Is the Swiffer Eco-Friendly?
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 02.22.07
Don't gag on your granola, but 'tis so indeed—that is, if you would believe Gianfranco Zaccai, the president and CEO of Continuum, the award-winning design and innovation consultancy behind P&G's Swiffer products. And he's not just talking about the CarpetFlick.
Zaccai makes this whopper of an assertion in a BusinessWeek op-ed, while rallying designers not to "just make more stuff the world doesn't need," but to keep sustainability—which can be profitable, to boot—in mind.
Designers now have an ethical responsibility to avert the destruction of the planet on which their children and grandchildren must live—this is the same responsibility any of us has. Designers also have a professional responsibility to help their clients' profitability in the short and medium terms by designing products that cost less to produce and are more desirable. Finally, designers have a long-term fiduciary responsibility to their clients; the degradation or destruction of the environment is in nobody's long-term interest.
Now that's an argument we'd be hard-pressed to find fault with. In fact, we'd go so far as to call that attitude downright admirable. But then Zaccai whips out the Swiffer, which he proclaims embodies the very essence of "sustainable profitability." (Dude, you should have quit while you were ahead.) Cleaning the floor with your old-fashioned mop and detergent is a disgusting, messy job that "uses many gallons of hot water and great amounts of detergent every week in millions of homes around the world," he says. And the people, they don't like the hot, watery mess.
The water, the energy needed to heat that water, and the environmental impact of dumping the detergent into the waste stream are terribly costly, and all for a job no one likes doing anyway.
On the flip side, cleaning a floor with a Swiffer uses almost no water at all, and only involves a sheet of paper (the only disposable) and a few squirts of cleaning agent. "Designing a superior experience makes it possible to increase profit and decrease mindless waste simultaneously," Zaccai says.
"Decrease mindless waste."
We'll wait right here as you let that sentence sink in, but suffice to say, even Alanis Morissette could divine the irony of that statement.
What Zaccai fails to mention is that, unless you houseclean just once a year with a single, lonely wipe, mounds of these disposables will only wind up rotting in a landfill somewhere, as their toxic chemicals slowly leach into our soil and poison the water table. If that doesn't exemplify mindless waste, we don't know what does.
And I'm not sure what old-timey mop Zaccai was using, but my sponge mop cleans just as quickly and efficiently as my retired Swiffer did. Yes, it requires an added step—rinsing the sponge head—but that isn't exactly crippling my quality of life. And it doesn't make the angels weep for me or my pocketbook. (Like printer manufacturers and wireless service providers, Swiffer knows to bait you with a cheap product, and then wheel you in like a feisty fat halibut with the consumables.)
Considering that the concentrations of some 20 toxic compounds can be hundreds of times higher indoors than outdoors, you're probably better off not introducing these nasty cancer-causing chemicals into your hearth and home in the first place. (Check out our guide on how to green your cleaning for more info.)
And Zaccai? We'd like to introduce you to a piece of functional design that doesn't run roughshod over the environment: The mop. We keep it right next to our broom.
Remember those?
How many other mop "improvements" have come and gone from store shelves over the years? I would ask how many professional janitorial services use the Swiffer technology. And if not, why not? Probably because when you get serious about cleaning you have to get back to basics.
I've recognized, like most, that any swiffer product is wasteful and sort of redundant considering how similar these products' properties are to standard cleaning tools. But what really blows my mind are the prices. A box of 24 Wet Jet pads is listed on drugstore.com as $10.79 (on sale!!!). Egads!
on the other hand, my wife and I have rigged our swiffer to be filled with a simple solution of murphy's oil soap, which I believe is a lot less toxic than the alternatives and it works great. We live in so. cal. so the water issue is not insignificant.
I find it difficult to know how to compare the environmental costs of disposable waste with that of using water.
Like was stated before, most people see the swiffer as a wasteful product. There product is based on consumption, and requires you to dispose of a part of the tool frequently through useage. To even imply that purchasing an over priced over packaged chemical laden paper towel and plastic container of probably toxic fluid is more environmental than me using a liter of water from my own tap (with my trusty mop and some vinegar) is completely absurd.
And i dont know how they did it but swiffer some how managed to sell those vaccum sweepers from the 70's only with the requirement of purchasing something you have to dispose of anyway. The first time i saw a comercial for the flick i thought it was a joke. Those things allready existed and you didn't have to buy anything for it.
No, I am sorry, swiffer is the epitome of waste and is a prime example of everything that is wrong with consumer culture.
Sadly my wife bought a swiffer ( she fell prey to the marketing), needless to say they do a horrible job and dont stack up to a broom and mop at all. They were engineered to make money that is all, i dont even know how they could be considered a cleaning device the design is so bad.
