which is SO anal of me, I know! But I'm such a perfectionist, it's crazy! Ok, ok, I'll work on that one in therapy.)