HeySunday’s Plastic-Free, Biodegradable Claims

A marketer of dissolvable laundry detergent sheets has dialed back some of its plastic-free claims following an inquiry by TINA.org that was prompted by a consumer tip.

Earlier this week, HeySunday had prominently claimed on its website that its laundry detergent sheets are “100% Plastic Free.”

Now, the HeySunday website states that the sheets are “Plastic Jug Free.”

Similarly, a statement on the sheets’ product page about consumers’ “impact with HeySunday” has been changed from “Eliminate plastic waste” to “Reduce plastic waste.”

As it turns out, HeySunday laundry detergent sheets contain “PVA – OECD 301D Biodegradable,” as disclosed on, among other places, the sheets’ product page, but only after clicking on “Our Ingredients” to reveal the ingredient list. And as the company’s founder and CEO Isabella Gallart admitted in an email to the consumer who alerted TINA.org to this issue, PVA, or polyvinyl alcohol, is a type of plastic.

Go deeper

As for whether PVA is biodegradable as HeySunday claims, a 2021 article published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health notes, among other things, that “[v]ery little research exists that aims to monitor the biodegradability of PVA in the natural environment. This presents a challenge in determining its role or impact as a pollutant.” (The article was funded in part by Blueland, a competitor that markets PVA-free laundry detergent tablets.)

While HeySunday has implemented marketing changes following TINA.org’s inquiry, the company has not responded to our request for comment. Check back for updates.

Find more of our coverage on greenwashing here.