Consumers Fooled by Greenwashed Personal Care
Consumers are frustrated by deceptive 'eco-friendly' marketing and the difficulty of finding genuinely sustainable personal care products. They are experiencing issues with product ingredients, packaging, and availability, leading to distrust and a constant search for safer, more environmentally responsible alternatives. This search is often time-consuming and emotionally draining.
SOURCES (60)
“its bad because its readily available. its only good if you have to order it online or no one knows about it.”
“I was once in a lecture that told the story of baby wipes.. No mother wanted to try it. Why would we pay for wet paper towel? We can wet it ourselves. Well...”
“I purchased this before. It wasn’t used for more than a year and when I got it out again it was covered in a sticky residue. As I was about to clean it, it just crumbled like that. Why and how did that happen??? submitted by /u/jolllyhotdoggg [link] [comments]”
“Hi! Brand new to the sub and slowly trying to make our home less wasteful and a little kinder to the Earth 🌏:) Have any of you used Oak and Willow’s cleaning products and if so, how do you like them? I’m specifically looking at using their solid dish soap, foaming hand soap tablets, toilet cleaning tablets, and multi purpose spray cleaning tablets. Other zero waste cleaning products recommendations very much welcome and appreciated! Thank you in advance for your insight! submitted by  ”
“The fragrances and carrier oils (ex: terpenes and ketones) can both act as organic solvents. DEET (repellant) is a strong solvent on its own. Don't use on most synthetic clothing fibers. Natural fibers are fine. Picaridin (repellant) has very comparable effectiveness to DEET and not a solvent. Permethrin (insecticide) is mostly for clothing and gear treatment and shouldn't be used directly on skin. There are medical grade permethrin options for direct skin application, but usually not th”
“I was really excited about Phat Neut when it was first announced, but none of the videos I've watched have made me think it's a must have product. There is no reason for me to ever use the Dry On method, so it becomes just an expensive rinseless wash to me.”
“Hello! I’ve done some searching and haven’t quite found an answer, so I was hoping someone else might be able to help. I purchased Wild’s Love Shack Fancy body wash not realizing I wouldn’t be able to use the body wash I already have to refill it. I have so much body wash it would be a waste to not use it. Has anyone found a workaround/refillable bottle that can fit the metal container? Thanks in advance. submitted by /u/heirloomedition [link] [comments]”
“Thanks, found out that it's also available here in my country! I'll try this.”
“Hi all, I am trying to be a bit more eco conscious, and slowly as I run out of things Ive made the decision to replace them with something that will last me longer and overall be more eco friendly. This has led me down many a rabbit holes and I found out about bar shampoo and conditioners! I have curly, thin hair so I have a very specific combination of products I use for my hair health- which ultimately means I use lots of plastic bottles in a year😞 so I am curious if there are any other curly”
“The "human car wash" idea is honestly the most realistic version of this. The tricky part with any zero-touch cleaning tech is probably hair — shampoo relies on mechanical scrubbing as much as the chemicals themselves, so even a magic laser/pill would still leave you with a full head of product buildup. Maybe the real MVP here is separating the two problems: an automated body-only wash (totally doable with jets + some kind of gentle brush system) and just... accepting hair still needs”
“Hey, so my boyfriend and I are trying to be more eco friendly/conscious with what we’re buying. It started with body wash, we now use bars, that are made in Ireland/local to us. Then it was milk. Then deodorant, we use natural deodorant. Then we stopped buying anything plastic. The next thing we want to try and tackle is the laundry. I was going to buy the Eco egg but I’ve seen mixed reviews. We’re currently using wash pods. Any advice is appreciated. submitted by /u/Adventurous-Ear7”
“I am needing some advice in regards to cleaning supplies. If anyone has any non toxic cleaning or homemade recipes they can suggest, it would be greatly appreciated. As of now I’m pretty much using white vinegar, dawn dish soap & baking soda mixed together to clean my bathroom sink, toilet & tub. For my floors I use hot water with fabuloso and everything else I’m pretty much just using an all purpose meyer’s cleaner. I feel like these ingredients are not enough and maybe I’m not actually”
“as the title states, i’m looking for any good recommendations for baby wash/shampoo and lotion. my daughter just turned 1 a couple weeks ago, and a little before her first birthday i started using the yellow bottle of johnson & johnson baby shampoo on her. she’s been starting to get little bumps on her arms and i’m pretty positive that’s what it’s from. we never bought any other body wash cause we were gifted a bunch of the j&j shampoo at her baby shower. the newborn one worked so well o”
“I would also like toothbrush pill to be added to this list immediately. Or if we are shooting for the stars here I'd love a team of nanobots who live for nothing but to make my oral hygiene and breath as chill as the 5 gum commercial WITHOUT impacting my ability to taste. So... yeah. chop chop.”
