I know I’m not a popular blog or anything but... I gotta share my excitement
I just found out that Loop is now available across the United States (in addition to the UK and France)! It’s not just part of the east coast that is served anymore! For those who don’t know, Loop is a service that has partnered with some well-known household brands to package their products in a sustainable, reusable way. You order the products from Loop, they ship them to your door and when you’re done with them you just put them back in their little shipping tote and send the container back. They will wash, sanitize, and refill the containers with more product to send to the next person (and send you more, if you choose!) For the things that can’t or shouldn’t be reused (like razor blade heads/refills) can also be sent back and will be recycled properly on your behalf.
Users pay a small fee for the reusable containers that are fully refunded when the container is returned. This is basically to prevent people from either just keeping them or forgetting to return them. Since they have to make the investment in metal, glass, or 100% recycled plastic containers, this is a way for them to be able to recoup the initial investment in the containers (since as their service expands, they’ll need a lot of them).
There are a range of products available from well-known brands including
Love, Beauty and Planet
Crest
Seventh Generation
Pantene
The Body Shop
Tide
Gilette
Febreeze
Cascade
Clorox
Haagen Dazs
With other brands that they’re working on partnering with in the near future, including:
Dove
Colgate
Degree
Hidden Valley
And honestly? While their products are a little more expensive, in many cases, it’s not actually by that much. For example: Love, Beauty and Planet - Coconut Water & Mimosa Flower Shampoo
Walmart - 13.5oz - $6.94 [51.4c per oz.]
Amazon - 13.5 oz - $8.66 [64.0c per oz.]
Target - 13.5 fl. oz - $6.99 [51.8c per fl. oz]
Loop - 16.5 fl. oz - $8.99 [54.5c per fl. oz.] (Not including $3.00 one-time fully refundable deposit for the container)
Clorox Disinfecting Wipes - Crisp Lemon
Walmart - 35 wipes - $2.74 [7.8c per wipe]
Amazon - 75 wipes - $7.92 [11c per wipe]
Target - 35 wipes - $2.89 [8.2c per wipe] (Fresh Scent)
Target - 75 wipes - $4.49 [5.9c per wipe] (Fresh Scent)
Loop - 60 wipes - $5.49 [10.9c per wipe] (Not including $10.00 one-time fully refundable deposit for the container)
I know that not everyone can afford to pay a deposit on the container because they won’t get it back until later, but I did some price comparisons for stores that are widely available across the country and I hoped that I showed that the prices are comparable overall for the amount of product you get. Some products that Loop carries are definitely more niche products, but they also have stuff that is used every day. It’s a more sustainable way to shop for some household items and they ship to your door, can’t beat that kind of convenience.
Even if you can’t afford to do this now, if you’re not quite in their service area, or if you’re not the one doing the shopping in your household, you can still:
Spread the word!
Write to your favorite companies (if they’re not partnered) and tell them that it’s important to you that they take steps to be more sustainable and look into options like Loop
Write to your favorite companies that have partnered and tell them that this is a good step on the path to sustainability
Sign up to be notified when they are completely able to serve your area
If you live outside of the USA, UK and France, write to Loop and express your interest in their future expansion to your country!