Florent has transformed his bathroom into an eco-friendly space by creating his own shower gel using a dilutable product. This trend is gaining popularity as consumers seek to reduce plastic waste and only pay for necessary materials. Innovative companies focus on dry raw materials to minimize packaging and production footprints, although these products often come at a higher price. The future of such eco-friendly items remains uncertain, as not all products can be adapted to this sustainable model.
Transforming the Bathroom into an Eco-Friendly Lab
Every day, Florent turns his bathroom into a mini-laboratory where he crafts his very own shower gel using a unique dilutable product. “My routine? Preparing the shower gel so it’s ready for the next morning,” he shares. “It feels great to know that we’re creating a bit of our own personal shower gel.” The process is simple: he just dips small powder cylinders into a bottle of water. In his home, every personal care item follows this easy, eco-friendly principle, from shampoo to hand soap, with refills conveniently arriving in his mailbox.
The Rise of Eco-Conscious Cleaning Solutions
This innovative approach has gained traction online, centered around the concept of paying only for what you truly need. “Most liquid cleaning products or laundry detergents consist of about 80% water,” explains Laure Favre, co-founder of Spring. “We focused on innovative raw materials in dry form to prevent selling water to consumers while eliminating disposable plastic packaging.” This method not only benefits consumers by reducing plastic waste but also streamlines production for manufacturers. “The factory footprint for producing a shower gel in this way is ten times smaller than traditional methods,” states Thomas Arnaudo, co-founder of 900 Care. Additionally, because these products are waterless, they don’t require preservatives, and they take up much less space in shipping and storage.
However, while these products are environmentally friendly, they often come with a higher price tag. For instance, a bottle of shower gel costs €2.49, which is pricier than store brands (€1) and national brands (€2.26). The same goes for hand soap, which is also €2.49, more expensive than the store brand (€2.10) but cheaper than a major brand (€3).
But why do these products, made with fewer raw materials, sometimes cost more? “The raw materials we purchase are more expensive than those bought by larger industry players, primarily because we operate at much smaller volumes,” explains Mickaël Urrea, founder of La Fabrique à Poudre. “We might buy 200 or 300 kilos, while industrial companies might purchase 2 tons or more.” These eco-friendly products are still relatively unknown, often missing from supermarket shelves, with only a couple of options available compared to hundreds found online.
As for their potential to become mainstream? The future remains uncertain. Not every product on the market can be transformed into a powder form. Experts indicate that producing dilutable cosmetics, which typically rely on emulsions in their chemical makeup, could be significantly more challenging to execute.