if it's being posted to you.... it's not eco-friendly!

[Whose]

My social media is full of ads for eco-friendly alternatives of everyday products; usually ones that have had their plastic packaging removed and are now in "pod" form.
Examples: laundry tablets, washing up liquid, deodorant, toothpaste.

Lots of BIG CLAIMS in BOLD FONT about how they're x% better for the environment and they are !!Plastic Free!! etc etc

.... and they're available by subscription, posted directly to you.

I love the fact the world is moving towards plastic free and that we are becoming more aware of buying thoughtfully. But AIBU to think that if you are taking a product that you'd usually be purchasing in your usual grocery shop, that having it mailed to you separately every month-3 months completely wipes out the environmental benefit? I can't find much info on it anywhere, but it seems like quite a glaring flaw?

The washing sheets are the size of a medium letter. About 1000 of these sheets would take up the same space as the pods that I used to buy in packs of 20. So you can take 50x more of them in one lorry. Therefore, provided the journey to the houses is less than 50x as long as the journeys to the supermarkets, it's reducing fuel use. And I am confident it is less than that. Royal mail are coming to my house anyway...

I normally have my dishwasher tablets delivered to me by Amazon. I have just switched to Smol. I still get a delivery, but one which is much lighter and smaller and it goes on the postie's bag rather than needing a van delivering individually door to door. This is much better for the environment in many ways, not just the less plastic part.

I dont get why supermarkets havent twigged that there is a huge demand for environmentally friendly products and made it easier to identify them. I spend ages in the shop trying to weigh up pros and cons of well this in plastic, but this contains palm oil and this uses lots of fuel. A nice little traffic light stytem of carbon footprint would help.
Or just gathering all the 'eco' products in one isle as long as there is a verification of what makes them eco.

I agree my dishwashing brush is 2 years old now. It's made of plastic but goes in the dishwasher to clean. The eco ones seem to degenerate much quicker.

Subscriptions seem like a bit of a scam, but otherwise if it’s coming from within the country and it’s relatively in-bulk, some products could be better?

I wish there were more regulations on plastic packaging so we could buy without having to work out what’s best for the environment on an indivisible basis, it’d really de-stress shopping.

Sadly there isn't the 'huge demand' for environmentally friendly products that we think there is. The majority of people just aren't prepared to make compromises (pay more, less convenience (eg pack format), changed product taste/performance) purely for the sake of an environmental benefit - there has to be something else in it for them. Sustainability/environmental issues are very low down the decision hierarchy for the vast majority.

I buy smol on subscription. I love that they're eco friendly. But my main reason for buying them was that they're fragrance free. I'm happy to pay a bit more for that (and the convenience of them being delivered so I never run out) and the eco stuff is a nice to have.

Yes, so often there is a lack of joined up thinking around this stuff (ie just marketing).