Today’s post is from my sister, Lindsey Zulkosky, who wrote my first guest post after receiving the Blueland Clean Essentials Kit from me for her birthday. This post is coming out one day after Blueland released its two newest products, powdered dish soap and plastic-free dishwasher tabs. What is this product?Blueland is a low waste alternative to traditional cleaning products. The kit includes three reusable cleaning bottles, one reusable hand soap bottle, and four tablets. The tablets are color-coded to coincide with their respective bottle: multi-surface, glass + mirror, bathroom, and the hand soap. You simply fill the water to the line on the bottle, place the cleaning tab into the bottle, and wait for it to dissolve. It takes about an hour to let the tabs fully dissolve before you can begin to clean with the products, and does not produce the harsh smell typical with many cleaning products. Instead, there is a refreshing scent that makes cleaning more enjoyable. The hand soap does not lather as heavily as other soaps typically do, but that does not diminish the ability to clean your hands with this product. How much work is this product?There is minimal work to set up your cleaning supplies, just about as much work as pouring yourself a glass of water. All you have to do is fill the bottle with water and add the tab to create your Blueland cleaning sprays. I did run into some issues with one of my spray bottles a few weeks after initially creating the spray, unfortunately, the bottle cracked and the solution leaked out. Blueland’s customer service team was very helpful throughout the process and sent me a new bottle and tab to replace the product I lost and paid to ship the old one back to their facility so it could be responsibly recycled. Will this product save me money?The starter kit costs $39 and each replacement tab is $2. I previously purchased cleaning supplies from the dollar store and each bottle averaged $4. In order to break even and start saving money, I calculated that I will need to go through four bottles of each of the three cleaning supplies. The first bottle costs about $10 and with each additional refill at $2 the fourth bottle brings the total cost to $16. My previous cleaning supplies would also cost $16 for four bottles so on the 5th bottle I will begin to save $2 a bottle. What’s the verdict?Maintenance Score: 2 I rated this two out of five, you have to dissolve the tablets and that takes about 1 hour to dissolve completely. It is easy to put together, will save you money, and does not emit any overwhelming chemical scents. Initial Investment Score: 3 This got a three because the starter kit cost $39 and that is a fair sum to get started using this product. This is not a ridiculous amount of money but it is a little more than double what it would cost to get two of every conventional product in the store. Money-Saving Score: 2 I rated this a two out of five because it takes a bit of time before you start actually saving money. I spent on average $4 per bottle of cleaning supplies and it will take four bottles to break even before I start saving money on the 5th bottle. This does depend on how much you clean. Luckily I received the kit as a gift and will start saving money right away with the tablets. Where can I buy this?The starter kit is available on the Blueland website. You can find the refill tabs here and read more about their mission to reduce plastic waste and the widespread use of toxic cleaning chemicals here. You can follow Blueland on Facebook at @liveblueland, and @blueland on Instagram and Twitter. You can also keep up with the Founder and CEO of Blueland, Sarah Paiji Yoo, on Instagram to learn more about her attempt to remove single-use plastics from her home. Why is making the switch important?Every bottle of cleaning supplies you buy is another plastic bottle wasted. While using this product, you will reuse the bottles and decrease your plastic waste. The paper that the tabs come in is compostable and recyclable so that you can choose the best way to dispose of the small piece of waste for you!
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This blog post differs from my usual format of a weekly product review in light of the current events happening in our country. As a result of the death of George Floyd, protests have started all over the country and extended across the world in a show of solidarity with United States activists. As a white person, I want to continue to be the best ally I can to all people of color and I especially want to lift the voices of black environmentalists and business owners. It is important that we all challenge the current status quo and do what we can to benefit black Americans and all others who are treated less than justly in our country. Ron Finley is a black man working to empower people to plant their own food in an effort to end food deserts in South Central Los Angeles. It is incredibly important to the overall health of a community to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables and Finley is someone taking some important steps to help make that possible. The sustainability movement requires both time and personal monetary investment. Many people that live in communities with limited resources are located in food deserts and do not have access to conventional grocery stores. A food desert is defined by Food Empowerment Project as, “geographic areas where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food options (especially fresh fruits and vegetables) is restricted or nonexistent due to the absence of grocery stores within convenient traveling distance.” This endeavor started as an act of defiance when he was given a citation for gardening without a permit when he started gardening the “parkways” or the small strip of land between his house and the road. He became an integral part of changing that regulation and is now inspiring generations of children to get involved in growing their own food. In his widely viewed Ted Talk, he calls himself the Gansta Gardener and says, “If kids grow kale kids eat kale, if they grow tomatoes they eat tomatoes.” He continues on to explain to the crowd that a lot of kids will eat whatever is put in front of them because no one explains how food affects the mind and the body. He has been inspiring people in his communities for years and has been featured in many publications and a documentary called “Can You Dig This.” He now runs The Ron Finley Project where he says he “is realizing his vision for community gardening and rejuvenation.” He is empowering large groups of people to grow their own food with his famous quote “growing your own food is like printing your own money.” This project is growing as he plans to build a garden called “HQ” in South Central LA to create jobs and serve as “a self-sufficient ecosystem of gardening, education, cooking, business learning and management” for the community.” If you want to help bring this project to life you can donate on his website, http://ronfinley.com/ or purchase his merchandise at https://rfp.bigcartel.com/. You can watch Can You Dig This on Amazon Prime or most major streaming services. If you want to follow this community activist on social media you can find him on Facebook @ronfinleyproject, Instagram @ronfinleyhq and Twitter @RonFinleyHQ. |
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