2Sustain

American consumers buy 320 million cleaning products in trigger bottles each year, and millions of those plastic containers end up in landfills. SC Johnson, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of household products, wants consumers to consider a different option to “spray and throw away.”

In response to consumer demand revealed through earlier focus groups and a study with GfK Roper examining green attitudes and behaviors, SC Johnson has announced the expansion of its Mini line of concentrated cleaners. This new product line allows buyers to combine one bottle of concentrate with regular tap water in a reusable trigger bottle, eliminating the need to buy new trigger bottles of the same product.

The Mini line includes five of SC Johnson brands:

• fantastik® Mini concentrated kitchen cleaner
• Pledge® Mini concentrated furniture cleaner
• Scrubbing Bubbles® Mini concentrated bathroom cleaner
• Shout® Carpet Mini concentrated carpet stain remover
• Windex® Mini concentrated glass and surface cleaner

Overall, concentrated refills use less packaging, decrease shipping impacts and reduce waste.  In fact, the use of 3.5 million pounds of virgin plastic and the transportation of nearly 11.5 million gallons of water could be avoided each year if just 20 percent of the 320 million cleaning products sold in trigger bottles were refilled.

In tandem with the Mini line, SC Johnson launched its new Green Choices Marketplace, an online shop for all the concentrate brands with a wide variety of options for purchases. Shoppers can mix and match single concentrates ($2.50) or order starter kits ($5.00) including two concentrates and a reusable bottle. Empty trigger bottles are also available.

“We’ve been working to crack the code on what would make concentrated refills a more popular choice,” said Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. “Now we’re adding improvements that reflect the feedback we’ve heard from Windex® Mini users and move us closer to an option that we hope will create greater demand for these products. The resource savings with refills are hard to deny, and that’s something we really want to communicate and encourage.”