Don’t you love a company that reduces waste? I do and SC Johnson is one company that’s making life easier all at the same time. In July SC Johnson launched the new Windex Mini. Think Windex only concentrated because that’s exactly what it is. A concentrated refill pouch that you just add water. As a concentrate, it uses less packaging, up to 90% less than if you replaced it with a new bottle when the bottle runs dry.
Windex Mini Concentrate
SC Johnson is very much aware of the studies that show consumers prefer buying a new bottle of cleaner than refills of concentrate. Stores prefer not to stock refills due to these studies. SC Johnson wants to know what motivates the consumer to consider “trading up” from conventional to a greener choice. They want to understand how to create real change by learning what consumers need and want.
My grandpa always said if you watch the pennies, the dollars take care of themselves. I think the “trade up” is the same when it comes to our environment. Small changes yield big differences. For example, the trigger bottle of Windex Original is already produced with 50% post-consumer recycled content. That’s a start, but when you choose to refill with a Windex Mini Concentrated refill pouch, a bigger difference is made:
- Requires 90% less plastic than a standard 26 fl. oz. trigger bottle – enough for 6.5 ballpoint pens
- Avoids transporting 22.4 fl. oz. of water – nearly 1.5 pounds by weight
If SC Johnson can prove that concentrates will sell, and convince retailers to stock them, we can have an even bigger impact. People buy 21 million bottles of Windex® Original each year. If just 20% of those were refilled, each year it could:
- Save 350,000 pounds of plastic – that’s 26 million ballpoint pens
- Avoid using 175,000 pounds of virgin plastic – that’s 3 million soda bottles
- Avoid transporting 735,000 gallons of water – that’s over 6 million pounds by weight
Those are some mighty changes.
SC Johnson wants to know what motivates you to “trade up”.
When your next bottle of Windex is empty, don’t throw it away, visit the Windex Mini site, and place an order. 1 order contains 3 refill packets. Each refill packet makes 1 26oz. bottle of Windex Original. The price: $7.50.
Initially, I thought it was steeply-priced, one of the driving forces that keeps me from buying concentrates. Then on a shopping trip I did the math:
1-26oz. bottle where I shop costs $4.74
3 – refill packets at $7.50 makes each refill (or a 26oz bottle) $2.50. for a savings of $2.24 on each refill. Buy buying the concentrate instead of the bottles I save a total of $6.72 overall. That almost pays for the concentrate!
Like grandpa said, “Watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.
It’s easy to use:
Take an empty Windex bottle and carefully snip the corner of the Windex Mini Concentrated Refill packet.
Pour the concentrate into your empty bottle.
Then, very slowly, add water to the bottle and insert the spray nozzle.
That’s it!