The home care and personal care markets are flooded with green-sounding brands that don't hold up to scrutiny. Earthly Co. is a New Zealand-founded brand that makes concentrated, plant-based cleaning and personal care products with a stated commitment to reducing plastic waste and toxic chemical load in households.
This article covers what Earthly Co. actually offers, which sustainability claims are substantiated, and where reasonable skepticism still applies — so you can decide whether their products belong in your home.
About Earthly Co.
Earthly Co. was founded in New Zealand with a focus on concentrated product formats — meaning less water in the bottle, fewer bottles overall, and lower transport emissions per dose. Concentration is one of the more credible levers for reducing a product's lifecycle environmental footprint, and it's a meaningful structural choice rather than a cosmetic one. [1]
The brand formulates with plant-derived ingredients and positions its products as free from synthetic fragrances, parabens, sulphates, and other chemicals of concern. These are real formulation choices. They are also not independently verified by a third-party certifier in the way that, say, USDA Organic or EPA Safer Choice certification would require. That's a gap worth knowing about. [2]
Earthly Co. uses recyclable and minimal packaging, with some products designed for reuse — a refillable or dissolvable format approach that reduces single-use plastic meaningfully over time. The brand is transparent about ingredients on its product pages, which is a baseline standard that many competitors still fail to meet. [3]
The brand does not currently carry B Corp certification, which would represent the most rigorous third-party validation of its social and environmental claims. B Corp status requires verified performance across governance, workers, community, environment, and customers — not just product formulation. Earthly Co. is worth watching, but not yet in the same verified tier as B Corp-certified peers. [4]
On balance, Earthly Co. earns its place in a sustainable">sustainable product category through genuine formulation transparency, low-waste formats, and plant-based ingredient sourcing. The absence of third-party certification is a real limitation, but the brand's structural choices — concentration, refillability, ingredient disclosure — reflect a more substantive commitment than most.
Top Products Worth Knowing
Multi-Purpose Concentrate Cleaner
Earthly Co.'s multi-purpose concentrate is designed to replace multiple single-use plastic bottles by diluting one product across different household tasks. Plant-derived surfactants do the cleaning work here, and the formula is free from synthetic fragrances and phosphates. [5] Concentrated formats like this can reduce packaging waste by up to 90% versus ready-to-use alternatives — the math on this genuinely stacks up when you run the numbers per wash.
See price →Dish Soap Concentrate
The dish soap concentrate follows the same low-waste logic: one small bottle replaces several standard-sized ones over time. The formula is sulphate-free and plant-based, which matters if you're washing food-contact surfaces and want to limit chemical residue. [6] Performance on grease is solid for a plant-based formula, though it may require slightly more product than conventional options on heavy loads — a reasonable tradeoff for most households.
See price →Laundry Concentrate
Concentrated laundry liquid is one of the highest-impact swaps available for a typical household — laundry products represent a significant share of single-use plastic waste in most homes. [7] Earthly Co.'s version is formulated without optical brighteners or synthetic fragrance, and is designed to work in cold water, which compounds the energy savings. Cold-water washing at 30°C versus 40°C can reduce a laundry cycle's energy use by around 40%. [8]
See price →Hand Wash Concentrate
The hand wash concentrate uses a similar dilution model — add water at home, reduce shipping weight and plastic output. The formula skips parabens and synthetic fragrance, which are the two most common problem ingredients in conventional hand soaps. [9] For households with sensitive skin or young children, this is a reasonable low-chemical option. The fragrance-free positioning is genuine here, not masked by "natural fragrance" labelling.
See price →Bathroom Cleaner Concentrate
Bathroom surfaces deal with soap scum, mould precursors, and hard water deposits — the cleaning chemistry here actually needs to perform. Earthly Co.'s bathroom concentrate handles this with plant-acid-based actives rather than bleach or synthetic biocides. [10] It won't be the right tool for heavy mould remediation, but for regular maintenance cleaning it's effective and far safer to use in enclosed spaces with limited ventilation.
See price →Why These Certifications Matter
The term sustainable is used loosely across the home care industry. For a product or brand to meaningfully qualify, the claim needs to connect to verifiable practices: ingredient sourcing, packaging lifecycle, carbon footprint, and labour standards. Earthly Co. addresses the first two categories through transparent formulation and concentrated formats. The remaining two — carbon accounting and supply chain ethics — are not publicly documented in detail, which is a gap that third-party certification typically fills.
