5 Laundry Products That Help You Save Money—and the Planet

Tru Earth

Consider this startling fact the next time you reach for a bottle of laundry detergent at the supermarket: 700,000,000 plastic laundry jugs are dumped into landfills across North America every year.

Tru Earth is one of the many companies hoping to fix this problem, and as already mentioned, its laundry strips have received favorable reviews. (And just in case you're not totally satisfied, the company offers a 100 percent money-back guarantee.)

Laundry strips work in all washing machines, and they're easy to use; they simply dissolve once you put them in hot or cold water.

But here are a few more reasons why these laundry strips are an improvement over your giant jug of liquid detergent. To begin with, the strips have a smaller eco-footprint than liquid and powder detergent. The most obvious win is that they're not delivered in a big plastic jug and use zero plastic.

Additionally, because the strips and their packaging are so lightweight, there's a dramatic reduction in the fuel consumption associated with transporting these products, and thus a reduction in global warming carbon emissions. Tru Earth claims its product reduces emissions by a whopping 94 percent compared to liquid and powder detergent.

As an added bonus, these strips are far healthier than many standard detergents. They're paraben-free, phosphate-free, and have no bleach or added dyes.

Earth Breeze

Earth Breeze is another notable and wallet-friendly choice. When you enroll in the subscribe and save, the cost of 60 laundry sheets (60 loads) is $12. Let's go over that again, because it's shockingly affordable: $12 for two months of laundry.

In addition to coming with all the same eco- and health perks as Tru Earth (no plastic packaging, reduced carbon footprint, paraben- and phosphate-free), here's another thing to love about Earth Breeze: For every sale, it donates 10 loads of laundry strips to non-profits and charitable organizations. The company also donates 1 percent of its revenue to non-profits.

Dropps

Dropps offers a slightly different look and feel to the market of eco-friendly laundry options. Its detergent is contained in small pods, similar to what you might use in a dishwasher. The detergent inside each laundry pod is made from plant-based ingredients that have been third-party lab-tested to prove they work.

It's also worth noting that Dropps, which says it harnesses the power of nature to make products that really clean, is a recipient of the EPA Safer Choice Partner of the Year award. It's no wonder Dropps is one of our favorite laundry detergents. The company is also an exclusive home cleaning partner of Oceana, the world's largest ocean conservancy organization.

Another factoid surely to please the eco-conscious crowd: The shipping of Dropps products is 100 percent carbon neutral. The company partners with 3Degrees to offset the carbon generated by every shipment. The company offset more than 650 metric tons this year alone.

As for the price, these, too, are very budget friendly at $19.50 (via subscribe and save) for 64 pods, or nearly enough for two months, depending how much laundry you do.

One last point about Dropps: They make far more than just standard laundry detergent. The company's product line also includes sensitive skin and baby detergent, dishwasher pods, and dryer balls.

Brighton Wool & Honey Co.

Yet another eco-friendly approach, Ohio-based Brighton Wool & Honey Co. sells laundry detergent in reusable quart-size canning jars. Every jar of the company's natural laundry soap is hand-mixed, hand-bottled, and hand-assembled.

The All Natural Lavender Laundry Soap (which comes with a handy wooden scoop) sells for $16, and each jar contains enough detergent to do anywhere from 75 to 100 loads. You don't have to be a math genius to figure out how affordable that is.

Local customers can even return jars for reuse and earn a $1 credit toward their next purchase.

"We sanitize and reuse them, thus significantly cutting down on environmental impact," says founder Maggie Osborn. "Plus, our soap is made from just five simple ingredients with no water run-off pollution."

Cora Ball and Guppyfriend

In case you weren't aware, all fabrics release fibers, such as lint and fuzz, each time they're washed. And clothing that's made from synthetic materials, like polyester and nylon, are no different. But here's the problem with this reality: "Those synthetic fibers are essentially made of plastic, which means there's a slew of microplastics entering our waterways via our washing machines on a daily basis," says Kenny.

Enter companies like Cora Ball and Guppyfriend, which have created products that you put into your washing machine to trap microplastics and block them from going down the drain.

Until the day when washing machines are constructed with a built-in microplastic filter (in the same manner that most dryers have a lint filter), the burden lies with the consumer to do their part, and Cora Ball and Guppyfriend can help.

Billing itself as the world's first microfiber catching laundry ball, (which you just drop into your washing machine with your dirty clothes) Cora Ball was designed by a team of ocean scientists and educators as a solution to the very real problem of plastics flooding into public waterways.

Cora Ball is available from a variety of brick-and-mortar and online retailers and the one-time purchase is $42, which admittedly makes it one of the pricier items on this eco-friendly laundry list. However, that's a one-time cost, as Cora Balls can be used for years.

Guppyfriend tackles the microplastics issue by providing a washing bag to put your clothing inside before putting the dirty items into the washing machine. The bag (which costs $34.95 and can be used for at least 50 washes) promises to reduce fiber shedding.

Why your laundry choices matter

The proliferation of eco-friendly laundry products is having a variety of positive impacts, not the least of which is that it's causing people to think more carefully about the products they buy, says Marc Lewis, general manager of EcoWatch.

Consumers, he says, have become increasingly aware of the toxicity of traditional laundry detergents and how those detergents can affect their skin. They're also becoming more knowledgeable about the side effects of fast-fashion and the resulting micro-plastics polluting the environment from disposable, or short-term clothing purchases.

And hopefully consumers will also soon begin to realize that being eco-conscious doesn't mean sacrificing cleaning quality or spending more money. In fact, in many cases, going green saves you cash.

If the final few hurdles to mass adoption are cleared, Lewis predicts that collectively the impact could be quite significant and truly positive for the planet. Still, there's an even more challenging mindset change that needs to take place first, says Lewis: "In the developed world, we've been led to believe that we need to wash our clothes after every use, regardless of how clean or dirty it is after we wear it. As a result, we probably use too much laundry detergent, which is bad in three ways: It degrades the quality of our clothes, it's bad for the environment, and, most importantly, it means we need to buy more detergent more frequently."

This mindset shift should really be a no-brainer if you want to trim your household budget and help save the planet.