Plastic laundry detergent bottles be gone! I know, we all want clean clothes, and using concentrated laundry detergent seems so routine to all of us. But there is a much better OPTION. A simple solution to such a big problem. Every year in North America over 30 billion loads of laundry are done. This adds up to over 900 million plastic laundry detergent jugs. They come in many sizes and colors. Only 30% of all of these plastic jugs are recycled. The rest end up in landfills and some in our waterways and oceans. That is 630,000,000 plastic laundry jugs polluting our Mother Earth every year. There are many reasons to make plastic laundry bottles vanish! First is the water. The content of laundry detergent in bottles is between 60-90% water. Water is not needed, as it only adds weight and volume to the product that is transported across the country. Think of the amount of carbon emissions all of these trucks are adding into our atmosphere, simply getting the plastic bottles with mostly water to our stores. Using a colored, shiny plastic bottle with mostly water is a marketing ploy. You can see them so well in the grocery aisle as they line up all of the bottles. Our own Meijer store has a whole row of these colorful bottles. |
Add to that the chemicals that are in many laundry detergents. Some common ones include phosphates, dyes, and formaldehyde. But the three most dangerous are:
Add to that the petroleum and natural gas that are used to make the plastic bottles. Most of the plastic is called HDP (high-density polyethylene) made from by-products at the petroleum and natural gas refineries. I never knew what feedstocks meant, but it is part of the process of using fossil fuel by-products to make plastics (HDP, PP and PET) which are also called polymers. If you are inclined toward science, this case study tells you more than you might ever want to know about the process of making these plastics. The Solution: Abandon the plastic bottle laundry detergent and turn toward a 3-5 gram piece of paper that dissolves into laundry detergent in your washing machine. They will work in cold to hot water. They will work with whites and colors. They get stains off of your clothes and so far, I have been very happy with the results. And no more plastic jugs! We have found 4 companies that produce this product that you can order online, and there are more: Earth Breeze - this company donates 10 loads of laundry detergent to non-profits on behalf of your order. True Earth - made in Canada and very hypoallergenic. Net Zero - they also make other sustainable products which can be found on their website. Dropps - first company to make little pods for laundry detergent and dishwasher liquid. Each of these companies has wonderful stories about how they started and why they are “saving the earth”’ in their own way. Each company produces a wonderful and sustainable product that gets rid of plastic bottles and has been rated highly. One company website said, “If everyone switched to Eco-Strips we could eliminate 1 billion plastic jugs, and save truck fuel and CO2 equivalent to taking 27 million cars off the road a day... or planting 9 million new trees.” Another company said, “Taking care of the environment by making small decisions that work just as well as or better than what you did before, that is how we get there. You don’t have to sacrifice for that. You’re actually going to find that you like this stuff.” |
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She has been using this product for quite a while. Let’s join her!