Tru Earth Laundry Strips: Plastic Free and Eco-Friendly Detergent

People tend to have a love-hate relationship with their laundry routines. Many see it as an inconvenient chore, and others find great enjoyment in the process.

Regardless of your feelings toward laundry in general, this particular routine is one that can have a large impact on our environment.

Between the waste of plastic packaging used within the containers that hold both liquid and powder detergents, and the contamination of the water by the chemicals in those detergents, our laundry habits have a lot of room for improvement!

If empty containers are put in recycling, and not simply thrown in the trash can to end up in the dump, many are unfortunately still not able to be properly recycled because of the combination of plastic types used to make the sturdy containers that we pick up in the stores; these plastics are often unable to be separated and so can’t be broken back down again. So they’ll often end up in landfill anyway, our good intentions notwithstanding. We can reuse these containers of course, but most people are unwilling to stray from organizing with their cute bins and tubs they picked up from Target or Ikea.

Additionally, we must not forget that everything we put into our water and down some sort of drain, whether it be via our washing machines, sinks, showers, or toilets ends up in our water supply (what comes back out of our sinks, showers, hoses etc.) or back into the environment. This includes household cleaners like bleach, the soaps we use on our hair and body, and the detergents and fabric softeners you add to your load of laundry. How much ends up in our water supply depends on your city’s particular water treatment facility’s capabilities- most of which in the United States are sorely lacking.

So the ingredients and chemicals used in laundry detergents are not only absorbed by our clothes and then placed on our skin during wear but they are rinsed out of our homes and make their way back into our tap water, which many drink without second thought, as well as our groundwater which can harm plant and animal life in nearby areas. If we wouldn’t feel comfortable using or pouring a product directly into a forest stream or lake, we should probably avoid letting it go down any drain in our home because this very sneaky form of pollution has to end up somewhere, and our environment is the most common destination.

So even as important as it is to reduce our plastic waste in a routine like laundry, we must also be aware of what ingredients we’re using and the impact those have on our environment and our personal health.

Tru Earth Laundry Strips allow you to do both of these things!

What are Tru Earth Laundry Strips?

Tru Earth Laundry Strips are plastic-free laundry detergent sheets that are as gentle on your skin as they are on the environment. Formulated in small, pre-measured strips of liquidless detergent, Tru Earth simply has to be torn and tossed into your washing machine.

Tru Earth Laundry Strips are manufactured in Canada, and so are subject to strict health regulations. They have received multiple certifications, including:

• Paraben- free
• Phosphate-free
• Free of added dyes
• Free of chlorine bleach
• Free of 1, 4-dioxane, as certified by independent laboratory tests
• Readily biodegradable in accordance with OECD 310D
• Hypoallergenic, certified by independent dermatologists
• Vegan: no animal based ingredients or testing on animals by Tru Earth or their ingredient suppliers

Because Tru Earth uses zero plastic and its packages are so lightweight, transportation fuel consumption and emissions are 94% less compared to those used for standard liquid and powder detergents. With over 30 billion loads of laundry being done in North America each year, Tru Earth shares that if everyone switched to their detergent it would eliminate one billion plastic jugs, saving 700 million from going to landfills, and it would save on truck fuel and CO2- the equivalent to taking 27 million cars off the road for a day, or planting nine million trees.

You can find the ingredients used in their laundry strips here. Tru Earth also produce other eco-friendly and plastic-free home goods, including: wool dryer balls (which I use during the winter months when I can’t use the clothesline), mesh produce bags, reusable makeup remover clothes, beeswax wraps, bamboo cutlery, multi surface cleaner, and stainless steel straws.

The strips come attached together in a sheet that includes three strips. Depending on how large or dirty your load of laundry is, you may choose to use multiple strips. On the package, it says that 1 strip = 1 load, but even on the website they share that for very large or dirty loads you may need multiple strips.

Tru Earth uses a low-sudsing formula, so you won’t see a ton of bubbles even if you use multiple strips; if you want to see any, toss the strip into the water before adding any clothes to your load, and let it dissolve a bit.

Thoughts + Review

There are a lot of pros to a product like Tru Earth Laundry Strips. These products are:

• plastic free
• the package is compostable, or can be reused as a shipping envelope to further reduce waste
• space-saving
• available with a subscription option
• free shipping and handling to the US and Canada
• septic safe
• free of gluten and palm oil
• 100% satisfaction guarantee

Overall, Tru Earth is very much cleaner and environmentally friendly than the standard laundry detergent. As a brand their values and mission is admirable and one that I can support.

Based on my use of Tru Earth in the past couple months, I’ve found that while this product is comparable to the liquid laundry detergent that I have used for the last few years, in terms of cleaning power it’s nothing to write home about.

Depending on the kind of laundry I have to do, these strips alone don’t cut it when it comes to any sort of stain removal or grimy areas (like armpits)- but that is the case with the liquid detergent I use, too. I spot treat areas that need some extra attention, or soak them in a vinegar/peroxide/baking soda bath. So in terms of general cleaning ability, and overall smell (I got the fragrance free strips, but my clothes do come out smelling fresh with no residual odor) these strips do get the job done. I just don’t think they do it any better than liquid detergent.

So when Tru Earth claims that “each strip of Tru Earth Liquidless laundry detergent weighs just 3g, and packs the same power as 40g of premium liquid or powdered detergents” I wouldn’t necessarily disagree. But I haven’t found the “uncompromising cleaning power that removes the toughest stains, reveals vibrant colours, and restores radiant whites” that they say their product provides. While customer reviews on their website rave about how it removes stains and cleans better than former detergents, I did not find that to be true in terms of it being a one-and-done product.

I do think that Tru Earth Laundry Strips are a good alternative to the traditional laundry products that most people use. They’re a cIean product (as a side note, while Tru Earth is certainly “clean” in terms of their ingredients when compared to the standard detergent, I still think there are certain ingredients that may not be entirely necessary), easy to use, and a great option if you’re looking to reduce your plastic waste. In terms of impressiveness, I’d rate them 3.5 out of 5.

I think they would make a great transitional product, as you may be researching the best recipes for homemade detergents and cleansers like I am. I will use up the strips I received, and then continue to use my more eco-friendly liquid detergent until I can find an effective DIY alternative.

Have you ever used Tru Earth, or a product like them? What was your experience? Let me know in the comments:)

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