Kickstart: Damn the influencers, use child-resistant containers

Instagram pictures of tidy laundry rooms and kitchen pantries may get lots of love online, but they aren't safe to emulate.

The problem is home decor influencers are taking laundry pods and cleaning products out of their child-resistant containers and putting them in decorative clear jars and containers. For obvious reasons — at least I hope they're obvious — that's not safe.

The Washington-based American Cleaning Institute released a study last week showing that unsafe storage of liquid laundry packets was portrayed nearly 800,000 times over a four-year period on social media platforms — mostly on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.

In nearly all those posts, there's no mention of the child safety danger.

"What parents and caretakers may not realize is that while the trend of decanting cleaning products may be aesthetically pleasing, it increases the risk of an accident in the home," ACI spokesman Brian Sansoni said.

ACI says the trend is getting worse. According to its most recent survey, 41 percent of Americans have seen a social post showing cleaning products or laundry packets in clear jars or glass containers. That's up more than 10 percentage points from a 2022 survey.

Child-resistant packaging — almost always made of plastic — was created for a reason.

Oh, and there's one more plastics angle here: Some readers may remember that Melissa Hockstad, the current president and CEO at ACI, was once a vice president at the Plastics Industry Association.

I was surprised to see Hillenbrand Inc. announce the winners of a new award aimed at highlighting innovative plastics solutions that encourage sustainability.

Batesville, Ind.-based Hillenbrand used to be known as a casket company. But in recent years, it sold off the legacy business and went all-in on plastics machinery. Its brands include Milacron, Coperion, Mold-Masters, DME and Herbold.

Last week, Hillenbrand, along with Coca-Cola Co. and several nonprofit partners, announced the winners of the first Circular Plastics Case Competition.

The blue ribbon and a $10,000 cash prize went to Ashaya Recyclers Pvt. Ltd., an India-based startup that uses post-consumer multilayer packaging to make new products, starting with sunglasses.

Hillenbrand President and CEO Kim Ryan said because the company's equipment is used in plastics processing and recycling, it should play an active role in advancing sustainability.

Monday was "fashion's biggest night," the Met Gala, as stars climbed the plastic bottle-lined steps up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

We'll get the "who cares" comment out of the way here, though there were some climate protesters that slowed down the procession.

This year, Met Gala event planners used about 100,000 recycled water bottles that were headed back to a recycling plant. Chandeliers of the bottles hung above the white, red and light blue carpet.

The bottles "highlight the importance of giving our everyday items more than one life cycle," one Met official said. A few stars, like Nicole Kidman, had recycled their ensembles for the night, but most outfits were one-time use.

It was hard to find anything more about the water bottles other than the bottles will be recycled again. Some of the PN staff was skeptical they were recycling plant-bound in the first place because of how clean they appear.

No word yet on who (or what) was carried to the Met wrapped in a plastic bag.

This portion of Kickstart was brought to you by Audience Editor Erin Sloan.