You may have heard me recently discuss some products from Simple Green.
I like to know about the products I use, so here is what I found out.
The challenge
Simple Green was founded in 1975 by a Californian father and son trying to create a food-safe cleaner for removing tannic acid from coffee vending machines. The duo quickly discovered that not only was their product safe for people, it was also a powerful multi-purpose cleaner.
The formula for Simple Green was then brought to New Zealand by young business owner Dean Revell in 1988. More than 32 years later, Simple Green NZ is manufactured in East Tamaki and stocked by many outlets nationwide. Its products include the easily recognised green All Purpose Cleaner, Pet Stain and Odour Remover, and its well-loved Glass Cleaner.
In the late 80s and 90s, there was little consumer interest in environmentally friendly, non-toxic, or non-hazardous products; instead, the product simply had to work well. In today’s highly competitive market, the challenge for Simple Green was to prove its environmental credentials to Kiwis today – more than 40 years after the first product was made.
The solution
Simple Green NZ began its application for the Environmental Choice New Zealand (ECNZ) ecolabel in January 2019. More than 22 months of intense investigation followed to gather formulas, ingredients, ingredients of the ingredients, certification evidence and letters of verification, manufacturing procedures, components analysis, procedure analysis, waste analysis, and personal credentials. At one stage, Dean needed to find the formula for a tint making up 0.05% of a product. This took him to a supplier, and led to a supplier of a supplier, and so on.
Dean says the process was both challenging and rewarding: he knew his product was non-toxic and environmentally sound, and the process of identifying and certifying Simple Green products was exhaustive. Dean also realised that the thorough process would ensure people buying Simple Green could be confident the products are certified to the highest standards available in New Zealand.
The benefits
Simple Green NZ is thrilled to carry the ECNZ logo for more than 25 of its products. After 45 years of claiming the highest level of safety to consumers and to the environment, Simple Green is now confirmed as environmentally preferable in its category.
When I was chatting with Dean, he said “We carry the ECNZ logo with great pride, our customers, both homeowners and industrial users, can be 100% confident that if they use Simple Green they are using the very best and safest product available”.
To find out more go to Simple Green NZ
