Is Grove Co. Actually Non-Toxic? (Or Is It Greenwashing?)

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Grove Collaborative is one of those newer eco-friendly brands that’s really exploded onto the scene over the past decade. It’s a marketplace that carries its own products as well as other big ones like Mrs. Meyer’s and Method.

But with greenwashing becoming such a big concern these days, many consumers are left wondering whether these big brands are really as “green” as they claim to be…

Is Grove Collaborative really non-toxic and healthy for you and your family? Unfortunately, it’s not always a black and white, yes or no answer.

But hopefully after reading this article, you’ll be able to decide for yourself whether or not you want to try out (or keep using) Grove Collaborative.

Related: Are 9 Elements and Everspring Non-Toxic?

This article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.

A Quick Lowdown on Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative is an online store that carries a wide variety of home and personal care products like cleaning supplies, shampoos and deodorants, supplements, and more. They also carry products for kids and pets.

Grove Co. carries a lot of brands (over 200 of them), including bigger ones like Mrs. Meyer’s and Burt’s Bees as well as smaller ones like Meliora and Smartypits. They also have their own brands, including Grove Co. (which is home cleaning supplies), Rooted Beauty (personal care), Superbloom (skincare), Peach (plastic-free personal care), and Good Fur (pet grooming).

Grove Collaborative does have an optional VIP membership option, which costs $19.99/year. It gets you perks like unlimited free shipping, full-size gifts, early access to new products, and other things. This would be a good option for people who shop from Grove Co. a lot, but anyone can try the VIP membership for 60 days first to see if you like it. You can also set up subscriptions for products you use a lot, setting a schedule that works for you.

However, you are not required to be a member in order to shop from Grove, which makes it different from the Thrive Market model, for example. Anyone is able to shop from Grove like any other store or marketplace (you just don’t get the same perks you would if you had the VIP membership).

Grove Collaborative is also kind of known for the free gifts they give customers with their first purchase. These gifts vary from time to time, but usually include some sort of bundle of cleaning supplies. These days, you usually get to choose from a few different options.

Is Grove Co. Non-Toxic?

With greenwashing being a big problem for consumers these days, many shoppers are skeptical about whether or not certain “sustainable” and “non-toxic” brands really live up to those kinds of labels.

Each brand/product Grove Collaborative carries goes through a vetting process that includes four standards: “uncompromisingly healthy, beautifully effective, ethically produced, and cruelty-free.”

Those standards are very vague. What do those phrases even mean?

I wanted to dig deeper.

First, Grove does have an “Anti-Ingredient List,” which includes things like parabens and phthalates. It was unclear to me whether this list applies to ALL of the brands/products Grove carries or just the products from their own brands (Grove Co., Peach, Good Fur, etc.), so I reached out to Grove to clarify this. Their reply was as follows:

“Thank you for your patience! That Anti-Ingredients list should apply for all products that we carry on our site. Grove also openly lists all ingredients for every product we carry to ensure that shopping is easy for those with allergies, sensitivities, and specific preferences. While browsing the Grove site, you will notice an “Ingredients” tab under the photo of each item on their product description page. After clicking that tab, a list of all included ingredients will appear for that specific item.”

I’m a little bit skeptical about the word “should” being used here (“That Anti-Ingredients list should apply for all products…”) because it doesn’t really give me 100% confidence that all of the products on the marketplace are definitely vetted to be free from these ingredients…

But at the same time, I’m glad to see that the purpose of the Anti-Ingredients list is to be applied to all brands/products and not just the ones made by Grove specifically.

Anti-Ingredient lists are great because they can allow consumers to know relatively quickly that a product is free from certain ingredients, especially some of the “worst” ones. I’m glad to see things like phthalates and formaldehyde on Grove’s list. But then the question becomes: is there anything missing from that list?

For example, BPA and other bisphenols (which are endocrine disruptors and should not be found in things like food storage or dog toys) are not included in Grove’s Anti-Ingredient list.

Furthermore, there are actually some ingredients in the products that Grove carries that some people may choose to avoid when possible. This includes things like:

• Isothiazolinone preservatives (like methylisothiazolinone and benzisothiazolinone), which are skin irritants and can be problematic for people with eczema or sensitive skin)
• Ethoxylated ingredients, which can be contaminated with carcinogens 1,4 dioxane and ethylene oxide
• Dyes & colorants, some of which come with various problems (depending on the dye) such as carcinogenic contamination
• Undisclosed fragrance (more on this below)

How Are Grove Co. Products Vetted?

I chatted with the “Grove Guide” some more, asking for more details about the vetting process that brands and products go through in order to be allowed on Grove’s digital shelves. I asked for more details about what their four standards (“uncompromisingly healthy, beautifully effective, ethically produced, and cruelty-free”) actually mean.

