Switch to Ecover

Around the late 80's and early 90's there seemed to be a bit of a green revolution occuring. CFCs were being banned and detergents were being made more environmentally friendly. These seemed to be the main environmental issues of the time. I believed that since then all detergents produced, in developed countries at least, broke down completely into harmless substances. I thought they were completely biodegradable.

How wrong I was.

It seems that most detergents available in Europe conform to the minimum requirements set by the EU. But these minimum requirements are not good enough. For example, the active ingredients in washing powders become inactive after use. However, it takes a long time for these chemicals to break down completely. See the Greenpeace site, The Chemical Home for more information.

Those sensible people at Defra have set out legislation for the labelling of so-called environmentally friendly products. You can have a read of their pdf by clicking here.

Instead of polluting the water in our rivers and seas I've decided to switch to Ecover products, which are available in most supermarkets. By a lucky coincidence, I ran out of Ariel Liquitabs* and Comfort* fabric conditioner at the same time so last night I tried my first wash using Ecover non-bio laundry liquid and Ecover fabric softener. This was a dark wash (trousers and boxer shorts if you must know!) and I was impressed with the results. I couldn't see any difference in the quality of the wash when compared to my normal products (mind you, I haven't exactly been rolling around in the mud). The main difference I noticed was the lack of a strong chemical smell in the kitchen while the clothes were drying. Instead, my clothes now have a light fragrance of what I think is lavender, although I can't be sure - I'm a bloke!

The great thing about these products is that I can get the bottle refilled. However, I don't know where from yet, so I'll update you when I find out.

Have a good read of the Ecover website as it's very interesting, particularly the section about its environmentally friendly factory.

If you're a regular Ecover user, let us know how you find their products.

caldini

* I'm not saying that these products are of particular harm to the environment, it's just so you know which products I'm comparing Ecover to. I've provided links to their product sites so you can make your own mind up!