The Illusion of Choice in Household Products
Do we really have a sea of options when it comes to household products or is it all an illusion?
Did you know most of your household products are owned by just three companies? Yes, even a lot of the ones that you think are small companies.
Unilever, SC Johnson, and Proctor & Gamble own most of the cleaning aisle and are simply giving us an illusion of choice.
This is a topic that Amanda of Clotheshorse and I will be diving into soon on her podcast. We are both passionate about voting with our dollar and giving as much of our money to companies that fit with our values as possible.
One thing we go over is some alternatives to those brands you may have thought were small like Mrs. Meyers, Method, and Seventh Generation, because sadly all of those brands and more have been bought up by big corporations, all of which have given to MAGA Republicans directly and/or through PACs.
The first thing I want to stress before sharing some of the alternatives to these big brands is that we are NOT throwing away perfectly good products. If you’ve already spent your hard earned money on it throwing it away only hurts you and the environment.
I’m still going through my stock of Mrs. Meyers as I always had bought it on sale and have a back stock. Once it’s gone, that’s when we make the better choices.
So what brands are still independent and worth giving your money to? Thankfully we still have a lot and this list will not be all of them by any means. These are just brands I have researched and many I have personally used.
Independent Household Brands Worth Supporting
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Laundry Detergent
Rosie Brand by Thrive Market (this is what I’m currently using)
Dropps (this brand is owned by a venture capitalist firm but in my research I found them to be on the progressive side)
Nellie’s (I love their oxygen brightener)
Dish Detergent and Soap
Rosie Brand by Thrive Market (this is the current dish soap I’m using)
Dirty Labs (this is the current dish detergent I’m using)
General Household Cleaners
Force of Nature (see my full review, I LOVE this product. You can get 40% off a starter kit with coupon code START40)
Rosie Brand by Thrive Market
Grove Co. Brand (I use their concentrates)
The other option if you have the time is to make your own cleaners. This will generally save you money and is a great way to customize your products.
I have a free DIY Cleaning Recipes ebook that you can download to help get you started.
Where to Buy Your Household Products
Target, Walmart, and Amazon are out if we can help it so where do we buy all our household products?
Shop Small, Shop Local
The best option is a locally owned store when possible. Keeping your money local helps your community and supporting small businesses is always ideal.
However, as someone that lives in rural Oklahoma and is also disabled I know that is not always possible.
Thrive Market
One of my favorite places to shop for household products and food is Thrive Market. It’s an online grocery store that works a lot like Costco as you have a membership which gets you better prices but the products aren’t in bulk so it’s great even for small families.
I have a full honest review of Thrive Market on my website. You can also use my Thrive Market link to get 30% off your first order.
Grove Collaborative
Grove Collaborative is another place I’ve shopped online for years. They sell household products, personal care products, some pet products, and more.
They do sell some of the brands that are owned by big corporations but also carry many smaller brands I have listed here.
Costco
Costco is a big box option that is more ethical. They pay better wages, kept DEI, and don’t support MAGA.
If you don’t have one near you, I don’t, you can get a membership and shop for many items online. My parents got a membership and when they place orders they often also order for the rest of the family. This is a great option to keep costs down. You can also split bulk items.
Ethical Spring Cleaning Challenge
I also wanted to invite you to my Ethical Spring Cleaning Challenge! It starts on March 23rd.
It will be a 5-day challenge designed to help you spring clean your home while we talk about brand and product swaps to make to support your values.
It’s 100% free to join and you will also get my free DIY Cleaning Recipes book when you sign up.
Join the Ethical Spring Cleaning Challenge Today!
And don’t forget to follow Clotheshorse and watch for Amanda and I talking more in depth about this and how you can make better choices.
I believe Branch Basics is still privately owned and the cleaner is awesome!
Thank you for this list! I'm going through my cleaning stash as well. I did start using Molly's Suds laundry powder a few months ago and really like it. But they have been expanding their product line, which usually tells me that they've partnered with or were bought out by a bigger corporation. Did they come up or ring any alarm bells during your research?