Blueland: Rated & Reviewed

NYC-based Blueland is a Certified B Corp offering household cleaning products that largely come as tablets or powders in reusable packaging. The brand is Climate Neutral Certified and publicly discloses emissions. All products are vegan friendly and Leaping Bunny certified as cruelty free. Formulations are made in the USA, with forever bottles manufactured in China with regular BSCI auditing. All products have at least one safety certification including Cradle to Cradle, USDA Biopreferred, EPA Safer Choice, MADE SAFE® and EWG Verified. Blueland is awarded our rating of “Disrupting,” which is the highest rating available.

About Blueland:

Founder and mother Sarah Paiji Yoo first began Blueland in NYC in 2019, after she learned the plastic from household products was contaminating her water supply and generating microplastics in the food and water she was feeding her baby. From there, Blueland was born with a mission to keep our homes and planet cleaner with easily refillable products that refuse single-use plastic. After a successful appearance on the TV show Shark Tank, Yoo’s goal to make and sell cleaning products with no phosphates, ammonia, or VOCs and with refillable forever-usable, BPA-free bottles was realized. To date, the highly rated brand has helped substitute over 1 billion plastic cleaning bottles.

Product Categories

CleaningHousehold

Attributes

Certifications / Memberships

B Corp Climate Neutral Certified Cradle to Cradle EPA Safer Choice EWG Leaping Bunny MADE SAFE® USDA BioPreferred

Location

United States

Pricing

$$$$$

Ships from

United States

Ships to

United StatesCanadaUnited KingdomAustraliaNew Zealand

Rating Summary

Nature & Animals

Products are formulated using naturally derived and synthetic ingredients but exclude dyes, bleach, harsh chemicals, phosphates, ammonia, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA/PVOH) or VOCs. All products have detailed ingredient lists and they explain reasons for ingredient choices throughout the website. All products are Leaping Bunny certified cruelty-free and no animal-derived ingredients are used. All products have one or more safety related certification and they do not use any chemicals or ingredients that can be found on the Cradle to Cradle banned chemicals list, the EWG Unacceptable List or the Prop 65 Banned Ingredients List (see more under “Communities & Wellbeing” below). Some products include PEG (petroleum derived) and SLS (derived from renewable carbon plant-derived materials). Blueland uses ingredients derived from palm and coconut oil. To address biodiversity and deforestation concerns, any palm oil used is sourced from RSPO certified suppliers however coconut oil derived products do not have a disclosed certification. All items are certified at Gold level for water stewardship through their Cradle to Cradle Platinum Material Health Certificate. No formal water tracking is available, but products contain almost no water and Blueland has confirmed no water goes to waste in production. Blueland is Climate Neutral Certified and discloses scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions publicly, along with specific reduction plans and time-based deadlines for each one. Products are housed in compostable paper bags or refillable, BPA-free bottles. Most packaging and shipping materials are made from sustainable materials that can be easily recycled, refilled, returned or composted. Materials include recyclable shipping boxes (not disclosed as FSC certified), paper-based tape, compostable refill pouches, and water-based ink printing. Forever canisters include glass, silicone, LDPE, and tin-coated steel, which are not all curbside recyclable, but Blueland offers a free return service to recycle on customers’ behalf. No formal tracking or targets are available for energy, waste and pollution, chemical use, or biodiversity and deforestation.

Score for Nature & Animals: 63%. Learn more about our scoring here.

Communities & Wellbeing

Limited information is publicly available about Blueland’s direct workforce policies and benefits; however, the few Glassdoor reviews online are positive and give the company 5/5 stars for good benefits. Information around protections of human rights and against modern slavery in the supply chain are limited with no public-facing code of conduct for suppliers, although they require all manufacturers to complete the UN Global Compact audit and they require all China-based final product manufacturers to have an up-to-date BSCI audit completed by an approved third-party auditor. Formulations are made in the USA and their reusable bottles are made in China. Blueland is woman and BIPOC-owned and their DE&I approach is generally disclosed under “Mission” on their website with efforts to support and uplift BIPOC businesses; however, there is no publicly disclosed DE&I policy. All Blueland products have one or more safety certifications including Platinum Material Health Certificate from Cradle to Cradle, USDA BioPreferred, EPA Safer Choice, EWG Verified, and MADE SAFE®. Specifically, Blueland has received the Platinum Material Health Certificate from the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute for 3 cleaning sprays, hand soap, powder dish soap, dishwasher tablets, and laundry tablets; the USDA BioPreferred certification for 3 cleaning sprays, powder dish soap, dishwasher tablets, and laundry tablets; EPA Safer Choice certification for 3 cleaning sprays and dishwasher tablets; dishwasher tablets are also EWG verified; their facial cleanser and the base formula of their body wash are MADE SAFE® certified (though the body wash fragrance is still under review). No products contain VOCs making them safer for pregnant women, kids, and pets, and most products are tested hypoallergenic. Blueland provides links to the material safety data sheets (MSDS) for each product on their website and is transparent about all their ingredient choices. The brand has a privacy policy that provides adequate protections and is easily identifiable on the brand’s website. Blueland sources from local suppliers where possible (given their primarily USA-based manufacturing) and also makes efforts to buy from and support smaller BIPOC owned businesses.

Score for Communities & Wellbeing: 60%. Learn more about our scoring here.

Values & Governance

Business size is small-to-medium with 11-50 employees on Linkedin. The company is privately owned by founder Sarah Paiji Yoo and has venture-capital backing. Blueland is a Certified B Corp, which means they have a mandatory 3-year recertification process which includes extensive reporting. A published emissions report is available however there is no regular formal publicly disclosed sustainability or impact report. The brand has no history of greenwashing or destructive marketing. In terms of charity and giving, Blueland supports organizations like DigDeep, ACLU, Lonely Whale, and NRDC.

Score for Values & Governance: 58%. Learn more about our scoring here.

Product Performance

Products are generally found by customers to be of a high standard and clean as well or better than conventional harsh chemical-based cleaning products. Generally products are reported to perform as indicated.

Score for Product Performance: 100%. Learn more about our scoring here.

Review Summary From Other Customers

Pros

Blueland's products are reviewed to be effective at cleaning and stain-fighting.
In particular, customers like the easy-to-use tablet design of their laundry detergent tablets and find this helps save measuring time and prevents mess.
Blueland’s stylish packaging design is often mentioned.
Many customers note that they feel safer using Blueland’s products.
These pros are frequently mentioned across multiple reviews and platforms, implying this is what is experienced by a significant portion of Blueland's customer base.

Cons

A small number of customers report inconsistent cleaning results that they say can vary based on household water quality or washing machine type.
Price point is noted as a barrier for some consumers.
These cons affect a relatively smaller segment of users.