“Looking for something that can fit my existing Clorox toilet wand, but that is nontoxic. I like the disposable scrubbing pads but would like to use my own cleaner. Has anyone found anything? submitted by /u/Cyma88 [link] [comments]”
“So you know the orange soap that like brightens skin and gets rid of dark marks right? Yea it stained my bathtub and I realized I can't get it out with the regular stuff. So far I bought a magic eraser and bar keepers friend (powdered version). I let it sit on there for a little , then scrubbed until my arms got tired and nothing happened. Any suggestions? submitted by /u/Particular_Doggie [link] [comments]”
“Thanks for the detailed answer! I know some APCs advertise themselves as good for fabric (like Meguiar's D101, which apparently even has fabric softeners) but couldn't say why people want to use others like Simple Green.”
“Trying to make slightly less awful choices for our home. Every brand says green and eco on the box but I can't tell what's real. i feel like 10 year olds can tell a lot of that is greenwashing. Is there any laminate that's genuinely lower formaldehyde / responsibly made, or is it all marketing? What should I even look for on the label for authenticity? submitted by /u/uui_maa [link] [comments]”
“One issue with sponges with traditional soap is the surfactant heavy soap foams/bubbles up into the sponge making it almost hard/dense if you try to squeeze it. (Also takes forever to fully rinse out all the soap in the sponge). the theory with rinseless and a sponge is that you don’t want it soaking wet so it can absorb the dirt/rinseless solution off the panel. I just don’t really see many positives a sponge has over a wash mitt/pad for tradition washing.”
“I just use waterless wash two birds with one stone and less junk on my shelf”
“I just feel like I need the reassurance that the cleaning products aren’t harming my health, I feel like that would make me more lax.”
“Seems like every detergent I’ve used leaves my dishes tasting and smelling like whatever fragrance is in the detergent. I prefer powder or gels over pods- and I can’t seem to find anything that both works and doesn’t have fragrance. That or isn’t poorly reviewed for fragrance leaching. Why is this so hard?! lol. Please help! submitted by /u/iforgotmypassword1_ [link] [comments]”
“I've seen many social media ads about Basis Oral's Enamel-GEN, but I've seen no discussion or reviews on reddit. Not sure if the product/company is legit or a scam. I was hoping to get input from dentists or hygienists who may be familiar with it or with similar products. It's a fluoride-free liquid tooth serum that is applied after brushing (1 mL/dropper, left on the teeth for a few minutes, then spit out and avoid eating/drinking afterward). The company publicly discloses the f”
“Yep I’ll see if I still have the pictures I like their products but they’re the only brand I’ve had mold issues with, and it seems to be pretty common.”
“I have issues with fragrances and have to be really choosy about scented cleaning products. True botanical scents seem to be ok, but the fake fragrances are a problem. Dish soap is the worst because the fragrance lingers, and it's bad in water bottles and glasses. I think I'm one of those super smellers. I keep on hand a couple of Dawn products because they're so good. If they made their ordinary dish soap unscented, I'd buy it, but they only make it in a "lemon essence,&quo”
“Do any of you guys have some recommended curly shampoo and conditioner brands that won't break your wallet (preferably also placed in Europe). I'm trying my best to reduce my plastic waste, but I haven't been able to find a brand of shampoo that won't break my wallet, and that has actually worked for my hair. And I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations submitted by /u/True_Spray186 [link] [comments]”
“So is there actually a difference between these two? They are under two different brands but look to have the same ingredients? submitted by /u/Agreeable_Cash4744 [link] [comments]”
“I've got a toddler and I feel like I'm constantly cleaning surfaces. I'm trying to be more environmentally conscious, so I want to switch to eco-friendly disinfecting wipes. But I can't seem to find any that actually work and don't smell like a chemical factory. I bought a massive box from a discount site thinking I was saving money - 500 wipes for $15. They arrived practically dry and smelled like straight bleach. Complete waste. Now I'm back to square one. I've seen”
“For many years I’ve been using an electric toothbrush, however I’m thinking of switching to something more eco-friendly and also if an electric toothbrush head has plastic is it even save for a human? I could get a bamboo one, but what other options do I have? submitted by /u/Hot-Raspberry-8941 [link] [comments]”
“My bottle of 9 Elements cleaner ran out a while ago and I didn't know they had discontinued it. Does anyone have a good copycat recipe? I've looked all over and can't seem to pin anything down submitted by /u/Bixel925 [link] [comments]”
“There's no way to buy bamboo toothbrush in a store in my city. I can buy it online though, but it comes in plastic packaging and has nylon bristles. At the same time I can buy an ordinary plastic toothbrush and recycle it (I see boxes for them sometimes). The same with toothpaste, I can recycle a plastic tube, but there's no way to buy it in tablets. Once I bought a toothpaste in aluminium tube online and it had so many layers of plastic packaging that it would be more reasonable to just”
