Formulation Strategy

We approach the formulation of our products from a perspective that's fundamentally different than the standard in our industry. The rigor of our approach means that for all of our ingredients, we can be completely certain of their human and environmental health, and that no product will get approved unless it meets our standard for effectiveness.

The key principles:

1. The Precautionary Principle – we won’t use an ingredient unless we are certain it is healthy
2. The Dirty List – dubious ingredients that others use, and we won’t
3. The Highest Standard in environmental design: Cradle to Cradle
4. Comprehensive, 3rd Party Assessment – Independent, scientifically peer-reviewed ingredient assessment
5. The Clean List: a tool kit of healthy and green materials to solve each cleaning problem
6. The Green Launch Code – if we can’t find a healthy, green way to make a product with great performance, we won’t make it
7. Validation – co-development with EPEA and the US EPA

The first key principle we follow is the Precautionary Principle. The safety of any ingredient is a function of how hazardous it is and how much of it one is exposed to. While many companies use hazardous materials at low levels, Method rejects this approach. Instead, we focus on healthy materials with little to no hazard. Without hazard, there's no safety risk. We think that’s a better place to focus.

Our second key focus is the Dirty List. This is a long list of ingredients that we refuse to use either because they are a health concern for people, or because they are environmental pollutants. In many cases these ingredients are not fully understood, but since we see sufficient reason to be concerned about them, we don’t use them.

The Cradle to Cradle environmental design approach is our guiding vision – we strive to make products that are healthy for people and the environment, not just "less bad." We like to say we believe in reincarnation – that every product has a past, a present and a future. This means we seek ingredients that are responsibly sourced from nature, that are healthy when they are used, and can be safely returned to nature (biodegradable) to grow again.

Importantly, we assess every material across a comprehensive set of criteria, and this assessment is led by the creator of Cradle to Cradle himself: Dr. Michael Braungart and his assessment team at EPEA. We believe this is the most comprehensive assessment in existence. It includes a full range of health and environmental criteria: skin, eye and lung irritation, oral toxicity, allergenic potential, chronic exposure effects like carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental effects, biodegradation, effects on water and land-based ecosystems.

Every product we make and ingredient we use is assessed by EPEA and approved by Dr. Braungart.

The Clean List is the inverse of the Dirty List. It is the tool kit that our formulation team (the Green Chefs) uses to make all of our products, and means that they have the healthiest materials available to them when they're developing super-effective formulas. The Clean List is the result of all the ingredient assessment work we do, and are the greenest and healthiest ingredients we can find.

The Green Launch Code is our internal gut-check on our products. If we cannot find a way to make a super-effective product using healthy and green ingredients, we won’t make it. Period.

The final validation on our formulations is done by the Design for the Environment (DfE) office of the US EPA. DfE reviews and assesses formulations to ensure that they use healthy and environmentally responsible ingredients, and they recognize those that do. To date, we have 49 products recognized by DfE.

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Natural is a starting point, not an endpoint

The reason ‘natural’ is important is because it means ingredients and materials are being made from renewable resources. We strive to use materials that are natural or of natural origin everywhere we can, because it’s a key part of sustainable product design. We worry, however, about all the noise we see about trying to define natural. While we agree that a standard is necessary, it’s troublesome that these efforts seem to be using “natural” as a synonym for green & healthy.

natural alone is not a proxy for green, healthy, or sustainable. After all, if you use a natural ingredient that destroys habitat for endangered species, that you have to ship halfway around the world, and that causes allergic reactions, is that really a good ingredient choice?

that’s why at method, natural origin is an important starting point for our ingredients, but it isn’t the end point. We start with natural ingredients, and go much beyond that….

natural origin is one of the 15 key characteristics we consider for every ingredient and material we use, spanning responsible sourcing, health during use, and full compatibility with the environment to which they are returned. The range of these characteristics (like biodegradability, non-toxicity, absence of allergic reaction or irritation, safety for aquatic environments, etc) provides a broad snapshot of an ingredient’s sustainability, where ‘natural’ alone can be a misleading substitute.

we encourage people to ask questions about the products they are using, and kick the tyres particularly hard when they see vague terms like ‘natural’.

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Method’s Natural Standard

Method uses a comprehensive approach to assess each and every ingredient and packaging material before it is used in a method product.

