Mom Goes Green

One of my latest “green searches” has been to find a replacement for all of my current detergents – laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid and dishwasher detergent. A friend told me about all of the super harsh (and harmful) ingredients in Cascade and it really got me thinking.

The problem is this: many of these detergents contain phosphates – it’s a naturally occurring substance, but if too much of it gets into waterways, algae and phytoplankton feed on it and reproduce in

massive numbers, causing an algae bloom. I don’t want to get too technical, but what it boils down to is that the algae produce neurotoxins and these toxins may have severe biological impact on wildlife and they pollute the water supply.

As if that isn’t foul enough to convince me, I took into consideration that additives, like perfumes, color and brightening agents, increases the toxicity of detergents. And this is the stuff I’m using to wash my dishes, glasses, silverware…my clothes, my CHILDREN’S clothes. I think about the residue and consuming those toxins or having those things linger in our clothes.

So, I’ve switched to a line of products called Seventh Generation. My husband is annoyed by them (back to that “no aroma so they don’t smell clean” issue…but he tolerates them…followed by a head shake and an eye roll!) They’re readily available in my local, chain grocery store and, since I’m signed up for the grocery store discount card, the register often kicks out coupons for the products to the tune of $1 to $4! Niiiiiice!

These products are made of naturally derived cleaning agents. They are non-toxic, biodegradable and hypo-allergenic – no perfumes or dyes. And they work(!), as well as the other brands I just left behind.

On the back of every bottle they even give you some food for thought in this example: If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 50 oz. 2x ultra petroleum based liquid laundry detergent with our 50 oz. 2x plant based product, we could save 233,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 13,400 U.S. homes for a year!

They’re safe for the environment and they’re safe for my family. That’s all it takes to convince me.