Tru Earth Eco-Strips are already proving to be the future of sustainable living and laundry.

It all started with YouTube videos. It was 2019, and Ryan McKenzie had a morning routine with his kids, who were then 3 and 4 (with another one on the way!). They would wake up, have a glass of milk, and watch videos.

Like most kids at the time, his were enthralled with “unboxing” videos, where someone would open a treasure chest made of plastic, which was wrapped in plastic, and filled with individual items—again, wrapped in plastic.

All that plastic not only gave him anxiety, but got him thinking. “I wasn’t someone who really worried about the future before I had kids,” he explains. “Not that I was neglecting the planet, but I didn’t have any anxiety about the future until I had kids and I began worrying about global warming and whether we were polluting our planet so poorly that it was going to be unhealthy to live here. I was worried about their future.”

McKenzie began doing research as to where households were using large quantities of plastic, and found that laundry detergent was a big contributor. He called one of his friends, Brad Liski, who had a proven track record as an entrepreneur. Coincidentally, Liski had a family member who had a patent on an eco-friendly laundry detergent—though he said he wasn’t sure about it. An entire load of laundry detergent in a little strip? An entire jug in a packet the size of an iPhone?

Hesitant but intrigued, McKenzie tried the strips—and quickly realized, “This isn’t just some gimmick. It works unbelievably well.”

McKenzie, Liski, and a third friend, Kevin Hinton, decided to consider launching a company around the strips. The trio agreed they would first test it out to see if others liked them as much as they did. They’d put up a website, and the goal would be to hopefully get 150 subscription orders in the first 30 days. They had 1,500.

And so, Tru Earth was born.

“It got me excited that this was something that could impact my kids’ future lives if it was successful—and I’m happy to say, I don’t walk around with as much anxiety now because we’ve actually taken steps to impact the future and help the Earth,” McKenzie says.

Tru Earth Eco-Strips Laundry Detergent

Tru Earth Eco-Strips completely replace other forms of detergent like liquids or pods. The Eco-Strips are eco-friendly in many ways. In addition to eliminating plastic (they are packaged in a zero-waste, compostable package), the strips save on detergent overuse.

“Liquid laundry detergent comes with a cap intended to use to measure your amount,” McKenzie explains. “But studies have shown that the typical person overpours by 30%-40%!”

Also, while a typical liquid laundry jug is heavy, an equal package of Tru Earth laundry strips is only about 5% of a jug’s total weight—which creates a massive reduction regarding the product’s transportation carbon footprint. In fact, it creates 94% less transportation pollution. In regards to recycling, McKenzie explains that “about 20%-30% of jugs get recycled in some capacity, but about 10% of the bottle makes it into a new jug. About 20% is burned for energy recapture.”

Plus, there are additional benefits, he points out.

“You get the right dose every single time, your kids can do laundry now, you don’t get the laundry detergent spilled everywhere, the strips are light if you purchase them at a store and walk home, and, you’re going to win back all that [cabinet] space!”

Tru Earth’s laundry strips can be used in any washer, are paraben-free, phosphate-free, free of chlorine bleach, free of dyes, free of 1,4 dioxane, hypoallergenic, gluten-free, vegan, palm oil-free, and are readily biodegradable. The company is also in the process of being Leaping Bunny certified. They also work well.

“We want to create products that are just as easy—or easier—to use, and just as effective—if not more effective—than other alternatives,” McKenzie says.

Making an Environmental—And Personal—Impact

Though the company first launched in 2019, by the end of 2020—just about a year later—it had already contributed to eliminating 2,532,345 plastic jugs.

“We’ve now hit 3,019,960 plastic jugs that we’ve eliminated, and if you placed them on top of one another, you could get to space and back four times!” McKenzie says.

The company also aims to give back to more than just Mother Earth. The first purchase of every subscription is matched with a donation of laundry strips to places that include women’s shelters and food banks, or to frontline workers, or anyone in need. As of early 2021, Tru Earth had donated 5 million strips—which equals well over $2 million worth of
laundry detergent.

The company has received orders from all over the world, and while it initially had to fulfill them from its Canadian headquarters, to lower that environmental transportation impact, it is in the process of opening distribution centers in other countries.

The Future

Now, in just its second year of business, Tru Earth has expanded its product line to include other Earth-friendly products. There’s bamboo cutlery, beeswax food wrap, reusable cotton mesh produce bags, bamboo reusable makeup remover pads, a mesh reusable grocery bag, stainless steel straws, Eco-Strips Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner, and wool dryer balls.

“I’m just excited to be able to put a dent in this space,” McKenzie says. “It’s exciting to be making a difference.” For more information, visit www.tru.earth, and use the code GreenLiving10 for 10% off in the Tru Earth web-store.

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