Here was the Grove Guide’s response:

“I was able to find some more information on this for you, thank you for your patience! For every brand we partner with to carry on our site, they are required to meet the four standards you previously mentioned. We value safety, transparency, sustainability, and social welfare and expect that of our partners as well. One of the first aspects of this screening is their ingredients

We look for companies who are fully transparent with what is going into their products and who use plant-based ingredients. Along with this we conduct investigations about the manufacturing of products to ensure that they are safe, sustainable, and cruelty free. When deciding to partner with third-party brands on our site we also take into consideration their ethics: how they treat their employees, their community, and the planet

This is all part of our strict screening process to ensure products are safe, effective, and ethical for our customers. If you’d like more information on this screening as well, I can send in a request over to our team to provide you with more information on this process :).”

This is an equally vague reply and didn’t really answer my question. The Grove Guide I was chatting with said they would send me question to another team member who would be able to email me with more info. I did receive an email just an hour or so later, but unfortunately, there was no additional info in it.

Is Grove Collaborative All Natural?

No. Some of the products Grove Collaborative carries are made with 100% natural ingredients, while others are made from synthetic ingredients.

Grove Co. does state, however, that they choose products that “lead with organic and plant-based ingredients whenever they’re available.” In general, “plant-based” means that the ingredients were originally sourced from renewable resources rather than petroleum.

(Remember that just because something is “100% natural” does not automatically mean it’s “good” or “non-toxic,” and just because something is “synthetic” does not necessarily mean it’s “bad” or “toxic.” That being said, it does tend to be easier for consumers to determine what’s actually in a product and whether or not it’s safe when it is all natural.)

What About Ingredient Transparency?

Grove Collaborative lists the product ingredients on each of the products pages, which is great because it allows consumers to make their own decisions about which ingredients they’d like to avoid.

However…

Like so many other brands, this transparency mostly stops with the fragrance loophole. In short, the fragrance loophole allows companies to essentially hide a number of ingredients (about 4,000 of them!) under the one word “fragrance” or “parfum” without actually disclosing what’s in that fragrance. (You can read more about this issue right here.)

It seems that whether or not Grove actually lists the full fragrance ingredients depends on the brand. For the brands that actually publish their full ingredients on their own websites or products (such as Dr. Bronner’s, for example), Grove then publishes the full ingredients on their website, too.

However, for the brands that do not provide their full fragrance ingredients on their own products or website (like Mrs. Meyer’s and Method), Grove does not include the full ingredients either.

You can see this with other types of products, too. For example, if you look at the ingredients for Arber’s Insecticide, the ingredients are: Heat-killed Burkholderia spp (94.46%) and Other Ingredients (5.54%). But it doesn’t actually say what those “Other Ingredients” are.

When it comes to Grove Collaborative’s own brands, they also do not always disclose the full fragrance ingredients.

Is Grove Really Eco-Friendly? Or Is It Greenwashing?

To a certain extent, greenwashing happens on a spectrum. Grove Collaborative is definitely taking some good steps towards sustainability, but there is room for improvement, too. Here are some of the sustainability initiatives they currently have in place so you can decide if you think it’s greenwashing or not:

Plastic Reduction

As of right now, Grove Co. is “plastic neutral,” which means that for every ounce of plastic purchased by customers, an equal amount of plastic is collected in partnership with RePurpose to keep it from ending up in our waterways and other areas in nature.

Being “plastic neutral” isn’t really a longterm solution though, which is why it’s great that Grove has a goal of being completely plastic-free by 2025.

Cruelty-Free (Mostly?)

Grove Co. says that all of its products are 100% cruelty-free. However, it’s worth noting that this doesn’t mean that all of the products they carry are certified vegan or cruelty-free. (Some of the products are Leaping Bunny certified, but not all of them are.)

Additionally, it’s only the final products that are cruelty-free and doesn’t necessarily include the raw ingredients as well. For example, Grove Co. carries a variety of Seventh Generation products, a company that has stated that some enzymes in their products “may use animal derived feedstocks in early stages of their manufacturing process.”

What About Third-Party Certifications?

Grove Collaborative is a certified B Corp brand, which means they meet a certain set of social, environmental, and ethical standards as a whole company.

Many of the products they carry also come with other third-party certifications—including things like EWG Verified and USDA Organic—but you’ll have to check the specific product pages for those.

RELATED: The Best Brands for Non-Toxic Cleaning Products

Where Can You Buy Grove Collaborative Products?

For the most part, Grove Co. is an online marketplace (they also have a convenient mobile app where you can shop and manage your orders). However, they have recently partnered with Target so that you can now find Grove Co. branded product in stores as well.

So, Is Grove Collaborative Worth It?

Whether or not Grove Collaborative is worth it is going to be up to you and your needs, priorities, and capacities. To help you decide, here’s a summary of the potential pros and cons of Grove Collaborative:

More FAQs About Grove Collaborative

What companies are similar to Grove Co?

