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honored by the EPA

by julie kim, November 26, 2008

 

 

We were recognized last week by the US EPA at the SDSI awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. Our Good Cop, Ryan, happened to be speaking at a green cleaning products conference in Alexandria, VA and swooped into the event to receive our plaque, commemorative pint glass, and cash in the two drink tickets!

 

The Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative is a program through the EPA's Design for the Environment that recognizes industry leaders who voluntarily commit to the use of safer surfactants. That means they use ingredients that break down quickly to non-polluting compounds and help protect aquatic life in both fresh and salt water. We are honored to be recognized at the Champions level, the highest level for this award.



If you're looking for more info, be sure to check out the EPA website that also has a full list of DfE certified products.

 

Thanks Ryan!

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farewell to our #1 call girl

by gunther, November 18, 2008
sarah

 

It is with sadness that we bid our #1 people against dirty, Sarah Homeijer a fond farewell. Anyone who calls him or herself an advocate; anyone who’s written us a letter or called in to method; and anyone who’s attended our in-home parties has likely come across Sarah. And for those who have not, she’s undoubtedly come across you.

 

Sarah has been the friendly and impassioned voice of method’s people against dirty since she started 5 years ago when method was a wee little company with grand endeavors. She handpicked our dedicated consumer response team, founded our very successful advocacy program and is the reason we value advocate-love above all else. It is to her that we owe a lot of who we are and who we’ve become.

 

If method were a family, then Sarah would be that wild and crazy aunt – you know, that one that bought you alcohol snuck you into bars when you were seventeen. That one.

 

Her easygoing and fun disposition; her scrappy and tireless work ethic; and her fiery dedication to keeping us on our green toes have become a glowing example of the spirit and passion of what method’s all about - she not only personifies our culture, she’s also one of its early inspirations too.

 

Sarah will move back to New York City with her husband, Matthew and son, Silas to be closer to family.

 

Au revoir, adieu and aloha, Sarah.

We’ll miss ya.
 


Stopping to smell the new holiday fragrances with method fragrance expert, Suzanne McCormick

by julie kim, November 13, 2008

 

You may have noticed that we have a few new kids on the block when it comes to our new holiday fragrances. We sat down with Suzanne, our in-house "Scents & Scentsibility" expert (yes, that is her official title), to get a closer look at how the new fragrances came to be. 

 

What was the inspiration behind the new fragrances this season? 

Nostalgia - we wanted these fragrances to evoke happy memories of holidays gone by... and hopefully create new ones for our little consumers. 

What were the big challenges in creating these new holiday fragrances?  

Since it is all about tradition... there are particular fragrance notes that are meaningful for this season. We wanted each to be a winner in its olfactive family and, as always, we aim for a well balanced portfolio. 
 
How were the final fragrances picked?  

We worked with an internal panel made up of a cross-section of method employees (product development, creative, and brand experts). We go through multiple rounds of submissions starting with a broad range of fragrances and then narrow them down to the final ideas. We are always modifying the fragrances right up until the last minute to get them just right.  

C'mon, tell us - what fragrances didn't make the cut? 

I never kiss and tell... unless I am under the mistletoe 

What's your personal favorite? 
 
All our fragrances are like my little babies... you love each one for different reasons. I hope that there is something for everybody as people take the time to prepare their home to welcome family and friends during this special time of year. 



Okay, so even though Suzanne wouldn't tell, we'd love to hear what your favorite holiday scent is. And if you want to take a look at all our new holiday fragrances, you can check it out here.

 

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NYC mayor looking to ban plastic bags

by julie kim, November 12, 2008

 

There's an article on TreeHugger that'sreally something to boast about. NYC mayor, Michael Bloomberg, islooking to charge consumers 6 cents per plastic bag (5 of which wouldgo to the city, 1 of which would go back to the store). The hope is toreduce the use of plastic shopping bags and promote the use of reusableshopping bags.

 

Plastic bags are an inefficient use ofnon-renewable materials – they take a long time to break down, arebrutally ugly eyesores, can interfere with water drainage and recyclingsystems and, worst of all, are totally unnecessary. Companies aroundthe world churn out over 4 trillion plastic bags a year. Ugh.

 

Whilepaper bags are a better option in some respects, they are stillunneeded waste. This is why we love the idea of promoting the use ofreusable shopping bags. They're a much better alternative for theenvironment and some stores even give you discounts for bringing inyour own bag. These bags can be made of a bunch of different materialsall varying in their degree of greenness, but what makes them reallyeffective is when you use them over and over and we're all in supportof that.

 

Our own hometown, San Francisco, became the first city in the US to ban the use of plastic bagsback in 2007. While we like to think that SF helped pave the way forother cities to realize just how dirty plastic bags can be, we are mostimpressed by the results seen in Ireland,who placed a 15 cent levy on plastic bags in 2002, and saw a 90%reduction in their use (resulting in 1 billion fewer bags used peryear) and raised over 12 million dollars of dedicated environmentalprogram funding in the first year – all things that we’d love to seeresult from the New York City plan. And in case you didn't know it, wehave our own version of a reusable bag that'll help get you into plastic bag rehab too.




Rubbish in blue (bag) image by SouthbankSteve

 

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Are You Unknowingly Wasting Electricity?

by julie kim, November 11, 2008

Danny Seo, our favorite eco-guru, as always has great ideas to share when it comes to saving energy. Check out one of his tips below and be on your way to break your bad un-eco habits.

 

 




BAD HABIT #1: Wasting Electricity

 

The US Department of Energy says that in the average home, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. That means that only a quarter of the energy used to power electronics is actually spent doing its job - powering up the device. The other 75% gets simply wasted. Use the easy tips below to help save electricity without really trying.

 

- Plug all your major appliances (TV, DVD player, stereo) into a surge protector. Even when these electronics are turned off, they are still using electricity and wasting you money. To stop the flow of electricity completely, turn off the surge protector to cut off all electricity. Just one quick switch is all it takes to completely power off your big electronics.

 

- People commonly leave their cell phone and MP3 player chargers plugged into the wall even when not in use. Be sure to unplug them since they still charge up even when not in use.

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Parabens: dirty ingredient #1

by drummond, November 7, 2008

Parabens are one of several ‘boogie man’ ingredients found in cosmetics and personal care products – ingredients that cause alarm, but that often aren’t very well understood. We don’t use parabens in any of our products, and here’s why.


First off, the science lesson:
Parabens are a class of preservatives (meaning they stop bacteria from growing), commonly used in cosmetics and other personal care products like shampoos, body washes and liquid soaps. While they’re cheap and effective, there have been a few concerns about the health effects of using them.


First of all, and most frequently cited, is the possible link between parabens and breast cancer. A 2004 study found concentrations of intact parabens in human breast cancer tissue samples. Even though these concentrations were very low, it showed that parabens were entering the human body and accumulating in cancer tissue. The study did not show that the parabens caused the tumors, just that they were accumulating in them – a smoking gun, but not proof.

 

The second concern about parabens is their ability to mimic estrogen in the body, also known as endocrine disruption. Even though the effects aren’t fully understood yet, they could also pose a health risk or even be related to the cancer concerns above.


Method’s approach in creating products is to play it safe, use the precautionary principle and avoid using suspicious materials (like parabens) in our products - period. Unless we can conclude that an ingredient will not be a threat to human health (or to the environment), we won’t use it. In the case of parabens, this means that we use alternative preservatives and steer clear of the risk.

 

 

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