Here’s a fun fact you may not have known: Most household cleaning products, like dish detergent and shampoo, are 80 percent water. That means that the packaging is mostly just containing water. So, keeping that in mind, there has to be a way to package household items in a more efficient way, right?
That’s right.
According to Fast Company Design, designer Mirjam de Bruijn created the project Twenty to rethink how household cleaning products are sold and packaged in order to conserve paper and plastic. The products are sold in their solid form, aka the 20 percent that isn’t made up of water, which, of course, means smaller packaging. When end-users get items like shampoo pellets, they just need to add water.
And, ta da, you have your normal soap or shampoo without the giant plastic bottle.
The project came about as de Bruijn’s thesis at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, Netherlands. She estimated that, if the concept were widely adopted, it would decrease the amount of packaging materials and weight of physical packages for worldwide shipping (and therefore emissions and shipping costs).
de Bruijn was inspired by seeing other items that come in solid forms, like laundry detergent balls. Also, all of the packaging for the Twenty project is recyclable, such as the cardboard boxes and reusable plastic bottles.
“By raising awareness, I hope to activate consumers in such a way that one day the concept of Twenty will become a standard for household goods,” she told Fast Company Design. “It’s a clever, simple way to reduce packaging, reduce costs and save on emissions. For any company serious about sustainability—or just cutting costs—it seems like a no-brainer.”
For companies looking to capitalize on consumers’ interests in eco-friendly products and eco-friendly designs, this is a home run of an idea.
