CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — This week’s Made In Chicago shines a spotlight on the Fulton Market-based Meliora Cleaning Products, which makes earth-friendly cleaning products.
Along the industrial corridor of Fulton Street, an employee of Meliora Cleaning Products grinds detergent to a fine powder. Nearby, Kate Jakubas explains the meaning of the name of the company she founded in 2013.
“Meliora is a Latin word; it means, ‘better,’” she said.
The environmental engineer said she wanted to create a line of cleaning products with sustainable ingredients.
“It turns out, when you have a product that has [a] really low impact on the environment, it also tends to have a really low impact on human health, too,” Jakubas said. “We’ve got products that are really great for people who have allergies, sensitive skin issues and so on.”
Those products include laundry detergents, soaps and household cleaners that all use what Jakubas described as “really straightforward scents.”
“There’s no ‘Ocean Breeze’ here; there’s no ‘Spring Rain,’” she said. “We’ve got lavender; we’ve got lemon; we’ve got things that people enjoy and help them connect to the product that they’re using in a positive way.”
Jakubas said they sell products in 500 brick-and-mortar stores and online to customers who are often looking for certified made-safe products.
“Every time we’re putting something in our washing machines, we’re intentionally adding something to the environment, so you’re making a decision with whatever detergent that you’re using — you’re releasing that out there,” she said. “How can we think about what should be in that detergent [and] what shouldn’t be in that detergent?”
Their pledge to sustainability does not end with the products. Meliora’s packaging is mostly paper, except for 5-gallon buckets. The plastic containers include a prepaid shipping label for customers to return them to their Fulton Market factory to be used again.
“They come because they’re trying to find a better product, and then they stay because it actually works,”
Meliora Cleaning Products, Made In Chicago.
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