Mighty Changes in Honor of Earth Day

I've had my eye in Mighty Fix for a while, and lucky me, I was treated to a subscription for a recent birthday. Thanks, P & L!

I'm a sucker for subscriptions. I love getting a surprise each month, and discovering new products. Mighty Fix sends you 1 new item each month for $11 (includes shipping) or $99 for an annual subscription. Like what they sent and want more? Members get up to 35% off anything in the store.

They focus on a simple theme: household products that are good for you and good for the planet, conveniently delivered to you. This is accomplished with just a few high standards: safe durables, toxin-free consumables, reusable, high quality & effective, and reputable makers.

With one new product a month, you can slowly but surely make good swaps in your home, without the pressure of a total green makeover. And each product comes with an info card to provide info on why it's a good swap.

My first month? A pair of swedish dishcloths. These are somewhere between a disposable and a cloth, designed to be super absorbant, durable, washable, and replace your regular kitchen sponges and paper towels. When they've received enough abuse, they are compostable. This pair says they last up to 6 months, but I have a pair that are nearing a year of use.

Not into surprises? You can shop a la cart at MightyNest. 

Dove Does It!

Deodorant is one of the most disappointing products, when you compare the amount of product relative to the amount of container/dispenser. A few years ago, I wrote to Secret, stating I loved their deodorant, but not all the plastic packaging. Couldn't we find a solution? After all, companies like Loop are working on the milkman model, with reusable/refillable packaging. And there are many natural deodorants that come is a compostable cardboard pushpop-style tube, but unfortunately, I don't find many of these products as effective as their national brand counterparts.

Well, Dove is now doing it! A couple months ago, I saw a press release stating Dove would now have refillable deodorant at Target, and this week, I finally spotted it at the Target nearest to me! Wahoo!! You have to love when these large national brands and retailers start coming on this journey with us. :-)

Here's the details:

It comes in 3 scents (unscented, cucumber & green tea, and coconut & pink jasmine), and it appears to be the same formula as their other 0% aluminum deodorants. 

There are simple instructions to twist the refill onto the base.

The case is stainless steel, and the plastic holding the refill is post-consumer plastic.

While not entirely plastic-free, check out the amount of plastic on the refill, compared to the plastic from traditional packaging. It's 54% less plastic, and 98% post-consumer.

What I also enjoy is, once you take the lid off, you can see the entire deodorant stick. No more guesswork about how much is left, or doing a click each day to expose more.

This swap does cost a bit more than its traditional counterpart, and hopefully the costs will come down as this system becomes more normalized. It's similar in concept to shaving razors, where you can get a reusable handle and replaceable heads. 

A starter kit contains the stainless steel base and lid, along with your first deodorant, for an initial investment of $15. You can get 2-pack refills for $10. This means the permanent base costs $10, and each deodorant is $5. This compares to $3 for the traditionally-packaged Dove deodorant of the same size (1.6 oz). Learn more from Dove here.

Seeking an antiperspirant and not just a deodorant? It looks like Secret did in fact come out with a refillable system too, and theirs contains no plastic at all, with their refill pod coming in a cardboard tube. It's available in Target and Walmart as well, with the starter kit at $10 and refills at $8. Current scents are lavender for the starter pack, and lavender and rose for refills. 

Kudos to both companies for making better solutions available!