This material assessment evaluates not just the source of the material (as natural or synthetic), but energy used to make it, toxicity, irritation & sensitization potential, endocrine disruption potential, biodegradability, and several other human health and environmental criteria.

An ingredient is natural if it:

1. Comes from a renewable or abundant plant/mineral source, and
2. Is processed using only processes that occur in nature, and
3. The ingredient has no components from petro-chemicals whatsoever.

An ingredient is of natural origin if it:

1. Comes from a renewable or abundant plant or mineral source, and
2. Any processes used to modify the natural ingredient are minimal, & responsible. This includes not producing harmful or toxic human health or environmental effects, and
3. The ingredient is fully compatible with biological systems

A synthetic ingredient can only be used when:

1. There is no viable natural or natural origin ingredient available, and
2. The ingredient has no potential human health or environmental risks, and
3. The ingredient meets method’s comprehensive material assessment criteria

No Dirty Ingredients may be used at any time. Examples include:

• parabens
• phosphates
• ethylene glycol solvents (e.g., butoxyethanol)
• nitrosable compounds (e.g. diethanolamine)
• suspected or known carcinogens
• endocrine disruptors (e.g. phthalates)
• many others.

A product is natural only if it:

• Contains > 95.0% natural ingredients

A product is naturally derived or natural-origin only if it:

• Contains > 95.0% natural or naturally derived ingredients

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Organic position statement

Method is frequently asked whether its cleaning products are organic. The answer is no, because we feel there are far more accurate and relevant ways to describe the benefits of environmentally superior and healthy personal care and home cleaning products, and we use these descriptors instead.

The term organic is most accurately a descriptive marketing term related to the agricultural methods used for the production of various crops. It is regulated in the US by the Department of Agriculture and as such is intended for and most relevant to foods, where organic certification means that more environmentally preferable methods are used to produce the crops, which can also result in a healthier food product.

As the term ‘organic’ is used to describe non-food consumer goods such as personal care or cleaning products, its benefit is far less clear and can be misleading. Cosmetic and home cleaning products that claim high percentages of organic ingredients often rely on two possibly deceptive methods to achieve these high percentages.

First, they can count hydrosols of organic botanicals as major ingredients. These hydrosols are made by organic crops in water, and then using this water as say, 80% of the product. They can then technically claim that the product, which may be 20% composed of conventional and possibly harmful ingredients, is 80% organic.

Second, the organic ingredients used in the products often do not contribute to the primary function of the product, relying instead on conventional and possibly harmful ingredients to perform the intended function. For example, an organic soap or shampoo may contain some organic moisturizing ingredients, but rely on conventional synthetic surfactants for their cleaning function.

Rather than relying on narrow marketing terms, method chooses to holistically communicate the health and environmental quality of its products. We work with third-party material scientists that comprehensively assess all of our ingredients, evaluating the environmental implications of their source, their health in use, and the safety with which they can be distributed in the environment.

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The green launch code

The first rule of method’s green product strategy is to refuse to compromise on effectiveness or health. The result is that any product we make will truly work, and is made from green and healthy materials.

And if we can’t find a way to both of these, we won’t make the product.

One recent example of this strategy is the toilet bowl cleaner we just released to rave reviews. Ever since we started the company, people have been asking us to make a toilet bowl cleaner - they were unsatisfied with conventional toilet cleaners that relied on extremely hazardous chemicals (hello, sulphuric acid) to get the job done, or green toilet cleaners that didn’t work well enough to, well, clean.

And since we didn’t see a better solution, for 6 years we didn’t offer a toilet bowl cleaner that would have compromised our green launch code. But then we found a way.

Lactic acid is found in your stomach. And in sour milk. And in your muscles after you run up a hill. Natural, potent, and non-toxic. Part of the puzzle was there. But how do you give it time to work its magic? The next piece was a great natural thickening gum, to make the liquid thick enough to coat the surfaces of the toilet and do its work. And man does it work! And smell great! And the best part is that we didn’t have to trade off any safety to get the great effectiveness.

There are some other products out there that we haven’t yet found the right way to make them, but be sure that we are looking. And be sure that for all the products we have launched, that we were sure of their greenness and their effectiveness before we started selling them.

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