I travelled through Connemara in April, and through the intermediary of hosts, I was able to meet Titta, a woman who has chosen to undertake for the environment, and for people.
Titta created Lilly's Ecoclean, a range of eco-friendly cleaning products.
Lilly's Ecoclean offers products for kitchen care, house care and laundry care. Historically, women have been in charge of household chores for a very long time (this is still the majority today), and they use quite toxic products. The use of chemicals has caused respiratory problems and migraines. The aim of Lilly's Ecoclean is to ensure their health, and to offer products that are healthy for the person cleaning as well as for the environment. Here, the products are of natural origin, and the compositions are very simple.
A little history
Titta, originally from Finland, came to live in Ireland over 20 years ago.
The company's adventure began in Dublin. Initially two at the origin of the project, Titta quickly took the reins of the company. Originally from a rural background, she found a taste for a simple and fulfilling life when she moved to County Cork.
Titta had to learn all about running a small business and producing cleaning products. The business was relocated for a while to Dublin (where she was still living part of her life) around 2014, but business premises can be quite expensive there, whereas low cost opportunities have appeared in Connemara. So Titta moved there and built her life. The idea is also to bring dynamism to this relatively jobless area.
Reducing packaging with refillable containers
One of the brand's strong points, in addition to the natural aspect of the products, is the reduction of plastic packaging.
The household products industry is starting to take an interest in the reuse of containers, known as refill. But the concept has been around for a long time! Lilly's Ecoclean has been doing this for almost 10 years now. Large containers are available in partner shops, where customers can come and refill their individual bottles. These can be Lilly's Ecoclean bottles that previously contained the product, but customers can come in with any container they have available.
Once the big containers are empty, Titta exchanges them for full ones and cleans the ones collected in their workshop. They are then refilled with the same product as before.
Each pallet produced in the workshop, consisting solely of refill containers, avoids the production of 12,800 500-ml bottles. Impressive, isn't it?
The success of this system is relatively strong. For sales in Dublin, refill containers have to be exchanged about twice a month to meet demand. For shops that do not offer a refill system, refill bags are available for purchase.
In the same spirit of reducing packaging as much as possible, the brand is testing different processes for marketing solid cleaners.
Taking the approach to online ordering and consumer use
Online orders are also available, and the company uses second-hand cardboard packaging for this, which reduces the cost of shipping but also keeps it in a virtuous reuse loop. For customers who live far from a shop where they can find a refill, the brand offers to send medium-sized containers (5L) and a reusable pump, so that people can refill their bottles themselves.
Lilly's Ecoclean products are sold in supermarkets, health shops, but also exported to Sweden and the Netherlands. In the past few years, the quantities ordered have remained reasonable and Titta has been manufacturing all the products in-house. For some time now, however, sales have been growing and the resources available in the workshop are becoming limited. Therefore, the company is getting help to improve the processes and produce larger volumes.
Changing mindsets and taking a step for the environment
In the household products market, eco-friendly products represent no more than 5% of sales. In the last 5 years, a change has occurred with the appearance of recyclable bottles by the big brands, but the products have not changed their composition. Despite their small market share, eco-friendly brands are not losing hope. Generally, classic products are bought automatically, without much thought, by routine or by marketing influence. Lilly's Ecoclean wants to make the switch from conventional products to eco-friendly products easy for consumers, making it a small step in their personal transition, which can lead to bigger steps later on.
The company tries to do its best to offer products with a low impact on health and the environment in a sustainable way. However, plastic is difficult to substitute, as it remains the best option from a safety point of view (glass containers could break). As Titta says, "not everything is perfect, but at least we try!"
A company that also thinks about its employees
Within her company, Titta advocates flexible working hours so that her employees can live serenely, especially when there are children to manage. Her aim is to enable everyone to develop their personal and professional lives to the full.
I was very pleased with this last minute meeting, thanks again to Titta for showing me around the workshops and taking the time to talk to me :)
To find out more about Lilly's ecoclean: https://www.lillysecoclean.com/
To read the article about my adventure that Titta published on her website: A beautiful encounter, visit of Fiona of the Suncycling Odyssey