How to care for your clothes, sustainably!

Posted by Shaina Munro on

Did you know that up to 50% of a garments carbon footprint actually occurs after the owner takes it home?
It is super important to was your clothes as per the care instructions, and with an eco-friendly detergent.

We sat down with Frankie from The Dirt Company to hear about her business.
Here is what she had to say!

 sustainable laundry detergent. zero waste laundry

How did The Dirt Company come to be?
The Dirt company came about through a lifetime of experiences which ultimately led to my motivation to make and deliver better products and experiences that are as sustainable as possible. 

During a gap year I was working overseas as a stewardess on a boat and loving it. 

One day, I walked to the back of the boat and saw our deckhand throwing bags of rubbish overboard. Shocked, I asked him what he was doing. Shocked back, he responded, where do you think our trash goes? This was 2007. It was perfectly legal, and normal to dump whatever you wanted so long as you were 12 nautical miles offshore. (This law was amended in 2013, it’s now illegal to dump certain types of waste, including plastic).

Fast forward a couple of years and I’m living with a friend who has sensitive skin and I’m looking for a laundry detergent for our house. I wanted to find a product that worked but was sensitive to her skin and the environment - the impossible brief.

I started to notice other things about the category too. Heaps of excess packaging. Very well disguised cost per wash. Very well hidden ingredients. The list went on. It was like the concept of sustainability had not yet hit the laundry aisle. I could do better. I just knew it.

From there Dirt took about two years to get off the ground and we still strive to make less harmful products the better choice for everyone.

Tell us a bit about the brand - What are the 3 main objectives of your brand?

  1. Make less harmful products the better choice for everyone by; 
  2. Creating no waste
  3. Making products that you unexpectedly fall in love with  

What is your favourite product that you sell?
My favourite product we sell at the moment is our Advanced Wash detergent, it took a while to perfect but I think it’s a really great elevated version of our very beloved Original. 
I’m also really proud of and in love with our Machine Drum Wash scoops. They come with our Machine Wash and are made of our refill packs that are beyond reuse - in collaboration with Precious Plastics Melbourne we shred these refills down and make them into our adorable scoops.

What makes your business sustainable?

  • We developed a highly concentrated product that cut down on carbon footprint, by reducing water 
  • We developed packaging that minimised single use plastic as much as possible 
  • We developed the first very circular packaging system, whereby we collect all our refill packs for reuse. 
  • Refill return system
    • Refill packs are returned to us to be refilled and given a new life 
    • Refill packs can be reused up to 10+ times
    • When refill packs get to the end of their lives/ reusability they are recycled into other products eg. scoops 
  • Donating half of our profits to projects that remove waste from the earth eg. Ocean Clean Up 
  • We’ve started making products from 100% waste aka. Scoops 

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your wardrobe?
My Acne jeans. They are years old now, their cost per wear must be in the cents, but they are well made, durable and seem to have transformed with my body perfectly throughout two pregnancies.

Where can people purchase your products?
You can purchase our products directly from our Website, https://thedirtcompany.com.au/

We’re also available through lots of other independent retailers such as Happy Apple and Your Grocer.

What is your favourite sustainability tip?
We recently did a blog post on the importance of rewearing and how the most sustainable thing you can do for your closet (and for free) is to rewear what you already have. 
It’s something that has really been resonating with the team lately and we have been striving to shop sustainable, second hand and to upcycle what we already have. As well as taking extra special care of our clothes such as washing them properly with Dirt to make them last as long as possible. 

 

Here at Arlo and Olive we love small supporting small, and Shaina has actually been using products from The Dirt Company since 2020! They leave our clothes clean and smelling fresh and we just love how we can send the pouches back to be used again.

You can purchase The Dirt Company products here: https://thedirtcompany.com.au/

the dirt company - sustainable laundry products

 

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