I made mention a few weeks ago about Wal-mart moving towards only stocking concentrated laundry detergents as a way of reducing not only shelf space required (which is good business move), but also the impact that millions of large plastic bottles have on the environment.

Additionally, when shipping dilute products, much of the weight is just water, so concentrated versions mean less fossil fuel consumption and emissions associated with transport.

An interesting range of cleaning products I was emailed about a couple of days are following along the similar line. This isn't an ad or endorsement, I just thought the concept was interesting.

Wonder Tablitz do away with spray packs (for the most part) and refill bottles by incorporating their cleaning product range into effervescent tablets; a supply of which can be stored on the front of the bottle. This reduces bottle consumption by at least 66%, because each bottle includes 3 refill tablets.

I'm assuming that the spray pump won't wear out after just 3 refills, so you should be able to buy just the tablets for a while before needing to replace the bottle. As spray pack bottles tend to have similar throat sizes, it's also likely you'd be able to use another trigger pump you have laying around should the one on the original bottle wear out. There's really no need to buy the bottle in the first place either if you have a few spare bottles from other cleaning fluids left laying around - just be sure to wash them out first.

It's quite a convenient system and the Wonder Tablitz concept not only saves on plastic bottles, but also in cardboard used to pack the bottles; again a decrease of around 66%. The reductions extend into fuel savings when shipping due to the decreased weight.

Their range of products are phosphate free. The citrus based cleaner contains Boric Acid (from borax), Sodium Perborate, Ammonium methyl sulfate, Sulfamic Acid, good old sodium carbonate (baking soda) and a couple of other ingredients. Sulfamic acid is harmful in aquatic environments, but a quick search on the other ingredients didn't reveal anything too disturbing, so it doesn't appear to be as bad as many other cleaning products. I hope the company works towards an even greener chemical base.

Pricing seems pretty good - the initial bottle costs $6.99, which includes three refill tablets and extra tablets are $4.99 for a triple pack.

It's nice to see simple and effective innovations such as Wonder Tablitz has incorporated and a good reminder that whatever cleaning products we buy, even products containing earth-friendly ingredients, we should try and buy concentrates wherever we can to help lessen environmental impact of packaging and fuel consumption.

Looking for green cleaning solutions you can make from items you may already have in your cupboards? Take a peek at my articles on lemon juice, vinegar, borax and baking soda - in fact, there's a whole category dedicated to earth friendly cleaning issues on Green Living Tips.com with new items being added regularly!