“I’ve tried a few brands, I liked the shape of the Preserve toothbrushes, but they are 100% recycled plastic and I want to get plastic out of my family’s mouth. Bamboo is fine, but I had concerns about mold growth. I had a really cool aluminum one with replaceable heads, but the company went under and it became fodder for the recycling bin. I have been looking at some of the start up electric toothbrush brands that use aluminum or bamboo- but given my experience with one company failing, I’ve bee”
“I’m not zero waste, I am less waste and that is also worth doing. Instead of filling up the garbage once a week I do it once every month and a week. That is an 80% reduction. Zero waste is an aspirational goal. But most of us realistically can’t get there. I live without a car, but I still carpool or take Ubers on ocassion. I am not vegan, but I am prrrtty much flexitarian. I buy mostly used but I occasionally buy new. I maintain, repair, reuse, refuse, repurpose, reduce, recycle, and rot. But I”
“What they are also not speaking about is the affects of severe hard water on skin... within 3 -4 months of exposue.. it broke down my skin barrier and I believe and am having a severe allergic reaction to something in the water. I am currently investigationg with doctors what is going on. I have.documented EVERYTHING. This has drastically affected my quality of life. I have no.prior allergies or.skin issues. Only moved to a new town amd wasn't even aware of what hardwater was. Added filters,”
“I’m so fed up. HQ is organising a sustainability strategy workshop and dinner is scheduled to be in a goddamn STEAKHOUSE submitted by /u/asdner [link] [comments]”
“Hello, This is just a warning about TerraCycle. They got caught in my country (Canada, Québec) by a team of journalists who did put a tracker in some of the Zero waste box they sent them. Basically, lot of boxes were moved from Quebec to Illinois (1600km away from Montreal) just to end up in a landfill. Also lot of boxes did Quebec - Ontario / Ontario-Quebec during 2 years TerraCycle isnt as green as they pretend to be (pikachu face) and its just a money making scheme. They got a lot of governme”
“I have been using shampoo and conditioner bars for a while now. Sometimes I just use a small amount of my conditioner bar as a leave in. But I have naturally 2C wavy hair and I use my straightener a lot. These are the current products I use, mostly for leave in, detangling, repair, and heat protection. I got 2 of them as gifts so I'm using them up since I have them... I use a gel for when I wear my waves naturally. Do any of you recommend any certain zero waste products that can replace thes”
“Yes the shampoo bar I bought was expensive, but according to them, 1 bar = 2 bottles, so that might make it more appealing if that's true! And sorry to hear about scum & gunk, I wonder if it has something to do with water hardness...? Glad to hear that you found shave soap bars that work for you!”
“Life Supplies is brilliant, it’s a refillable glass roll-on and refills come in recyclable cartons (Tetrapaks). Works on me as well as Mitchum did lol. Making Waves was ok but the stuff felt a bit gross and sticky and was hard to clean off, and the plastic applicator thing broke after a year.”
“You can get bamboo ones, much better than paper and bamboo is a sustainable choice. You can tell by looking at them if they are sold in a clear package or it should be labelled. Often sold in cardboard packaging so should say bamboo on it. Very cheap, chemist's and discount shops should have them. Here the plastic ones are not allowed to be sold anymore anyway.”
“i’m slowly making the switch to sustainable, holistic, diy everything. i’m using every drop of my cosmetics before i either buy or make an alternative. at the start of my journey, i was so excited to start doing eco bricks. however, ive done more research and have found that the process is mostly greenwashing and there’s no true organized systems in place for actually doing something with the finished bottles. i thought i simply had to fill them with clean plast”
“Maybe try Irish spring soap? I’ve never tried it, but I see it working miracles in this sub a lot. Might be worth a try :)”
“the soap base disaster as a first bar experience is such a universal story, I went through exactly the same thing and gave up for over a year before trying again”
“Refillable hand soup through something like Blueland, Good Store or Clean Cult is easy”
“I wash my hair with honey :) as often as I like, gentle massaging, no harm to body/environment, sold in glass jar, moisturising face mask. Yes it is weird at first, but get used to.”
“I started trying to eliminate bathroom plastic in my second year of university. Bamboo toothbrush, shampoo bar, the whole thing at once, driven by a documentary and a lot of optimism. Most of it didn't stick. The bamboo toothbrush is still going. The shampoo bar lasted two weeks before I gave up and went back to liquid because nobody had told me about soap base versus SCI base and I'd bought the wrong kind. The second attempt was more methodical. One swap”
“Does anyone know why they don’t sell the conditioner in the refill containers? It’s making me crazy that I can’t get it that way!”