Seventh Generation Introduces Detergent Bottle Made of Cardboard

Green products company Seventh Generation this week introduced a new liquid laundry
detergent bottle made from 100% recycled cardboard and newspaper.

Seventh Generation’s Natural 4X
Laundry Detergent bottle, designed with
its partners at Ecologic Brands,
is unlike any other packaging currently found in the laundry aisle–or any
other aisle, for that matter. It features a rugged, fully-recyclable and even
compostable outer shell made from 70% recycled cardboard fibers and 30% old
newspaper fibers that supports a recyclable lightweight plastic pouch inside.

The bottle uses 66% less
plastic than typical 100 ounce 2X detergent bottles, company said. The new
bottle can be up-cycled into new packaging that’s recycled yet again up to
seven times. It will be available throughout the US by the end of March.

When empty, the bottle’s shell
can be popped open and recycled with other household paper. The #4 plastic
pouch and the #5 cap are recyclable in many areas of the country.

The detergent itself is also
reformulated to be twice as concentrated as the company’s 2X formula and
doubles the savings in terms of water and energy from transportation. Each
space-saving bottle contains an extraordinary 66 loads worth of detergent, the
company said.

The product debuted this week at the Natural Products Expo West in
Anaheim, California, where Seventh Generation set up a Cardboard Café with a
lounge area that included furniture made of cardboard.