It's Like Boxed Wine, But For Laundry Detergent

Spotted the new Seventh Generation EcoLogic laundry detergent bottles at Harris Teeter the other day:

Seventh Generation, the nation's leading brand of non-toxic household and personal care products, introduces a cutting-edge advancement in the art of sustainable product packaging -- a new liquid laundry detergent bottle made from 100 percent recycled cardboard and newspaper.

Seventh Generation's Natural 4X Laundry Detergent bottle, designed with its partners at Ecologic Brands, is unlike any other packaging currently found in the laundry aisle -- or any other aisle, for that matter. It features a rugged, fully-recyclable and even compostable outer shell made from 70 percent recycled cardboard fibers and 30 percent old newspaper fibers that supports a recyclable lightweight plastic pouch inside. By using 66 percent less plastic than typical 100 ounce 2X detergent bottles, the new container allows consumers to conserve effortlessly.

When it's empty, the outer cardboard & paper shell, #4 plastic pouch and the #5 cap can all be recycled. Makes you wonder why the pouches in boxed wine aren't recyclable like the boxes themselves.

It's a good reminder that recycling in your home is just one half of the equation. It's just as important to buy products made from recycled material to demonstrate there's a market for recycled material. And at the same time, products made from recycled material keep waste out of landfills, save energy, and reduce pollution.

Something To Be Thankful For: No Need To Pre-Wash Dishes

If you're hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, here's a little tip to save you some time & effort. While you need to scrub caked-on chunks from pots & pans, the New York Times reports modern dishwashers don't require you to pre-wash or pre-rinse:

[R]emove baked on food and large chunks, but for the most part, everyone I spoke to said prerinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher was not only unnecessary, it wasted thousands of gallons of water and could actually result in dirtier dishes.

“The soap needs something to work against to get the dishes clean,” said Lou Manganiello, who owns Household Appliance Service in Hawthorne, N.Y., and has been doing repairs for 23 years.

And you can save some money on both dishwashing & laundry detergent by using only the small amount modern machines require:

Washing machines and dishwashers are made to use far less water now than older models and, therefore, need less soap. And detergents have also become increasingly concentrated. So a little goes a long way.

“Most people use 10 to 15 times the amount of soap they need, and they’re pouring money down the drain,” Mr. Schmidt said.

This Thanksgiving, be thankful that the greener cleanup options are ones that are faster, easier & save you money.

Method Man

The Green Miles doesn't have a washer-dryer in his apartment. Especially in the winter, I dread the one-block trek to my complex's laundromat. Not only do I have to schlep my clothes, I have to bring detergent, giving me a choice of bringing the whole big box/jug or trying to pour some into a smaller container, always a messy proposition.

But I've been able to solve at least part of the problem by switching to Method's concentrated detergent. The container is small enough to carry. Plus, I get the benefits of Method's natural cleaners:

Coconut oil soap, a concentrated blend of naturally derived and biodegradable surfactants, and active cleaning enzymes provide the non-toxic cleaning power. the triple concentrate provides a nice eco-innovation: by taking out most of the water, this product saves packaging plastic and shipping energy, not to mention all that water. (oops, we mentioned it.)

More details on laundry detergent from Grist's Ask Umbra:

The No. 1 ingredient to avoid is the surfactant nonylphenol ethoxylate. NPE breaks down into NP (nonylphenol, please don't make me spell it any more), an endocrine disruptor (and estrogen mimic) that has been seen to affect male fishes. Since detergent goes out in household wastewater, and NPEs are quite difficult to remove during sewage treatment, we should avoid putting NPE into the water in the first place.

And as Treehugger recommends, wash your laundry in cold water whenever you can.