Bulk buy/refill

greenbee

It was mentioned in the thread about Sainsburys' starting to sell milk in plastic pouches, but I wondered how many other people were buying laundry/cleaning stuff in bulk or using refills?

There seem to be quite a few websites selling Ecover and some other ecological cleaning stuff in 5l and even 25l containers. I now have 5l containers of:

laundry liquid
delicate laundry liquid
fabric conditioner
toiler cleaner
washing up liquid
surface cleaner
floor cleaner

Not only does it work out cheaper, but its delivered to the door, uses less packaging and means I don't have to go out and do boring shopping (and risk spending money on things I don't need ).

Luckily I have a utility room to store all this in, and have recently found that I can get Faith in Nature shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and handsoap in 5l containers as well, so will gradually stock up.

If anyone is interested, they're on sites such as Natural Collection, Ethical Superstore, So Organic etc. And some of them even sell taps/pumps for the large containers.

I hope this is useful!

miss_corerupted

sounds good. do you decant into smaller bottles???

i take it they use less packinging etc. i like ecover washing up liquid and detergent

greenbee

I have a couple of plastic funnels, and I decant stuff and and when i need it. And yes, it does use less packaging, so another bonus

miss_corerupted

i'll think i'll try ordering some then. i shall start trawling for cheapest

MichH

I buy ecover washing up liquid and laundry liquid in bulk from So Organic. I try to buy enough to last up to 6 months, this saves on delivery costs (I usually spend enough to get it free). Then just decant it down into smaller bottles to use.

I've also heard people say they use 50% water and 50% shampoo, or laundry liquid, to save on costs. I've not tried this myself but think I should as it would be a good way to save alot of money.

bigpaws23

I'm lucky in that our local farm shop will refil Ecover. I also buy in bulk from Suma and decant it myself. (and I water down washing up liquid and shampoo plus only use half the recommended amount of laundry detergent on all but the dirtiest loads )

stilernin

greenbee wrote: »

There seem to be quite a few websites selling Ecover and some other ecological cleaning stuff in 5l and even 25l containers.

Not only does it work out cheaper, but its delivered to the door, uses less packaging and means I don't have to go out and do boring shopping (and risk spending money on things I don't need ).

I spotted this thread and thought I would read it as I too buy the largest of anything if it is not wasteful. Washing up liquid from Bookers for example. Not only to to be as green and ethical as I can be, but also for cost.

However, as I read the OP's words, one phrase jumped out at me. Is having small deliveries made to home addresses really green? How many deliveries in an area would this van be making? I've not had experience of these deliveries but on the surface it seems to be a lot of fuel to deliver just a little.

greenbee

stilernin wrote: »

Is having small deliveries made to home addresses really green? How many deliveries in an area would this van be making? I've not had experience of these deliveries but on the surface it seems to be a lot of fuel to deliver just a little.

I guess it depends where you live and on your lifestyle. The delivery vans are usually couriers/post office who plan their routes very carefully to minimise fuel consumption (they need to if they're going to make a profit - most of them even give their drivers anti-idling training as part of their fuel efficiency drives).

Not all these things are available in my area, and the nearest town that has even some of them is 8 miles away - so deliveries are definitely more efficient.

Now I don't need to go out shopping for these kind of things, I am able to do the majority of my shopping in the village and farm shops, reducing my mileage and supporting local retailers.

stilernin

Ah..... I didn't realise that couriers were used for deliveries. My immediate thoughts were that the company delivered themselves. Makes more sense to me know.

Also, we townies do forget about those who live a more rural life. Although in the late 60's I lived with a family at Cornwood, 'almost' Dartmoor, and I can remember the fuel being factored into village v town shopping even then.

pollys

Another Suma customer here, but I live about 1.5 miles from them so buy in bulk and collect my own order. I too decant into smaller containers.

horza1320

Yeh I also buy my 5l and 25l Ecover drums from from Suma at wholesale prices. I buy floor cleaner from them in 5l for £7.63 (£1.52 per litre) and Tesco sell it at £2.39 a litre. Its pretty much the same story on all their cleaning products if you dont mind buying in bulk. They sell food and drinks as well, so its not too hard to get free delivery.