Childhood friends Tim Barklage and Kevin Tibbs weren’t happy with the cleaning products they found in stores.
Tibbs, a chemist who formulated products for mega-retailers like Target, The Home Depot, and Bed, Bath & Beyond, specialized in natural skin-care lines, so he was very familiar with the green movement. When he became a father and began baby-proofing his home, he grew increasingly conscious of mainstream cleaning products’ dangers.
Partnering with marketing and product-development specialist Barklage to create an eco-friendly cleaning line was a no-brainer. Barklage, in fact, had grown up in a green home long before it was fashionable.
That’s how St. Louis-based Better Life was born—a company determined to provide green cleaning options for moms and dads, as well as “Mom Earth.” Products are free of sulfates, ethoxylates, fragrances, dyes, solvents, silicones, petroleum-based ingredients and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like glycol ethers and alcohols. Biodegradability is a high priority, and ingredients come from natural sources.
Better Life’s brightly labeled, cleverly named products include:
- I Can See Clearly, Wow! window and glass cleaner
- What-EVER! all-purpose cleaner (available in unscented, clary-sage and citrus)
- Even the Kitchen Sink gentle scrubber (for bathrooms, too)
- 2am Miracle nursery cleaner (think poop, pee and puke)
- Simply Floored! floor cleaner
Organic consumers can find these green cleaners at Whole Foods Market and Ace Hardware. You may also purchase them online at Walgreens and drugstore.com.
Sign up for the company’s newsletter and receive a $10 coupon toward the Better Life Starter Kit, which contains four products in a collapsible cleaning caddy.
please Share the Love