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Today I'd like to announce an exciting new partnership with Method (the company that makes, among other things, the colorful handsoaps above).

Before I start my post, I just want to say that Method hasn't dictated at all what I write about. If I want, I can spend the entire post talking about how my husband does his own laundry (he does!). Or how I need an all-purpose cleaner to get Mazzy's sticky pawprints off my iPad (I do!). Or how a cleaning woman once OD'ed in our bathroom (don't worry! she didn't die!).

But after spending the day at Method Headquarters last weekend (see pretty photos below), I want to put my usual irreverence aside and actually talk about the company.

Methodsummit

You see, I left San Francisco totally in love with Method and rather than ask them to marry me, I thought I'd try to get you all to fall in love with Method too. Then we can all marry them together and become Method sister wives and it will be really creepy and weird!

(I didn't say I was doing away with irreverence completely.)

If you've heard of Method, you know it as either 'the pretty handsoaps in the cool packaging' or 'a line of environmentally friendly cleaning products'.

I was in 'the pretty handsoaps' camp. About a year ago, I started buying Method because it matched my bathroom decor and it smelled nice.

Methodsummit2

Sitting at Method HQ, learning about the sustainable aspects of their product line (while using old children's books to upcycle a birdhouse OBVIOUSLY), should have made me feel a bit embarassed about my superficial purchase— BUT, one of Method's main points is— they don't want people who care about the environment to be the only people who buy their products. They also want people to buy their products because they look cool and because they work just as well as the stuff with all the chemicals.

In other words, the only way to actually save the planet is to appeal to the jackasses like myself who don't really give a crap.

What? Did I just say that? I mean— Of course I give a crap! I want to save the planet! And also— Mazzy's been known to lick the floors and chew on the credenza! Obviously, I don't want to poison my first born by using unsafe cleaning agents! 

I just wasn't actively doing anything about it. (My bad.)

Screen shot 2012-03-11 at 9.11.57 PM

Method believes that every product they create, from laundry detergent to wood cleaner, should meet the five pillars above— clean effectively, not use harmful chemicals, use sustainable materials, be designed with both form and function in mind and smell great.

If you're just buying their dish soap because you like the smell of grapefruit, that's fine. You're helping the planet regardless.

Here's a crazy story that sold me on Method's thinking:

Screen shot 2012-03-11 at 10.40.44 PMMethod's laundry detergent package is less than 1/2 the size of most other brands (see left). They do this by taking out all of the water and concentrating the active ingredients. The end result is that you need way less to get the same amount of laundry clean.

Because Method did this, the brand ALL realized that they could do something similar and used Method technology to decrease the size of their bottle as well.

ALL happens to be a huge brand at Walmart and when Walmart saw what ALL was doing, they mandated that all their other detergents follow suit.

NOW. Do you think Walmart was trying to save the environment? Of course not! Walmart was most likely trying to create more shelf space because more shelf space translates into boatloads of money.

Does Method care about Walmart's desire to save the environment or not? NO!

What Method cares about, is that as a result of their detergent technology, the category as a whole is now going to save PER YEAR:

• 45,000 tons of plastic

• 2 million gallons of water

• 3 million gallons of gas

Are you starting to fall in love with Method now too?

Method has enlisted me to be one of their "People Against Dirty". Over the next few months I will be sharing more of their story, debuting some of their new products, and launching their new 'Clean Happy' campaign.

I'll start with the video below. I think it proves that Method is far from your typical housecleaning brand. For one thing— there are guys in it!

Actually, everyone in the video is a Method employee or one of their kids. (How can you not love that?)

 
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If you would like to win A YEAR SUPPLY OF METHOD CLEANING PRODUCTS plus a trip to Method HQ in San Francisco, for an experience similar to the one I talked about above, enter before April 3rd on Method's facebook page. You'll find all the details and eligibility there.

This is a sponsored post by Method but as always, the thoughts and opinions are my own.