Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Sierra Club partner with the Green Works line of natural cleaning products, from the makers of Clorox products?
Why not partner with one of the smaller, early producers of environmentally-preferable cleaning products instead?
What are the Green Works products and their ingredients?
Do the Green Works products meet the EPA "Design for the Environment" standards? What does the EPA's "DfE" label mean?
What is Clorox's overall environmental record?
Isn't Clorox a big dumper of chlorine into the environment?
Green Works: Accessible, Affordable and Effective
What are the Greenworks products and their ingredients?
What is the price point and how does it compare to other like products in this area?
How does the percentage of natural ingredients in GreenWorks compare to other natural household cleaning products?
What will the distribution be for Green Works?
Do the Green Works Products work well?
When will Green Works be available in stores?
What are the Green Works Products and their ingredients?
Green Works is made by The Clorox Company from ingredients derived from coconuts and lemon oil. The products are formulated to be biodegradable, non-allergenic, packaged in bottles that can be recycled and not tested on animals. The Green Works line includes five natural cleaning products for use in the home, kitchen and bathroom:
- Green Works Natural All-Purpose Cleaner
- Green Works Natural Glass & Surface
- Cleaner Green Works Natural Toilet Bowl
- Cleaner Green Works Natural Dilutable
- Cleaner Green Works Natural Bathroom Cleaner
Click here to view more product info.
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Why did Sierra Club partner with the Green Works line of natural cleaning products, from the makers of Clorox products? Why not partner with one of the smaller, early producers of environmentally-preferable cleaning products instead?
Our goals are to put affordable, green products in the hands of millions of people and to encourage major manufacturing companies to green their product lines. We believe that for Sierra Club to use its name to promote these goals, we must partner with big companies that have the large distribution networks so they can make a good product that's affordable and we can put it in the hands of as many people as possible. At this time, the natural cleaning products made by smaller companies are not widely available and are not priced low enough to be considered a viable alternative for many mainstream American consumers. Green products should not be niche products; we need to mainstream them.
Of course, the products produced by the big manufacturers also have to meet the highest standards for environmentally-friendly natural cleaning products (click here for the Green Works product ingredients or click here to read about their EPA "Design for the Environment" designation). And of course, we scrutinized the environmental record of the company itself. In the case of the Green Works line of products and its parent company, Clorox, all of these goals and requirements were met.
We know that choosing to partner with a big, market-changing company like Clorox has consequences. The Sierra Club has chosen to be selective and to partner only with companies whose environmental performance is much better than average. But we have also determined that we will not achieve our overall goal of changing consumer behavior by making affordable, natural products available to the majority of Americans if we avoid partnering with companies simply because they have had environmental violations in the past, or make some product lines which we think could be improved.
Ours is a strategy of seeking major improvements, but not perfection. The way to change the marketplace is to engage with the best actors in the marketplace. We believe that before major corporations will stop making their current and often less desirable product lines, they need first to develop a customer base for greener options, and demonstrate the viability and profitability of those options.
There are clearly those who disagree with this strategy, who believe that our highest priority should be to avoid associating our name with companies and products that are less than perfect - but that means not taking advantage of the opportunity to offer millions of Americans a realistic option to become more responsible consumers. Sierra Club has chosen instead to partner with the Green Works product line and actively support their efforts to offer millions of Americans greener choices in their everyday lives - today.
What are the Green Works products and their ingredients?
The Green Works all-natural products include: bathroom cleaner; all-purpose cleaner; glass and surface cleaner; toilet bowl cleaner; and a dilutable cleaner. The Green Works' cleaning products are made from natural, renewable resources, such as coconut and lemon oils. The ingredients are biodegradable and are 99% petrochemical free. They contain no phosphorus or bleach. They do not use aerosol and there has been no animal testing. Click here for a complete list of ingredients and for more information about each product.
Do the Green Works products meet the EPA "Design for the Environment" standards? What does the EPA's "DfE" label mean?
 Yes, the Green Works Products meet the EPA's "Design for the Environment" standards (their toughest safety standards).
EPA allows safer products to carry the Design for the Environment (DfE) label. This mark allows consumers to quickly identify and choose products that can help protect the environment and are safer for families. When you see the DfE logo on a product it means that the DfE scientific review team has screened each ingredient for potential human health and environmental effects and that-based on currently available information, EPA predictive models, and expert judgment-the product contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class.
Product manufacturers who become DfE partners, and earn the right to display the DfE logo on recognized products, have invested heavily in research, development and reformulation, to ensure that their ingredients and finished product line up on the green end of the health and environmental spectrum, while maintaining or improving product performance.
EPA's Design for the Environment Program (DfE) has allowed use of their logo on hundreds of products. These products are formulated from the safest possible ingredients and, in 2007, reduced the use of "chemicals of concern" by 80 million pounds, up from 59 million pounds in 2006.
This is how DfE makes sure that products bearing the label are really safer: DfE carefully looks at each product ingredient - there are no exceptions. DfE starts with information that scientists already know about each ingredient such as how it works in a detergent, and how it affects living things. Where that information doesn't tell the full story, EPA looks at an ingredient's chemical structure - its components and shape - to understand how it could impact the environment and people. A chemical's structure can tell a lot about how the chemical will behave and what types of effects it may have when it comes in contact with people or the environment. DfE uses the special skills of the scientists at EPA who have studied chemicals for 30 years or even longer.
DfE only allows use of the logo when a product is best in its class.
DfE compares an ingredient's characteristics to other chemicals in the same class. That is, solvents are compared to other solvents, and wetting agents (surfactants) are compared with other surfactants. Before DfE allows the logo on a product, DfE makes sure that only the safest ingredients from each class are used.
Safer cleaning products can help protect the environment and your family.