Grove Collaborative’s competitors include shops like Public Goods, Thrive Market, EarthHero, and Blueland, as well as other general retailers like Target and Amazon. Here are some of the main differences:

• Public Goods: Both companies are focused on natural and sustainable products, but Public Goods only carries their own products, while Grove Co. also carries other brands. Both companies carry a wide selection of products, but Public Goods carries more food. Public Goods is also slightly more affordable.
• Thrive Market: Both Thrive Market and Grove Co. carry a wide range of product categories, including goods from other companies as well as their own branded products. Thrive Market is more focused on food (although they also carry cleaning and personal care products, too). To shop from Thrive Market, you have to be a member, whereas anyone can shop from Grove.
• EarthHero: EarthHero is another sustainability-focused marketplace, but it carries an even wider variety of products compared to Grove Co. (like clothing, toys, etc.)
• Blueland: This is another eco-focused cleaning company, but it’s not a marketplace. They only carry their own products, which include things like all-purpose cleaning spray, laundry detergent, dish soap, etc. Both Blueland and Grove Co. are focused on plastics elimination, but Blueland seems to be a bit further along (as of right now), as their refillable products use even less plastic than Grove’s. Here’s my full review on Blueland.
• Honest: Honest and Grove both carry a wide variety of personal care, cleaning, and baby products. Both have products available online and in stores like Target. Honest only sells its own products, whereas Grove carries other brands’ products as well. You can see our deep dive into Honest here.

Is Grove chemical free?

“Chemical free” is a bit of a misnomer because technically everything is made from chemicals. Usually when people say “chemical free,” they mean “synthetic chemical free” or just generally “non-toxic.” In that case: the products Grove Co. carries are free from many of the “worst” offenders, such as phthalates and formaldehyde. However, many of the products still contain other ingredients that conscious consumers and those with chronic conditions may choose to avoid, such as isothiazolinone preservatives, undisclosed fragrances, and artificial dyes.

Does Grove Collaborative save you money?

That depends! If you already buy the types of products that Grove carries, then it could save you money in terms of time spent shopping and possibly shipping fees (plus free product).

Grove does have a price matching policy, which means you’re probably not going to pay any more on products by buying them from Grove versus if you were to buy the same products from another retailer or directly from the brand.

It’s worth being mindful of the fact that when you sign up for your first order, you’re agreeing to auto-enroll in the VIP membership as well as Flexibly Monthly Shipments (a.k.a. subscriptions) and curated boxes. You can cancel any and all of this at any time if you don’t want it – you just have to remember to do so!

Are Grove products made in the USA?

Some of the products Grove carries are made in the USA and others aren’t – it just depends on the specific product. (This includes both Grove’s own branded products as well as other brands they carry.) You can check out the individual product pages to see if the specific product was made in the USA or not.

Here’s part of the reply I received when I reached out to Grove to ask about whether or not their products are made in the USA:

Do any stores sell Grove products?

Yes, Target now sells Grove Co. products.

Is Grove and Mrs Meyers the same company?

No. Grove and Mrs. Meyer’s are two separate companies, but the Grove Marketplace does carry Mrs. Meyer’s products. Grove also offers a free Mrs. Meyer’s gift set to new customers (if you choose it), which is probably why some people may be confused about whether they’re the same company.

How much does Grove Co. cost?

Shopping on Grove Co. is free. However, if you choose to join their VIP membership, it costs $19.99/year after a free 60-day trial. The VIP membership comes with perks like unlimited free shipping, full-size gifts, and early access to new products.

Is it hard to cancel Grove Collaborative?

No. To either cancel your Grove Collaborative VIP membership or just edit/cancel certain subscriptions, just click on the Membership section of your settings and click “Turn Off Monthly Shipments” or “Edit VIP Membership.”

If you are auto-charged for the $19.99 annual fee for the VIP membership and then cancel it within 30 days of the charge, you will automatically be refunded.

Who owns Grove Collaborative?

Grove Collaborative went public in June 2022. As of February 2023, it is not owned by a larger corporation and is still run by the Founder & CEO, Stuart Landesberg.

Where is Grove products located?

Grove Collaborative is based in San Francisco, California.

Does Drew Barrymore own Grove?

No, Drew Barrymore does not own Grove but she did become an investor in the company in 2022, when she was named as the brand’s first Global Brand & Sustainability Advocate.

(It’s a great question since other celebrities have founded similar brands, like Jessica Alba’s Honest and Kristen Bell & Dax Shepard’s Hello Bello.)

Does Grove actually disinfect? Is it anti-bacterial?

Some of Grove’s products disinfect while others do not. If you’re looking for products that disinfect, just look for labels like “disinfectant” or “antibacterial” on the product labels (or type either of those words into the search bar). You can learn more about the difference between cleaning and disinfecting here.

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