Arm & Hammer Cleaners... Now Sold in Empty Bottles!

Their new line is called Arm & Hammer Essentials, and the cleaners are sold in "cartridges" (actually small bottles) that screw on to an ordinary spray bottle, which is sold empty. Once home, you fill up the bottle with tap water, and when it's empty, you buy another cartridge.

Because the bottle can be reused, Arm & Hammer claims the new line will help reduce the 28 billion pounds of plastic waste US consumers generate annually. We also see a potential for reduced carbon emissions: empty bottles weigh less than full ones, and therefore take less fuel to transport. Here's their promotional video:

We heard about this product through a press release, and we haven't yet seen this new line in our local supermarket. But we've been doing the same thing for years with our cleaner of choice, CleanVia, but we have to carefully measure out 2 ounces of concentrate every time we empty our spray bottle. So we have to admit: for people who are used to buying a bottle of 409 or Fantastik every month, the Arm & Hammer solution is ingenious. It requires very little change in behavior—you still buy something every month at the store, your cleaning solution is still in a spray bottle. Now, the big question: how well does it clean?

The big problem is that people expect that when they pay x amount of money, they will get x amount of product. I hope that people don't forgo the cartridges because they think they are getting short changed.

posted by ! on October 2nd 2008 at 11:56am
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brilliant.

posted by hipersons on October 2nd 2008 at 12:31pm
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This is a great idea. People's shopping habits are hard to change, and this is one step in the right direction for those who don't make much of an effort to be green, but will buy the things they recognize in a "greener" form.

posted by littlebrownpen on October 2nd 2008 at 3:16pm
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this also significantly lowers the amount of petrochemicals that are used shipping full bottles of liquid all over the country.

posted by Niamh on October 2nd 2008 at 4:27pm
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The concept behind A&H essentials is really pretty brilliant, but I find the market execution to be dreadful. I saw the commercial for the product and actively sought it out at Target only to be shocked by the pricing. For the price of the starter kit (an empty bottle and one cartridge), you can buy TWO bottles of 409. The refills cost more than just about any other bottle of cleaner as well.

This is the most blatant example of trying to capitalize on the 'green' movement I have seen so far. People ARE getting short changed. I find it absurd that A&H expects me to not only pay a premium for a 'green' product but they are simultaneously pocketing the entire savings had from reduced shipping and packaging costs. People aren't stupid; they aren't going to buy this crap.

Then the real horror is the market execs that approved this pricing plan will point to soft demand for green products as an explanation for the failure to sell. I find this whole debacle to be a disgusting attempt to capitalize on socially conscious peoples' attempts to have a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. A&H should be ashamed.

posted by brianhatch on October 5th 2008 at 6:44pm
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