When you use a cleaning product, it is released into the environment-inside your home and down the drain to the outdoors. Adults come in contact with cleaning products on a regular basis, as do children who are often the most exposed when they crawl on the floor. Some consumers may prefer cleaning products that, for example, are inherently safer or do not irritate sensitive skin. Others may prefer products that break down quickly and do not harm fish or are safer for use around family pets. The DfE logo is an easy way to know you are choosing a product that is as safe as possible for people and the environment.
What is Clorox's overall environmental record?
We looked carefully into the corporate record of Clorox. Most of Clorox's manufacturing facilities are located in the U.S. and all, except one, get a rating in the 0-20% "green" range where 0 = green (cleanest/best facilities) and 100 = brown (dirtiest/worst) from scorecard.org (scorecard.org's data integrates over 400 scientific and governmental databases to generate its customized profiles of local environmental quality and toxic chemicals). The one exception mentioned is still in the green range from 20-30%. This covers chemical releases and waste generation for air and water pollution, as well as the manufacturing plants, which also have a low impact on various health risks.
Clorox does have some minor EPA and OSHA violations in its recent records, and if you go back to the 1990's you can find more serious problems. But compared with other major companies in their field, all of the information we obtained supported the conclusion that they were among the best.
Isn't Clorox a big dumper of chlorine into the environment?
Many specific concerns have been raised about bleach in particular as a product. Some people feel that we should not work with a company whose signature consumer product is, indeed, bleach. Many comments seem to assume that bleach is an inappropriate product - that Clorox, if it was genuinely concerned about the environment, would stop making it.
The Sierra Club did extensive due diligence on sodium hypochlorite and household bleach before entering into this partnership.
Clorox bleach is about 6% sodium hypochlorite and the other 94% is plain water. When flushed down into the sewer it breaks down into water and salt. The manufacture of household bleach is responsible for an infinitesimal portion of chlorine use in the US economy. Most chlorine is used to make other industrial chemicals, including dangerous solvents and pesticides. Bleach is not a major source of demand for sodium hypochlorite. By far the major use of sodium hypochlorite is to purify drinking water.
Virtually all of the water that people in the U.S. are drinking, outside of those with wells, is chlorinated drinking water. And sodium hypochlorite is probably the safest chemical to use for those household needs which require disinfection, as opposed to just cleaning. Neither conventional nor natural cleansers actually disinfect things like wooden cutting boards which may have bacteria in them from cutting meat.
Given these realities, we did not find the fact that Clorox is a major manufacturer of household bleach sufficient reason to not work with them and, on balance, considered that the positives aspects of this partnership greatly outweighed these concerns.
Click here to read the Clorox Company's description of their bleach which we believe accurately captures the scientific issues.
Green Works: Accessible, Affordable and Effective
The launching of this product line provides the Sierra Club with an unprecedented opportunity to influence the buying behavior of millions of people who have never had access to these kinds of products before and will give a giant kick-start to the market for safe, green, affordable household cleaning products. The Green Works line is the only one that has all the key elements the Sierra Club believes are essential for such a product line to truly influence consumer behavior in a significant way. In addition to being truly eco-preferable, the products are:
- Accessible - Many consumers across America do not have access to green cleaning products because they do not shop in the specialized stores where they are distributed. Green Works products will ultimately be sold in approximately 24,000 stores throughout the country.
- Affordable - Until now, a big stumbling block for families who want to live a greener lifestyle has been the high cost of "green" products. In fact, 74% of consumers surveyed say that green products are too expensive. The Green Works line of products is priced anywhere from 30%-50% lower than the price of other natural products currently available.
- Equal to or better than conventional products in how well they work - According to consumer research, 43.8 percent of consumers said they want to use more natural household cleaning products, but the products need to get the job done. In lab and blind consumer in-home testing, all Green Works products performed as well as, or better than leading conventional cleaners.
Lastly, if this product line is successful, then other major companies will get involved. And since "household cleaners" overall is not a growing category, that means that when more eco-preferable products go on the shelf, more conventional products will come off the shelf.
The bottom line is that these products are environmentally safe, affordable, work well, and will be available to millions of people. They can help alter consumer behavior overall and will support the good work of the Sierra Club. It is our chance to use the power of our name to create an opportunity for people to do the right thing that hasn't really existed before on a large scale. And that is a great opportunity for Sierra Club and for the planet.
What is the price point and how does it compare to other like products in this area?
The products are priced from $2.99 to $3.39 which is only about 20-25 percent higher than conventional cleaners and much cheaper than existing natural cleaners, which can be priced 50-100% higher. Its affordability enables consumers to take a step toward living a more natural lifestyle without paying a significant premium price.
How does the percentage of natural ingredients in Green Works compare to other natural household cleaning products?
Green Works is at least 99 percent natural as compared to the approx. 93-94 percent natural by the other companies in natural household cleaning products. They are made from corn- or coconut-based cleaning agents, essential lemon oils, and other natural ingredients; they contain no toxic chemicals, phosphorus, or bleach
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What will the distribution be for Green Works?
It is the first natural cleaner that will have national distribution, moving natural cleaning products into the mainstream. This will have distribution in approximately 24,000 food, drug, and retails outlets nationwide ranging from stores such as Safeway, Albertson’s, Whole Foods, Target, CostCo, Bed, Bath and Beyond, and many others in the US and Canada.
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Do the Green Works Products work well?
According to consumer research, 43.8 percent of consumers said they want to use more natural household cleaning products, but the products need to get the job done. In lab and blind consumer in-home testing, all Green Works products performed as well as, or better than leading conventional cleaners.
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When will Green Works be available in stores?
Green Works natural cleaning products will be available at food, drug and mass retail outlets nationwide in January 2008. The Sierra Club logo and information will first appear on the product labels (on back) around the first of April.
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