Best would probably be a kind of sponge attachment that you can simply wash and re-use again and again. Less water than a mop, less trash than the paper things.
props to the interviewed designer for exemplifying ethics as the way in which these kinds of value-laden and principled discussions can arise.
but a definite "boo hiss!" to the "razor blade" economy. disposables are not the way to go, and neither is putting a little motor is everything from your mop to your toothbrush.
the point about waste of an occasional bucket of water is absolutely hilarious and somewhat delusional compared to the cost of gathering resources, running manufacturing facilities, and shipping those little disposable wipes all over the country.
the throw-away society is broken. do durable or do without.
Just drawing on my intuition and answering the post with a quick drawer from the hip.
I would say NOT a chance!
Apply an environmental impact study or a true cost accounting approach of the entire lifecycle of the materials and chemicals involved and it wont look as good as the green alternate.
By comparison and I was shocked to discover the green alternate was as effective when my mother in-law came to stay about a year and a half ago and she cleaned our hard wood flours by sprinkling used green tea all over the flour and then swept it all up. (apparently the Japanese have been doing this since the invention of the broom.)
In short the green alternate was 1) east 2) do no dust 3) low environmental impact.
An around winner.
Would the Swiffer or similar product be drawing the same criticism if it was Cradle-to-Cradle certified as a biological nutrient by MBDC? I believe Method has an oMop now that uses corn-based mop heads. Just food for thought.
in my mind sustainability is about trade-offs and while i've never used a swifter, preferring to use the ol' mop, boiling water, & murphy's instead, I do have to wonder of the trade-off comparison.
Swifter uses no water and requires no heating of water and disposes nothing nasty into the water stream.
Ol' Mop uses less packaging, few nasty chemicals (or none depending on your choices) and disposes little waste and no nasty chemicals into the solid waste stream.
I like the idea of one reader who suggested a re-usable head for the Swifter and what if the Swifter also contained concentrated natural/organic cleaners and the body was well constructed?
Would that change your mind? What if the packaging was recyclable?
Another trade-off is wrinkle free pants/shirt vs. untreated cotton. Despite wrinkle free containing formaldehyde (though I understand that issue's been resolved), it certainly saves electricity and water used by ironing and repeated washings.
which is a more sustainable product?
"Would the Swiffer or similar product be drawing the same criticism if it was Cradle-to-Cradle certified as a biological nutrient by MBDC?"
That certainly would be interesting to see.
I guess the handle could be made from recycled scrap metal, and easily separated from the rest for easy recycling.
The bottom part could be made of recycled plastic, one of the kinds that can be recycled (not downcycled), or maybe a bioplastic..
The paper part could be made of a material that can be thrown into home or municipal compost, and the cleaning agent should be biodegradable and not a problem for that compost.
Actually, it wouldn't even be that hard to pull it off, and I'm sure it would be a great "added value" and marketing thing for the company.
Lets hope they are reading this :)
we have a swiffer, but we also have a sheddy dog. i dunno, it does alright but dang those things fill up with hair but quick. i kinda hate usin it.
best thing i have is one o those microfiber mops that stick to a flat mop head. uses the same pole as the broom, and the mop thingy is washable. spray a lil cleaner on it and it works a treat and no waste.
We just bought it for the base unit. We use a washcloth which sticks well and refilled the wetjet with better ingredients – vinegar, water and Ecover.
Method (methodhome.com) has tried to remedy the situation with a swiffer of their own. It has replaceable mop heads but disposable sweeping cloths (albeit compostable cloths). The funny thing is that I found a very simple and effective solution. I bought myself a three pack of those microfiber cloths that can be found just about everywhere now. Fold it in half, stick it on the bottom of the swiffer, and shove the excess cloth into the little serrated cloth-holding thingys. The microfiber cloths works better than the swiffer cloths and I have four separate surfaces to use before the cloth needs to be washed.
I have noticed other products with similr paradoxes. Fo example the "Preserve Razor Recyclable" markets itself as "The environment-friendly alternative to the disposable razor!" becuase the handle is made from recycled material and can be recycled (where facilities exist). Where I think a better alternative would be to have something you don't dispose of.
I think the Swiffer is incredibly wasteful. I have one, but it was given to me years ago when they first came out by my mother. I have since swapped out the solution to something less toxic. I have homemade reusable pads for it. The biggest problem is right by the head, the handle is held on by two super thin connections. Those finally gave out with fairly little use, imho, so I duct taped a solution to that.
