19/11/2023
Box Divvy introduces:
Single-use plastic has become a major environmental challenge, on a scale that is hard to imagine. Looking at the numbers can be daunting:
• In Australia, more than 300 million cleaning and personal care bottles end up in landfill each year
• Worldwide production of plastics amount to 400 million tonnes annually – of which 40% is single-use plastic
• In Australia, only 13% of plastic is recycled – so most ends up in landfill, and approx. 8 million tonnes end up in the ocean.
• If current trends continue, by 2050 our oceans contain more plastic than fish.
At Box Divvy, we believe that ‘current trends’ are there to be bend, broken and reversed. Forget about recycling: the better way is to reduce the amount of plastics used in the first place.
At Box Divvy, we have been doing this for years: almost all our produce is packed loose, rather than wrapped in plastic.
This is also the reason why we are introducing a cleaning range that eliminates the need for single-use plastic bottles. Uh? How, exactly?
Introducing ECOKAPS
ECOKAPS produce a range of cleaners – both household and personal cleaning products – in the form of a tablet that is dissolved in warm water. You can use any spray bottle or hand foaming pump you already have, or buy the aluminium or frosted glass bottle supplied by ECOKAPS: they’re designed to last for years.
The initial range includes:
• multi-purpose cleaner
• glass cleaner
• kitchen degreaser
• floor cleaner
• foaming handwash.
Laundry, dishwash and bodywash products are in the pipeline.
ECOKAPS are effective cleaners (we’ve trialled them over the past month), up to 60% cheaper than traditional cleaners, non-toxic (e.g. no Sodium Lauryl Sulphate or Triclosan), biodegradable (no phosphate) and septic safe.
Pricing
People often complain that companies that promote sustainable products charge a premium for the privilege. At Box Divvy, we won’t have a bar of that: being sustainable does not need to cost any more – and often, it’s cheaper. ECOKAPS is a case in point.
For starters, the cost of a box of 3 tablets (any cleaner) is $6.60 incl GST. Not only is this $2 below the price ECOKAPS sell online, it is also between 37% and 63% cheaper compared with traditional cleaners.
The kits – bottle plus 1 tablet – cost $11 incl GST, which is $2.20 less than what ECOKAPS charge in their online shop.
To encourage your members to trial the product, we are taking 10% off the already low price for the next two weeks (until the end of November). That means:
• The kits will be $9.90 incl GST (regular price $11)
• The refills will be $5.94 incl GST (regular price $6.60)
Non-toxic ingredients
Many supermarket cleaning products contain chemicals that can have adverse health effects or trigger allergies, such as:
• Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) is the chemical that creates the foamy, bubbly lather in shampoos, hand soaps, detergents etc. It can be irritating to eyes, mouth and skin. SLS strips natural oils from your skin, which can cause dermatological problems.
• Triclosan is found in most of the liquid dishwashing detergents and hand soaps that are labelled as anti-bacterial. It is an aggressive antibacterial agent and it can promote the growth of anti-drug resistant bacteria. Also, it is very toxic to algae and good bacteria when drained into creeks and rivers.
• Sodium hypochlorite is a caustic chemical commonly known as bleach. It can cause irritation to the eyes, mouth, lungs and skin, and people with asthma or breathing difficulties are especially susceptible. It can also burn human tissue, internally or externally, especially in small children. Sodium hypochlorite is harmful to water-based life forms. It is mutagenic and exceptionally poisonous when it interacts with ammonia or acids such as those found in toilet cleaners, vinegar, dishwashing liquids as it releases chlorine gas which is extremely toxic.
• Parabens are synthetic chemicals used as preservatives in many cleaning products. They help to prolong the shelf life by inhibiting the growth of microbes. Common parabens you may spot in your cleaners include methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben. Parabens are known endocrine disruptors that can mimic estrogen in the body. Several studies have shown that parabens can affect the mechanisms of normal breast cells and potentially influence their abnormal growth, leading to increased risk for breast cancer.
ECOKAPS’ base ingredient is sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). It contains no aggressive chemicals, no petroleum-derived ingredients, no SLS, bleach, phosphates, ammonia or parabens. It is also vegan and has not been tested on animals.
It is biodegradable, and greywater and septic safe.
And best of all: no plastic bottle that ends up in landfill, or worse: in our ocean.
