How Brands Like Grove Collaborative and Blueland are Keeping Spaces Clean (and Green)

Never being able to find anything or having a mess everywhere can really get on your nerves, but it could be piling up in more places than you might think.

You would be hard-pressed to find a person with a spotless, completely organized home, but there can come a point where your clutter is affecting your mental health and your spiritual wellbeing.

Decluttering a space. Where do you start?

Feeling overwhelmed by your cluttered surroundings has been shown to increase stress levels, increase depression, and even hinder having a healthy social life. So how do you make like Marie Kondo, and get rid of the things that make your home feel like less of a sanctuary and more like a place of chaos?

Here are a few, expert-recommended tips that can make both your home and your soul feel lighter:

Work in small bites

You don’t have to declutter everything in one day, and the mere thought of it may bring up negative feelings. Instead, start with one room — just one. Draw out a map of problem areas, and tackle them one at a time. It helps to set small goals and to give yourself a timeline, but each step will feel like progress.

Keep sorting boxes on hand

As you go through your chosen area, keep at least three boxes near you. Designate one of the boxes things you use, label another box for donation or the trash, and mark the final box as things you want to keep but can happily live in storage until you need them. Once you have everything sorted, it will make it easier to proceed with the next steps.

Everyone needs the help of a friend

If you start to feel overwhelmed when you reach trickier areas of your home, why not ask someone you respect to come and help. Sometimes, it can be hard to decide what needs to go, but a trusted friend can help you make hard decisions.

Plus, you’ll shake off some of the social stigmas you might have been feeling before you started decluttering.

Make decluttering a regular activity

This may sound difficult, but once you get started with your decluttering process, you’ll want to keep going. You don’t need to frustrate yourself with a strict routine, but it’s a good idea to think about a little decluttering every day.

Whether it’s simply throwing out junk mail or tackling one space once a week, developing regular decluttering times, even a few minutes at a time, can make you feel better about your space.

Don’t let your clutter take over your mind and weigh down your spirit! With slow, calculated efforts, you’ll notice how your efforts can improve your mood. You’ll feel accomplished, and you shake off the negative effects it might be having on your mental health.

Keep visualizing the way you want your space to look, and work a little each day to make it the sanctuary you are envisioning. Soon, you’ll be proud of the job you’ve done.

Ecommerce brands making clean homes even cleaner

There’s nothing better than a clean home. But with attention placed on less waste, less plastic and better-for-you cleaning supplies, brands like Grove Collaborative and Blueland are making a space for themselves both online and in cabinets around the country.

Grove Collaborative, a marketplace featuring over 150 sustainable brands for home and lifestyle, offers customers a choice of high-quality brands (like Mrs. Meyer’s) that are effective in cleaning routines while remaining sustainable, environmentally friendly, and safe to use in spaces with children and pets. Read this piece in Retail Dive about how this DTC brand is transitioning into retail spaces, such as Target.

Adding to the ease of use, Grove Collaborative offers monthly shipments, allowing customers to replenish supplies from the comfort of home on a monthly basis.

During Covid, brands that made a move to offer subscriptions will find continued success in providing that convenience to customers, while also building brand loyalty in post-pandemic times.

Another brand to keep an eye on, Blueland, is one that’s taking cleaning homes to the next level by making products that are as eco-friendly as they are effective, affordable, and convenient for customers.

Customers purchase a Forever Bottle (which is reusable) and then replenish liquids like hand soap, laundry soap, and house cleaner with refillable tablets — easy ways to keep waste out of landfills while using safe family-friendly ingredients.