Save Some Money and the Environment, too!
If the idea of the title appeals to your conscience and your pocketbook, read on.
The January 2007 issue of "Wired" magazine has quite an interesting section dealing with how to 'live green'. A one-column part of it is an article titled, "Turn Your Gray Water Green". It caught my eye because it suggests a way for the ordinary Joe to contribute to saving the environment at the same time as saving on the water bill. If you live in a house, you probably spend money every spring to fall watering your garden. There's no doubt you spend money for the water to wash your laundry, but what you do with that water after the final rinse is the crux of this pithy little piece.
The author of these words of wisdom, Bob Parks, cites gray-water-recycling pioneer Art Ludwig as the guru who has determined that "most plants love the extra nutrients from the rinse cycle". He goes on to detail the simple steps you'll need to follow in order to water your trees, shrubs, and flowers without paying for more water. He adds one caveat, however, for those who might get a little too enthusiastic, saying that, "using wash water directly on veggies is dicey".
The only problem I have with this article is that Parks finishes his money-saving advice with a sentence I think should be at the very beginning, instead of stuck on like an afterthought at the end. He suggests the reader switch to a liquid detergent like Alfakleen or Ecover. Both are manufacturers of bio-degradable cleaning products, but whereas Alfakleen's site lists "7 locations within the United States and Canada", Ecover's site boasts an "Ecover Worldwide" link. Follow it and you'll find yourself looking at a list that names 20 countries and then ends with the words "other countries". Follow this link and you'll find an interesting proposition, if you're of an entrepreneurial mind. The good folks at Ecover first apologize for not having distributors in countries other than the 20 listed, and then invite the reader to send an e-mail if they're interested in becoming a distributor.
A little time spent browsing the site offers more than one golden nugget. Their dishwashing detergent, for instance, now comes with highest accolades from "Consumer Reports" an independent, non-profit magazine that has twice scored Ecover's product in the top three ranking. The September 2006 issue ranked Ecover Dishwasher Powder above the chemical giant Palmolive, effectively putting to rest all claims that "cleaning with a conscience means giving up effectiveness". I especially love that sentence since it is one I have so often had to listen to when I talk to people about switching to environmentally-friendly products.
Explore the site a little further and you'll find a full listing of the ingredients used in their products. Try finding the same for the Palmolive dishwashing products. You'll see the actress who played Marie on the sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond". You'll see their claims that using their product will give you "deep cleaning action for a sparkling shine", but you won't see any open honesty about what you're feeding your family when you load Palmolive into your dishwasher. Face it, what goes on those dishes stays on those dishes. Even if each washing leaves only a miniscule amount, adding up all those "miniscules" will end up with a small avalanche of yet more chemicals coursing through your kids' growing bodies. Palmolive is unable to say anything about bio-degradability because they'd contravene the prohibition against false advertising. Ecover, on the other hand, is able to state their powder boasts "quick and complete biodegradability". They even tell you about the testing that has been conducted on their product. To make their halo shine just that little bit more, they make their wrapper of 100% recyclable polypropylene and their carton of 9% recycled cardboard. It doesn't get much better than that.
I've gone on long enough about Ecover products, I'm sure, but I can't resist one last, little suggestion. Since this is the time of year for making resolutions, how about adding this one to your list? Resolve to take better care of your kids and yourself today by switching to environmentally-friendly products, and thereby take better care of the future, too - yours, your kids', and the whole planet's.
The January 2007 issue of "Wired" magazine has quite an interesting section dealing with how to 'live green'. A one-column part of it is an article titled, "Turn Your Gray Water Green". It caught my eye because it suggests a way for the ordinary Joe to contribute to saving the environment at the same time as saving on the water bill. If you live in a house, you probably spend money every spring to fall watering your garden. There's no doubt you spend money for the water to wash your laundry, but what you do with that water after the final rinse is the crux of this pithy little piece.
The author of these words of wisdom, Bob Parks, cites gray-water-recycling pioneer Art Ludwig as the guru who has determined that "most plants love the extra nutrients from the rinse cycle". He goes on to detail the simple steps you'll need to follow in order to water your trees, shrubs, and flowers without paying for more water. He adds one caveat, however, for those who might get a little too enthusiastic, saying that, "using wash water directly on veggies is dicey".
The only problem I have with this article is that Parks finishes his money-saving advice with a sentence I think should be at the very beginning, instead of stuck on like an afterthought at the end. He suggests the reader switch to a liquid detergent like Alfakleen or Ecover. Both are manufacturers of bio-degradable cleaning products, but whereas Alfakleen's site lists "7 locations within the United States and Canada", Ecover's site boasts an "Ecover Worldwide" link. Follow it and you'll find yourself looking at a list that names 20 countries and then ends with the words "other countries". Follow this link and you'll find an interesting proposition, if you're of an entrepreneurial mind. The good folks at Ecover first apologize for not having distributors in countries other than the 20 listed, and then invite the reader to send an e-mail if they're interested in becoming a distributor.
A little time spent browsing the site offers more than one golden nugget. Their dishwashing detergent, for instance, now comes with highest accolades from "Consumer Reports" an independent, non-profit magazine that has twice scored Ecover's product in the top three ranking. The September 2006 issue ranked Ecover Dishwasher Powder above the chemical giant Palmolive, effectively putting to rest all claims that "cleaning with a conscience means giving up effectiveness". I especially love that sentence since it is one I have so often had to listen to when I talk to people about switching to environmentally-friendly products.
Explore the site a little further and you'll find a full listing of the ingredients used in their products. Try finding the same for the Palmolive dishwashing products. You'll see the actress who played Marie on the sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond". You'll see their claims that using their product will give you "deep cleaning action for a sparkling shine", but you won't see any open honesty about what you're feeding your family when you load Palmolive into your dishwasher. Face it, what goes on those dishes stays on those dishes. Even if each washing leaves only a miniscule amount, adding up all those "miniscules" will end up with a small avalanche of yet more chemicals coursing through your kids' growing bodies. Palmolive is unable to say anything about bio-degradability because they'd contravene the prohibition against false advertising. Ecover, on the other hand, is able to state their powder boasts "quick and complete biodegradability". They even tell you about the testing that has been conducted on their product. To make their halo shine just that little bit more, they make their wrapper of 100% recyclable polypropylene and their carton of 9% recycled cardboard. It doesn't get much better than that.
I've gone on long enough about Ecover products, I'm sure, but I can't resist one last, little suggestion. Since this is the time of year for making resolutions, how about adding this one to your list? Resolve to take better care of your kids and yourself today by switching to environmentally-friendly products, and thereby take better care of the future, too - yours, your kids', and the whole planet's.
1 Comments:
You keep up the enthusiasm for the Ecover products and I'm liable to start drinking the stuff! If only more people would start using it, the price would also start to plummet ... and one would think, with such success, why hasn't the big chemical manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon?
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