Ecover Toilet Cleaner Eco Product Review

I’ve been looking forward to the day when toilets clean themselves for about 15 years now. As it doesn’t look likely any time soon, I’ll have to do it myself. I suppose they do have those things you clip on the rim but that doesn’t really replace a bit of brushing does it?

Luckily Ecover do a natural clean (with the power of plants! Or something) that aims to keep your toilet sparkling. And it does a pretty good job. Cleaning-wise it er cleans nicely but I do miss the bright colours of big brands and they do seem a bit thicker than Ecover too. After you squirt under the rim it tends to run down the sides into the water a bit too quickly for my liking.

So apart from maybe a little extra scrubbing you’ll need to do, I’d recommend Ecover toilet cleaner. It smells nice and fresh and is better for the environment. I’m not sure this product can be refilled, but the bottle and cap can be recycled.

As usual www.ecover.com has a list of ingredients (including the intriguingly named Linalool):
The list below displays ingredients in descending order, with those present in highest quantities first.
Water
Citric Acid
Lauryl Polyglucose
Sodium Citrate
Xanthan Gum
Perfume
Sodium Benzoate
Linalool
Limonene

It’s now stocked in most supermarkets or you can buy it easily online, such from as Drugstore.com or Big Green Smile in the UK.

Couronne Co Eco Product Review

Couronne Co make glass bottles, vases, jars, bowls and candle holders from recycled glass. I was sent some fantastic products, a gerbera bud vase, a blue glass ball vase and a diamond red bottle.

From their website they explain that Couronne prides itself on offering a vast selection of glassware and home décor products that are both eco-friendly and affordable. They recognize the importance of recycling glass, because it not only conserves the environment but it also saves energy. The process required to produce glass is quite simple as it is composed of sand, soda, lime and a lot of heat. The obvious benefits of recycling glass is to reuse and save our natural resources but the most important benefit of recycled glass is that it requires considerably less energy than that which is needed to melt raw materials.

As you can see I didn’t take the photos myself (their website already had them), but I do personally have them and they’re sturdy and stylish. They have some great other products on their website, some of which would make a perfect gift for the eco-aware birthday girl (or boy).

Nalgene Plastic Water Bottles Eco Product Review

Nalgene sent me a lot of their bottles to test, seven in total. Reusable bottles are a great alternative (we’ve previously looked at SIGG) and these plastic bottles represent many different styles and uses so it was great to test them.

From left to right in the image below we received two 32oz wide mouth HDPE Retro bottles; Oasis Loop Red Top; Loop Top – Sunny Yellow; pink ATB Bottle; OTG bottle; and a Loop top.

As you can see the bottles vary quite a lot. All are extremely durable, resistant to staining, resistant to retaining odors, dishwasher safe (top rack only) and guaranteed leak proof. The wide mouth bottles didn’t really appeal to me, though are much easier for getting ice into them, and can be hand washed easily. The other narrower bottles really have to go in the dishwasher to get properly clean. Our favorite is the OTG bottle that does not leach any taste, is a handy size and very sturdy. It probably looks the best out of them all, and can be opened with one hand.

It’s a tough choice to choose a reusable water bottle these days. Which ones leach, which ones don’t, is plastic reusable OK, or are aluminum or steel bottles better? What is the cost of manufacture compared to “disposable” plastic bottles? I think it comes down to a personal choice, and depends what you use them for – the plastic ones are lighter and more ideal for sports (such as fitting in bicycle cages or graduations for measuring energy supplements), whilst I think for walking/hiking the metal ones are perhaps sturdier. For day-to-day work and the like then pretty much pick whatever you’re comfortable with. Nalgene certainly have a massive range of styles, shapes and colors from which to choose and see what you like.

The bottles range from $6 and more and are available in many, many different styles and colors from Nalgene.