Clorox adds green to its clean

Care2 editorial staff

JANUARY 14, 2008—Historically, the words "green" and "Clorox" haven't shared much time in the same sentence. That's about to change as the bleach giant adds a new line of green household cleaning products, Green Works.

In doing so, Clorox becomes the first major consumer products brand to launch a mainstream green brand.

"We think we've set a new standard for what natural can and should be. But for some fragrance and color, our Green Works products are completely natural—the most natural cleaners on the market today," Clorox said in its press release. "But we're not satisfied with 99 percent, and we're searching for good sources of natural fragrance and color so we can achieve our goal to deliver 100 percent natural cleaning products."

On its label, Green Works boasts the Sierra Club seal of approval.

"We are supporting Green Works in hopes that more people will have access to these kinds of products, some of which aren't even available in the middle of the country," Sierra Club spokeswoman Orli Cotel told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com, who did some consulting work for Clorox on Green Works, told the Chronicle that this is a "watershed moment" for the environmental movement. "We finally have major consumer companies taking the green marketplace seriously, and not as an afterthought," he said.

While Clorox Green Works is a better product for the environment, Care2's Green Living expert Annie B. Bond points out that it's not necessarily healthier for the people who use it.

"While Clorox has made great strides forward with this new line, unfortunately their reliance on ethanol is worrisome as it is a suspected lung carcinogen and respiratory toxicant," she said. "It may not be polluting our ground water, but it carries a potential health risk for those who use it. And some of the products contain what appear to be synthetic fragrances, to which many are sensitive."

In an effort to demonstrate that its commitment to greener, more natural products is not a greenwashing ploy in the wake of growing consumer consciousness about the environment, Clorox took the extra step of getting the product certified by the Design for the Environment program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, Clorox Green Works products come in recyclable containers and are not tested on animals.

Clorox also purchased Burt's Bees, a company known for its natural beeswax beauty products and eco-friendly marketing, for $913 million in November. The company plans to turn Burt's Bees into a mainstream American brand sold in big-box stores.