With school starting and back-to-school shopping in full swing, it’s no surprise that parents and students are trying to find ways to save money on supplies at dollar stores.

Many common school items – such as glass cleaner, hair spray, disinfectants, and air fresheners – available in aerosol form have started to fill the shelves of dollar stores, and price-cautious shoppers reap the benefits of these money-saving deals.

Dollar Store Aerosols

Over the past fifteen years, aerosol sales have sky-rocketed as consumers search for convenient products to use at affordable prices. Not only do aerosols provide easy-to-store and easy-to-use alternatives to many daily convenience products, they also offer multi-functional capabilities that competing products don’t have.

Environmental Effects

Unfortunately, the exploding interest in the aerosol market at dollar store and convenience store prices has increased the pressure on suppliers to lower production costs per item. This pressure makes it more difficult for aerosol companies to focus on being environmentally friendly and reducing their pollution levels.

Consumers and the Environment

In our last post, you read about how consumers have asked aerosol companies – and other companies that use harmful chemicals in products – to become more mindful of the environment. Many companies have responded to the “environmentally friendly” call by creating their own sustainability programs.

These programs focus on providing consumers with affordable products that have fewer chemicals and use less of the harmful chemicals in old products. In addition, aerosol containers and their contents are now becoming recyclable, refillable, and significantly less toxic.

The Cautious Spender

When going back-to-school shopping or replacing your used aerosol products, make sure that you pay attention to the product labels. Although most products offered at dollar store or convenience store locations are subjected to the same health regulations as other shopping center stores, the products may not be as safe to use as name brand products.

Aerosol products become more environmentally-friendly every year, and companies strive to continue this progress. By recycling used products and developing bag-on-valve technologies, aerosol companies can become more sustainable and reduce their environmental impact.