It looks to me, even if you use cloth reusable pads, and your own cleaning fluid that it's designed to have a weak point between the head and the handle. That is not very eco-friendly to me.
I have a swiffer and I don't mind it. They don't work as well as they could though. I like that they're compact. It'd be great if they were built of recycled materials. As is? ...not so sustainable. The packaging and wipes are pretty wasteful. I'm generally suspicious of household cleaning solutions that involve buying special disposable components.
Would it be worth it to email this Swiffer person? Anyone know her info?
As some one said, it works great on dog hair. Try sweeping dog hair, it doesn't work. When I want a quick mopping I put a kitchen rag on the end and use that.
"As some one said, it works great on dog hair. Try sweeping dog hair, it doesn't work. When I want a quick mopping I put a kitchen rag on the end and use that."
I guess experiences vary, I have a cat that sheds horribly and a dog that does regular shedding. The swiffer for me didn't do a good job. It would catch a bit of it then basically push/smear the rest around. As for consruction, it is very poorly designed. After very little use the rod began to bow quite heavily.
The best thing i have found for cleaning up animal hair is changing the way i sweep when hair and dust is involved.
Nothing I have used thus far compares to the clean you get with the skilled use of a broom and mop.
vinegar and lemon juice make a nice cleaner to boot! Makes the floor have that "squeaky clean" fealing on your feet.
I actually love my Swiffer Wetjet. I use a cloth rag instead of the disposable sheets and I refill the soap bottle with my own mix.
I clean up small messed on the floor with dishtowels when they happen so I don't really have to mop that often, a few times a month. And my husband will do it because it's so easy! That there, is why I won't be trading my baaaaaad Swiffer in for a regular mop.
Clearly the marketing genius' behind swiffer have been sniffing way too many of their own toxic chemicals to realize that their product is the farthest thing from green.
In college, I too succumbed to the simplicity of the swiffer as I was a dog owner and was a lazy college student. However, because I was a dog owner, I stopped using the swiffer, specifically the wet ones. Enough articles had come out showing pets falling ill due to the chemicals in those pads that I didn't need anymore convincing.
Since then, I have been using the entire floor care kit from actnatural.net. It's a swiffer style mop head (larger though) that has velcro on mop heads for wet and dry cleaning. I still have a dog that sheds her own weight daily and this thing gets it all up. And the best part, it only uses water, to even kill bacteria! (no, i don't work for them, i just love their product.) I've been using the same washable mop heads for the last 5 years and they aren't showing any signs of age.
There are so many other viable simple options for floor cleaning that it's really unfortunate that Swiffer is still doing as well as it is.
The other issue with the swiffer that no one mentioned is the packaging.
The razor blade model is bad enough, but the replacement pad packaging is INSANELY WASTEFUL.
Last time I checked the pads were sold in a two piece plastic bin with a foil seal, slid into a cardboard advertising sleeve, wrapped in cellophane.
If Zaccai cared even remotely about reducing waste I think he would have addressed the packaging.
So far I've seen everyone bashing Swiffer, not only on this site, but others as well, but everyone seems to be talking about the WetJet. I can't find any information or commentary on the composition of the dry Swiffer wipes. Yes, they too are a wasteful disposable product, but are they poisenous? Does anyone know a link to a blog or article about the dry wipes?
Thanks!
Forget these disposable things, dry or wet--the person who's attaching microfiber to their Swiffer has the right idea. Or you can buy a microfiber mop--google it and you'll see there are lots of options, cheaper than Method.
* you don't need to use cleaner at all with microfiber
* you don't need a bucket of water, you just wet it and wring it out
* for tough spots, you just apply a little pressure to the mop with your foot
* can be used dry as well, in the same way as Swiffer cloths
Even some hospitals are starting to use this material.
I have yet to read on this post or the links that Swiffer contains any toxic chemicals.
I wouldn't dismiss the water-savings of regular swiffing versus regular mopping so easily.
I think this posting went a bit too far in criticizing Zaccai without providing much evidence to refute him.
OR YOU COULD JUST USE METHOD'S VERSION OF SWIFFER DUSTERS THAT ARE CORN BASED AND WORK JUST AS NICE.
Being a severe corn allergy sufferer, 'going green' doesn't seem to work for me. The greener I go, the sicker I get. Even the febreze I've been using is eco-friendly... meaning corn based. The more I spray, the sicker I get. How does one NOT use unfriendly-eco products that don't seem to make them ill, when everything eco-friendly and natural makes them not just ill but extremely ill?
I am very interested in the green tea method of cleaning, but until I find a non-health threatening way to clean, the swiffer is going to have to stay.