When we bring you our product round-ups, particularly those heralding sustainable brands, it is with the sincere desire to introduce you to an option that might be a better one than what you’re already consuming. And certainly with no intention of encouraging everyone to buy more than what they need.

Less is more when it comes to buying for sustainability. However, if you are indeed in the market to shop more sustainably for the home, there are some brands that offer more sustainable choices than others. From refillable packing to biodegradable formulas, (and in honour of Earth Day) these are some of the most sustainable and eco-friendly home cleaning products on the market.

 

1. Resparkle

Resparkle products arrive in powder form You add water yourself into the refillable glass bottles - which reduces the environmental impact of shipping as the products are lighter! The powder sachets are made from biodegradable material that is genuinely biodegradable - not just labelled that way. They take about 6 months to degrade in my worm farm and 9 in my regular compost heap. The formulations are non-toxic and biodegradable so you don’t have to worry about what’s going down the the drain. This is the brand that I use personally. It was never gifted, I pay for it with my own money. I love the all purpose spray because it’s stream free and the stain remover helps keep my white sink fresh. But this brand has everything from hand wash to laundry powder.

 

2. Koala Eco

Luxuriously scented with natural Australian botanicals, Koala Eco is another favourite. The laundry wash in particular has a glorious lemon eucalyptus smells that is terribly comforting. Although these are liquid products and packaged in plastic, all the bottles are made from recycled waste and the ingredient are sustainably sourced. There is the option to buy glass display bottles which you can refill, so you don't have to have the large plastic refill bottles on display. Performance wise, this is one of the better sustainable brands. It’s also one of the most luxurious.

 

3. Zero Co

Zero Co is not just a body and haircare brand, it also formulates cleaning products for your home. When placing an order with Zero Co, you'll receive your "forever bottles", the ones that you will refill again and again. They're made from reclaimed ocean plastic in an effort to take trash out of our oceans. Once you've refilled your forever bottles, you can post back your refills sachets in the postage-paid envelop that came with your delivery. Zero Co has everything from stain remover spray to shower cleaner.

 

4. Seed & Sprout

Northern Rivers brand Seed & Sprout is one of the most considered home brands on the market. Probably most known for its incredible food storage containers, the brand has an equally impressive cleaning range. Biodegradable cellulose sponges, bamboo cleaning brushes with replaceable heads, dish soap in bar form and even stainless steel laundry pegs. It's a one-stop-shop for those trying to cut out plastic. It's also extremely considered throughout its supply chain. Seed & Sprout runs its HQ on solar, the packaging is designed with end of life in mind and with and on the whole, the business aims for zero waste. It also actively donates to charities like the Orangutan Alliance.

 

5.Ethique

One of the original purveyors of bar products, Ethique is a New Zealand brand that creates skin and cleaning products. It's solid, bar products are water-free to reduce the impact on water supplies and also to make them lighter and more eco-friendly to ship. It also allows the brand to be proudly plastic-free as the bar products can be packaged in paper. As of 2021, the brand is also climate positive - it offsets 120% of its emissions. Ethique is also very transparent, with a rigorously considered supply chain and also the self-awareness to admit that offsetting isn't 100% of the answer to consumerism.

 

6. Dirt

Dirt is a laundry wash brand and one that will have you swearing off supermarket brands forever. In my experience, it cleaned my clothes to a far superior standard than any supermarket products. The scent is gloriously comforting. And believe it or not, it's actually cheaper per wash than most other brands. Dirt laundry bottles are refillable and the brand offers a post-back system for you to return the refill sachets to be reused. Although the formulations are liquid, they use as little water as possible. Dirt also commits 50% of it's profits to cleaning up the ocean.

 

7. Tirtyl

Tirtyl has a goal to be truly plastic negative. That is, it reclaims more plastic than it creates. At the current count the brand has taken back 59 times more plastic than it has created making it one of the leading plastic negative business in the world. Naturally, Tirtyl cleaning products are refillable and most of its products come in tab or bar form to reduce their impact to ship and package. The brand tries to combat waste as much as possible, offering options to help households reduce their use of single-use items.

 

 

8. Banyar Jagun

Indigenous-owned and operated Banyar Jagun, is tough on mess but kind to the planet. All products have considered formulation and backed by human cell research. Additionally, the packaging is made from recycled plastic, specifically from post-consumer waste. The brand also offers concentrated 50ml refill options, perfect for those wanting to minimise packaging waste. In the pipeline, Banyar Jagun also has a “Forever Bottle”, which will be made from biodegradable wheat straw - the Forever Bottle can be refilled throughout its five to ten year lifespan before it returns to compost. All products are Earth-Smart Certified, meaning they're sustainably sourced.

 

9. Urth

A niche pick, Urth creates eco-friendly glass cleaner designed specifically for cameras and lens. Urth is actually a creative community with a considered and environmentally conscious focus. The collective creates art and also carry-all and bag essentials. It's cleaning range has been designed and inspired by its creative community who were looking for eco alternatives to the products they use to clean their equipment. The collective is committed to a 10x greater positive impact on the planet. It makes products using low-impact materials, and also plants trees in areas of severe deforestation with every item purchased.

 

10. e*sup

e*sup has a goal in mind, to end single-use plastic. It's entire range has been created with this in mind, a collection of accessories and essentials designed to make it easy for everyone to accessibly move away from single-use. The elegantly-designed and high-performance products are zero waste alternatives to the formulations you'd find at the supermarket. Arriving in powder form, just add water. The brand also donated 10% of its profits to The Seabin Foundation and Australian NFP supporting cleaner oceans.

 

11. Pleasant State

This Australian brand was started during the pandemic. The founders wanted to create a way to keep your home clean and healthy that didn't mean accumulating piles of single-use plastic. Pleasant State cleaning products arrive in a bar form which you then add your refillable bottles along with water. But at the end of the day Pleasant State knew the products needed to be as effective if not more in order to compete with the less sustainable alternatives. So the brand looked at exactly how to build an effective cleaning agent at a chemical level - then replicated this with non-toxic and eco-friendly ingredients. They're proudly a B Corp certified brand.

Images: All images have been taken from the respective brand Instagram accounts.