One of the trends I’ll talk more about in 2008 is the movement toward eco-friendly consumer products. Our “alpha mom” is beginning to demand household cleansers that she trusts are not only safe for her home and her family, but won’t deplete the budget. One company is filling that need in a big way:

Clorox is rolling out a series of natural, biodegradable household cleaners called Green Works to its $4.8 billion family of cleaning and household products. Known for making bleach a household cleaning product more than a century ago, Clorox is the first major consumer products firm to launch such a line. Now the company has a chance to move green cleaning products beyond the niche of Whole Foods-type stores and into the wider world of Wal-Marts and suburban supermarkets.
As part of this week’s product launch, Clorox is also introducing a nationwide advertising campaign for Green Works. The products - which include a general purpose cleaner, window cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, dilutable cleaner and bathroom cleaner – are now available in 24,000 stores nationally, including Safeway and Wal-Mart.

Clorox makes three brands of conventional all-purpose cleaners - Pine-Sol, Clorox Clean-Up and Formula 409. Because Clorox has several big brands that consumers know and trust. This latest move will definitely break down barriers for consumers who might think that natural products don’t work, they’re expensive, and you have to go to special stores to get them.

While the overall $2.7 billion market for household cleaning products isn’t growing, the so-called Green niche is. Sales of natural cleaning products rose by 23 percent between 2006 and 2007, according to SPINS, a market research and consulting firm for the natural products industry. Clorox’s own research concludes that almost half of all consumers would be interested in natural cleaning products if they were as effective as traditional ones.

This product line is at least 99 percent natural, biodegradable, nontoxic, made from plant- and mineral-based ingredients rather than petroleum, and not tested on animals. The new Green Works products will carry the logo of the Sierra Club. Clorox’s commitment to Green Works - the company’s first new brand in 20 years - is the latest evidence that environmentally-friendly products are going more mainstream.