The Top Line:

NOT a buy. We love Seventh Generation as a company and enjoy many of their products. Unfortunately, the dishwashing detergent tablets are not one of those items. We would prefer the Seventh Generation powder given the same ingredients, cheaper cost, and still plastic-free option. For those who like the convenience of pods/tablets over powder, we hope that the upcoming refills may cheapen the price in the future.

[Update 13 September: These tablets have started to build up phosphate in our dishwasher. It’s been a nuisance.

Check out our Big Zero Waste Dishwasher Roundup from The Reduce Report.

The Breakdown:

• Cost & Products: $19.49 for 36 dishwasher detergent tablets (originally, the price was $15.49) or $64.75 (originally $46.95) for the Zero Plastic Complete Bundle (saving 20% by the bundle) via the Grove Collaborative Shop

• Note: Grove Collaborative has increased the price of this line since we purchased it and started reviewing its items.

• How ‘Clean’ Is This? The ingredient list is admittedly a bit long with a few synthetic ingredients. Most of the ingredients overlap with their standard powdered dishwashing detergent (which is zero waste also by the way — since it comes in a cardboard box which is easily recycled). That said, there is no chlorine in either of the dishwashing detergents.

• Packaging: Packaging is made of steel, one of the most recyclable and recycled material, according to SG. We verified by our own research here, here, and here. Quote from the Arch Daily:

  “When recycled, the consumption of electricity lowers by 80%, causing a lower environmental impact and eliminating completely the extraction of raw materials.”

• Purchasing & Shipping: We bought ours from the Grove Collaborative site, which we reviewed extensively here. $49 gets you free shipping, unless you have a VIP account.

  Many of our tins showed up pretty banged up and dented — and when we reache out to Grove Collaborative to let them know what happened, they propmtly gave us store credit for our bundle purchase. A+ since we weren’t even asking for that.

• Good to Know: The addition of Seventh Generation Zero Plastic Products may change our advice on the Grove Collaborative site. We still wish the site was better organized.

• Extra Info: Seventh Generation is a Certified B-corporation. We love that. You can read about their mission and other values on their website.

  FYI: Seventh Generation is working on refills for their canisters, including the Bathroom Powder.

• What’s Your Impact? We normally see dishwasher tablets packaged in plastic tubs or plastic bags to keep tablets dry. With the steel canister, Seventh Generation dishwashing tablets achieve both dryness and zero plastic, like their standby dishwashing powder, but now more convenient.

The Experience

What we typically use: Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent Powder has been our mainstay. We have also recently tried Blueland’s dishwashing tablets, which didn’t dissolve all the way. We tried Seventh Generation’s dishwasher tablets on several loads of the dishwasher, with lots of food stuck on the plates and grease everywhere.

• If you’re familiar with Seventh Generation’s dishwasher detergent, you’ll recognize the familiar scent. Though it remains unscented, there is a distinct scent that Seventh Generation products employ.

• Dishes came out super clean with no remnants stuck on plates, cups or utensils.

• As a personal preference, we don’t like scent on our dishes, so we appreciated the scent that rinsed clean on our dishware.

The Cost

We compared the new Seventh Generation tablets to other zero-waste or greener options like Dropps, Blueland, Public Goods, Cleancult and Grove Collaborative. Note: Powdered dishwasher detergent will remain cheaper given less processing that needs to occur for its formulation, but pods are easier —less mess and measuring.

Money Report: The Seventh Generation dishwasher tablets are on the expensive side easy dishwashing pods, tablets, or bars, especially with the increase in price.

The Good:

✔ Fragrance-free and biodegradable ingredients

✔ Plastic-free - the container is steel which is one of the most recycled materials in the world

✔ Certified B Corp

✔ No chlorine bleach and no phosphates

The Bad:

✗ On the expensive side, even for dishwashing tablets — we prefer the powder

✗ Still a fair amount of ingredients (probably too much?) for a dishwashing detergent

Our Recommendation:

NOT a buy. We love Seventh Generation as a company and enjoy many of their products. Unfortunately, the dishwashing detergent tablets are not one of those items. We would prefer the Seventh Generation powder given the same ingredients, cheaper cost, and still plastic-free option. For thsoe who like the convenience of pods/tablets over powder, we hope that the upcoming refills may cheapen the price in the future.

We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!