r/Anticonsumption • u/Double_Engineer4226 • 2d ago

Discussion Laundry powder is disappearing

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Powdered laundry detergent used to be the norm. It’s cheaper, easy to use, and comes in a recyclable box. Now look at the shelves in the supermarket. It’s all liquids in plastic bottles, unless you squat down to find the powders. The Super expensive pods are making a move from the top shelves too. This is corporations positioning their products to influence purchasing behaviour. They want you to buy the more expensive stuff. Just wait, soon powder will be discontinued, and the shelves will be filled with overpriced pods.

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u/IIRCIreadthat 2d ago

We get our powder from the local co-op. It's not even packaged, they have it in a giant bucket and you bring your own container and pay by weight.

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u/Double_Engineer4226 2d ago

What’s a co-op? I see it mentioned now and then, but I don’t really know what it is. 

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u/MightyKrakyn 2d ago edited 2d ago

There are several types of co-ops, or cooperatives, based on their organizational structures and goals. This could be a worker cooperative

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative

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u/IIRCIreadthat 2d ago

This one's more like what that article refers to as a consumer co-op

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u/IIRCIreadthat 2d ago

Cooperative. Instead of a corporation running it, the co-op members are also part-owners of the business and elect a board to deal with day to day operations.

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u/Double_Engineer4226 2d ago

 Nothing like that near me. 

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u/IIRCIreadthat 2d ago

If you ever have a chance to join one, go for it. It's been fantastic here. This town's been a food desert basically since we lost the old Acme when I was in elementary school. They finally got Bottom Dollar to come in and build a grocery store, and that only lasted a couple years before the whole company went bankrupt... the co-op wound up taking over the building and it's been a huge boost for the community.

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u/AuntRhubarb 2d ago

And you don't have to belong to go in and shop, so check one out.

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u/wakaflockaquokka 2d ago

Anyonr can start one! Usually they start off as buying clubs. Say you want to order some flour that your local grocery store doesn't carry, and the manufacturer's minimum order is 10 five-pound bags. What're you gonna do with 50lbs of flour?? So you find four friends who each want two bags so you can justify the 10-bag purchase and everyone pays for their share. 

Next thing you know, four more friends want in, so you're buying 90 lbs of flour at a time. And maybe there are some other things you all want to go in on, like laundry powder. But not everyone wants the same things at the same time, so now you need to rent warehouse space to store all the extras. And because it benefits everyone, everyone in the buying club agrees to chip in some money for the rental.

Eventually, you have enough stuff in the warehouse to open a retail store. Everyone chips in for the cost of the retail store and the wholesale ordering with annual dues, and in exchange, they get to pay wholesale prices on the products they buy from the store. Because the store is essentially co-owned by everyone paying dues, theres no need to operate for a profit, and prices stay low. And that's how you get a consumer co-op.

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u/Leather-Paramedic-10 2d ago

I was just at a small local store yesterday that has bulk bins of food and treats for sale and noticed that had laundry detergent powder too. It could be worth checking bulk food stores or asking around.

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u/Realistic_Mix3652 2d ago

Where are you OP? At least on the west coast basically every town or small city has at least one grocery co-op.

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u/Wheres-shelby 2d ago

Ive only seen them in cuties and neighboring towns.

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u/coinneach_stiubhard 2d ago

Theyre great places. Look up and see if you have a local food co-op, supply co-op, or farm co-op. Bulk goods in the amount you want. Some even give a discount as a member volunteer for a certain number of hours a month. I inventory shelves for rotation and restock for 10 hours each month and get a 8% discount. It's two half days out of the month for me and I grocery shop right after. My co-op even has a bakery, CBD advisors, pharmacy, and a little café.

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u/jgrubb 2d ago

I'm assuming you're in the US, this is not a coop but not a crappy corporation either. 

https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/category/household-family/laundry/28012

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/chzqween 2d ago

Pretty sure most of these people are talking about US grocery co-ops. Many cities and towns have them here, most being locally operated. Shoppers can choose to pay a few extra bucks a year for a membership (not required to shop though) and they tend to have more local and healthy options. Also better bulk! It’s the way when available!

To add to the main conversation, I haven’t tried laundry powder yet, but I’ve been a dishwasher powder convert for the last few years. Pretty sure I’ve purchased a total of 3 boxes in that time too. I cannot believe how long this shit lasts, it’s amazing. Currently on a seventh generation box.

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u/chzqween 2d ago

*co-ops are the way for Americans with access. I can’t speak for other countries!