Greenscents – Healthy. Happy. Home.

Greenscents are a family business based in Somerset who’s mission is to produce household cleaning and laundry products that are the most sustainable and ethical possible.
We chatted with them to find out more:

Q: How long has Greenscents been in business for and what was the inspiration to launch a range of eco-friendly cleaning products?

Next year will be our 10th anniversary! Greenscents Ltd was incorporated in 2011 but we had been working on the brand well before that. It all started when we needed allergy friendly products for our four children. We were buying organic food to give our family the best start but there were no organic household products available. After much research, we were shocked to discover that there are no laws to limit what goes into a bottle of household product. We were determined that Greenscents would be completely transparent about ingredients and to reassure our customers, we decided to have our entire range certified with The Soil Association.

Q: How are your products Eco Friendly?

Eco-friendly doesn’t begin to explain the environmental benefits of Greenscents! Our fantastic palate of organic and natural ingredients does not disrupt nature and means that fish and aquatic animals and plants are not killed or injured in any way. At Greenscents we use the most sustainable packaging and we offer large containers that can be sent back to us and reused. We work with many zero waste shops to minimise the impact of our products on the environment. Our workshops in Dulverton have BREEAM certifications and our whole production process means that Greenscents products have the lowest possible carbon footprint.

Q: Greenscents are Certified Cruelty-Free, what does this mean?

Cruelty Free International campaign to stop all animal testing and experimentation. The ‘leaping bunny’ programme enables companies like Greenscents to become certified proving that their products do not include animal testing at any stage in the production process. This means that customers can be confident that Greenscents does not include any ingredients or processes that involve animal testing.

Q: What other Ethical certifications does Greenscents have?

Greenscents is the most ethical brand of household and laundry products in the UK and we are number one in Ethical Consumer’s brand comparison tables. In order to achieve this Greenscents is certified organic with The Soil Association, allergy friendly with Allergy UK and vegan with The Vegan Society.

Q: Do Greenscents products contain palm oil?

No – there are no products in the Greenscents range that include palm oil. In fact we are hoping to become certified palm oil free later this year! We are committed to supporting tropical forests throughout the world and conserving all the animals and plants that live there.

Q: What else won’t you find in Greenscents products?

The list of ingredients not included in Greenscents products is long and quite technical so we offer a ‘No Nasties Guarantee’ to our customers. Some of the key items we omit include: no SLS or SLES, no artificial or synthetic perfumes (all our fragrances are simply organic essential oil blends), no GMO’s or SMO’s and of course no animal ingredients or derivatives. A copy of the Greenscents ‘No nasties Guarantee’ can be seen on our website at https://greenscents.co.uk/no-nasties-guarantee/.

Q: Are Greenscents products safe to use in septic tanks?

Yes. All Greenscents products are biodegradable and will not kill off the good bacteria in your septic tank that keeps it healthy. Greenscents products will not pollute local watercourses either.

Q: Are Greenscents products safe to use if you have pets?

Yes -definitely. Greenscents is based in rural West Somerset and all our staff are animal lovers and have pets including dogs, cats, horses & goats. You will find Greenscents products are perfect for use with pets and our floor soap, laundry liquid and multi-surface sprays are particularly useful for cleaning areas where your pets have roamed. Greenscents products are also completely safe for parrots, which can be seriously affected by certain cleaning chemicals.

Q: Are Greenscents anti-bacterial?

No. There is overwhelming evidence from scientists that anti-bacterial products do not clean better than soap-based products. Anti-bacterial products have been shown to kill bacteria for only 20-30 minutes which is about the same as a soap-based product. In fact, there are reports that anti-bacterial cleaners can actually harm people through cross-resistance by making bacteria completely resistant to the anti-bacterial cleaning product. Anti-bacterial products were banned in the USA in September 2016 because manufacturers failed to show that these were any better than soap-based products.
Greenscents multi-surface sprays have a unique formulation that provides superb cleaning power with organic and natural ingredients. When the product is wiped across a surface, bacteria will be physically removed.

Q: How much longer does Greenscents last than regular cleaning products?

The entire Greenscents range is super concentrated – this is mainly because dilute products increase the carbon footprint of the product. We all know that companies seduce customers with large bottles for lower prices. However, this is very wasteful in terms of packaging and the additional energy required to transport products.

At Greenscents we reduce the water content so products go a very long way. For instance, our 20 litre laundry liquid is enough for 880 washes and our 20 litre washing up liquid is sufficient for 8,000 bowls of dirty crockery and pans.

Q: Are Greenscents bottles recyclable?

Yes. Although our bottles are made from biopolymers they can be recycled as PET. At Greenscents we strive to make all our packaging as sustainable as possible. Greenscents 5 litre options are all packed in a bag in a box. The box can be recycled as cardboard in kerbside recycling systems and the bags can be sent back to Greenscents for recycling with Terracycle. Our 20 litre options can all be sent back for cleaning and reuse. This is a great option for trade customers and the containers can be reused more than twenty times.

Q: What are the most popular fragrances?

Greenscents is renowned for great fragrances which are all blends of organic essential oils. Sourcing is particularly important and we rely on a number of small farms in Spain and Italy for our oils. Overall, lavender is the most popular fragrance but there is great demand for minty, herbal and citrus with particular products.

Greenscents has a very popular unscented range called ‘Nonscents’. Many people find that if they have allergies or other illnesses this is the best option for them. We also recommend the Nonscents range for babies and small children.