“How do I make an impact, but without giving up my convenience factor?”

This is a question that Lauren Simonelli, the founder of the sustainable cleaner brand ThreeMain, once asked herself. She had just learned that most household cleaners, from disinfectant sprays to soaps, are laced with harmful chemicals— even carcinogens.

At first, as a solution, Lauren started making her own non-toxic cleaners from home… but that was just too time-consuming.

“There are so many people who are trying to live more sustainably but are not necessarily willing to give up the convenience factor, and that limits people,” Lauren says. That’s what inspired me to do something like this.”

Lauren and her business partner, Joe Budzienski, took matters into their own hands. They decided to address this problem with a non-toxic, sustainable cleaning company, beginning with three guiding principles: simple, sustainable, and effective. 

“Every time we get lost, we go back to our mission, and we make sure that whatever we are trying to accomplish aligns with that,” Lauren tells us. 

ThreeMain’s mission is all-encompassing: simple refers to the design and product formulas themselves— each ingredient is printed directly onto the bottle. Sustainable describes the packaging: ThreeMain uses aluminum bottles, which are lightweight, durable, refillable, and infinitely recyclable. Their final principle, effective, refers to how the products perform. 

“Our cleaning formulas use a Hydrogen Peroxide,” Lauren explains. ThreeMain “soaps use Hyaluronic acid, which is moisturizing, anti-aging and microbial.”

“No one should have to sacrifice their exposure to toxins, [their impact on] the environment, or their convenience factor just to have a clean home,” says Lauren.

To reduce their environmental impact, ThreeMain partners with the organization We Are Neutral to offset their carbon footprint— hence, ThreeMain is a carbon-neutral company. 

While achieving carbon neutrality is a huge feat in itself, when asked what Lauren is most proud of about ThreeMain, she names their giveback program: they donate 3 percent of all sales to organizations dedicated to cleaning and protecting our oceans.

“Plastic doesn’t degrade— it’s always going to be there unless we do something about it,” Lauren says. “We can make big steps by trying to reduce [the plastic problem] moving forward by not producing more plastic bottles and contributing more to the issue.”

Reducing one’s own plastic consumption is undoubtedly a daunting task. When we asked Lauren what advice she would give to someone trying to live a more sustainable lifestyle, she recommended making small changes, one by one.

“Maybe it’s remembering to pack your reusable bottle everywhere you go, or investing in reusable straws and bringing them to restaurants,” Lauren continues, “there are so many ways you can [reduce your waste] without it feeling incredibly overwhelming.” 

As the Zero-Waste chef, Anne-Marie Bonneau once said “we don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” 

Lauren elaborates on Bonneau’s point:

 “It’s not all or nothing — you don’t need to go totally zero waste. It’s the middle ground where the world is going to see much more impact.”

To shop ThreeMain products live with Lauren, tune into Girls Nite Live programming on Tuesday, April 20th for a Live Commerce session. Sign up here!