Clean Methods

A new store has popped up as suddenly as the leaves on Newbury Street trees. At the end of Newbury just short of Mass Ave, a small colorful shop called Method opened in time for Earth Day, faeturing "green" cleaning products and promising that everything in the store as safe for your body as it is for the environment, even down to the packaging.  

The products are made with non-toxic earth friendly ingredients instead of the chemicals found in many popular cleaning products. According to healthy cleaning.com, a list of 18 chemicals that have hazardous effects on your body are found in most cleaning products. These chemicals often cause asthma or skin allergies, burning and itching of the eyes, fatality if ingested, damage to organs, and are often flammable. Method allows a viewer to click on a product on its website Methodhome.com and see exactly what it contains and none of the products include any toxins.

 "I buy those products at Target, they are affordable and I like the fragrances.  I’m definitely starting to get into the whole Green idea," said shopper Julia Sowinski who stopped in on her way to work. 

Method also provides a line for babies, including shampoos, detergents, and cleaning products. Some cleaning products are targeted for people with children because “You could drink them if you want to, if you were so inclined,” said Nate Pence, Method's creative director, explaining that even if you do not know what the bottom of your table leg tastes like, your baby might. 

Andrew Paraskos, a professor from Newbury College who teaches sustainability and environmental sensitivity,  was purchasing a few items from the store. "I guess the issue is, I think that what you are going to find is young people are much more in tune to this topic than people in my age category. I think the thing that I feel so positive about is I’m observing that the younger generation is much more sensitive and they are much more proactive about it, they’re much more concerned," said Paraskos. 

San Francisco-based Method also prides itself in its choices as a company, off-setting its carbon emissions, and packaging its products in recycled materials.

“The company…is based on the cradle-to-cradle philosophy,” said Pence, meaning that everything that starts in a good place ends in a good place. They promise to “leave the earth as spotless as your tub,” because the packaging, as well as the liquids, are all biodegradable. The wood floor kit for example, is packaged in a brown container made of recycled bamboo that can actually be planted in your garden to decompose naturally.

The colorful products really pop against the dry sidewalks and monotonous rows of brick buildings in this pop up store, because the products themselves are vibrant and colorful. Shelves of lavender all purpose cleaner, lime green dish soap, ice blue hand wash, and hot pink baby laundry detergent are each lined up with other products in their own colors and scents. And each shelf "pop" with a bowl of brightly colored gumballs next to a flourishing green planter of grass, adding to the “cleaning can be fun” company vibe.