EPA Safer Choice certification, for example, requires every ingredient to be evaluated for human and environmental health, including aquatic toxicity — a standard Earthly Co.'s plant-based formulas would likely pass but haven't formally pursued. B Corp certification would cover the broader governance picture. Neither is a dealbreaker in the absence of red flags, but they represent the next step a brand takes when it wants its claims audited rather than self-reported. For now, Earthly Co. is a credible choice in a category full of greenwashing — just go in with clear eyes about what's verified and what isn't.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Earthly Co. actually sustainable or is it greenwashing?
Earthly Co. makes structural choices — product concentration, minimal packaging, plant-based ingredients, ingredient transparency — that represent genuine sustainability effort rather than surface-level marketing. The honest caveat is that none of these claims are independently certified by a third party like B Corp or EPA Safer Choice. That means you're trusting the brand's self-reporting, which is more credible than most but not the same as verified. For consumers who want audited sustainability credentials, that gap is worth factoring in.
Are Earthly Co. products safe for children and sensitive skin?
Earthly Co. formulates without synthetic fragrances, parabens, and sulphates — the ingredients most commonly associated with skin irritation and sensitisation. For households with children or adults with sensitive skin, this is a lower-risk formulation profile than most conventional cleaning products. That said, "plant-based" does not automatically mean hypoallergenic. Plant-derived surfactants and essential oils can still trigger reactions in sensitive individuals. Check the full ingredient list for any specific allergens before first use.
How do concentrated cleaning products actually reduce waste?
Ready-to-use cleaning products are typically 90–95% water by volume. You're paying to ship water, which adds weight, fuel, and packaging. Concentrated formats reduce all three: fewer bottles produced, less fuel burned per usable dose, less plastic in the recycling or landfill stream. The math compounds significantly at household scale — one small concentrate bottle replacing four to eight standard bottles per year adds up fast. The environmental benefit is real, not theoretical.
Where is Earthly Co. based and where do they ship?
Earthly Co. is a New Zealand-founded brand. They ship within New Zealand and Australia, and depending on current logistics partnerships, may offer limited international shipping. Check their website directly for current shipping availability, as this changes. For buyers outside the ANZ region, shipping distance is itself a sustainability variable worth considering — concentrated formats help offset this, but local alternatives may have a lower transport footprint.
How does Earthly Co. compare to other sustainable cleaning brands?
Earthly Co. sits in a competitive field that includes brands like Tirtyl, Koala Eco, and Grove Collaborative — all of which use plant-based ingredients and low-waste formats. Where Earthly Co. differentiates is in its concentrate-first approach and ingredient transparency. Where it lags is third-party certification: brands like Grove Collaborative have pursued B Corp status, which adds an audited layer of credibility. Earthly Co. is a solid choice, but consumers who prioritise independently verified claims should factor in the certification gap.
References
- European Environment Agency. (2021). Greening household consumption: concentrated products and lifecycle impact reduction. https://www.eea.europa.eu ↩
- U.S. EPA. (2023). Safer Choice Standard — ingredient requirements and third-party verification. https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice ↩
- U.S. FTC. (2012). Green Guides — environmental marketing claims and substantiation. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/truth-advertising/green-guides ↩
- B Lab. (2024). B Corp certification requirements and assessment methodology. https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/certification ↩
- Earthly Co. (2024). Product formulation information. https://earthy.co.nz ↩
- U.S. EPA. (2023). Safer Choice ingredient list — surfactant classifications. https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice/safer-ingredients ↩
- WRAP UK. (2020). Plastic packaging in household laundry products — consumption and waste data. https://www.wrap.org.uk ↩
- Energy Saving Trust. (2022). Laundry and energy use: the impact of wash temperature. https://energysavingtrust.org.uk ↩
- Darbre, P.D., & Harvey, P.W. (2008). Paraben esters: review of recent studies of endocrine toxicity. Journal of Applied Toxicology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18484575 ↩
- U.S. EPA. (2022). Safer Choice — antimicrobial and biocide alternatives in household cleaners. https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice ↩