As part of my personal challenge to live a more ethical life, I have found that one area where I can really have a big impact is the way I wash my clothes, the choice of detergent, fabric softener, temperature of the wash, etc.
Biological Detergents
Fifty years ago, the laundry detergents we used, caused rivers to froth up with soapsuds and the massive amounts of potassium caused huge algal blooms, which used up all the oxygen in the rivers killing the fish and plants that would normally have lived there. But the industry got wise and these days its no longer a problem, there is a lot of emphasis placed on biodegradability, so any off the shelf products is pretty eco-friendly.
One of the major controversy’s with laundry detergents is the use of enzymes in biological laundry detergents, enzymes are catalysts which are often called natures miracle workers, because they help to break stuff down. Think back to the basic biology experiment that all British children taking their GCSEs do with salivary amylase, where they study the factors influencing the rate by which salivary amylase hydrolyses starch into disaccharide maltose.
Anyway enzymes are great in laundry detergents as they allow the breakdown of dirt and stains at lower temperatures than would otherwise be possible, in fact using them in temperatures above 40°C, will cause the enzymes to become denatured and the detergents become ineffective. Brilliant, well you would think anyway, but unfortunately there are a lot of people, particularly here in the UK, who are foolish enough to think that enzymes are unnatural and blame them for various aliments from respiratory problems to eczema! Now science says otherwise, in fact in May 2008, there was a brilliant article published in the British Journal of Dermatology that said:-
“ultimately, the balance of all the enzymes in laundry detergents are not a cause of either skin irritation or skin allergy … the supposed adverse effects of enzymes on the skin seem to be a consequence of mythology”
Now you would think that would put the matter to bed, but unfortunately it does not, there are still a mass of silly people who constantly blame biological detergents for any and all skin problems under the sun, and consequently purchase non-bio detergents which need to be washed at a higher temperature, using more energy! The most ironic thing of all is that the enzymes are harvested from micro-organisms such as bacteria, they are perfectly natural!
Concentration
The next biggest factor in my choice of detergent is the concentration of the product, the more concentrated the product is, the less you need to use for a single wash, and therefore there is less waste, less packaging and less CO2 emissions from transport.
Up until recently the most concentrated products were liquid tablets, which came in dissolvable packets, and powder tablets, but in the past couple of years, there have been “small & mighty” super concentrated liquids and gels, both of which are extremely concentrated.
Surfactant
Surfactants are an essential ingredient in laundry detergent, and they work by lifting the dirt off the clothes and stop it settling back down again. When I was at school we were taught about how surfactants, were badly affecting frogs and causing them to die.
Once again the detergent industry has changed, and now uses a more biodegradable surfactant, but that’s also a big problem, generally that surfactant is palm oil. The bulk of the palm oil we use comes from vast plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia, an awful lot of it is provided by a company called Sinar Mas, which is responsible for destroying lush rainforest that was once home to tigers, elephants, butterflies and most significantly the Sumatran orangutan, which is now on the verge of extinction thanks to our massive use of palm oil in products such as chips, lipstick, shampoo, chocolate, soap, ice cream and laundry detergents to name just a few.
The palm oil industry is trying to develop ways to farm it in a sustainable matter, thanks to pressure from groups like Greenpeace, but progress is slow, but large companies like Unilever and Kraft do seem to be keen to address the problem. But they could do with a kick up the bum to get them to do it quicker!
Some Like It Hot
80% of the CO2 emissions of doing our laundry is the result of the actual use of the washing machine, and much of this is the sheer amount of energy it takes to heat the water. During my lifetime, the recommended temperature for washing clothes has fallen from 90°C, to 60°C, then to 40°C, and these days 30°C is considered best. Much of this is due to improvements in laundry detergents as well as mass adoption of biological detergents, and today some of the super concentrated liquids and gels will work at 15°C cold washes, which means that there would be no need to heat the water at all.
My Choice
So what do I use, well, I have a criteria when buying my laundry detergent, and it goes like this:-
- biological
- highest concentration
- packaging containing a high proportion of recycled materials and that can be recycled itself
- sustainable surfactant
- ability to wash at a low temperature
- cost
My personal choice would be the biological detergent made by Ecover, given the companies dedication to the environment, even going so far as to build a fantastic eco-friendly factory in Belgium. But its only available from Waitrose and their online delivery service Ocado, which means I have to go very much out of my way to get it. And the cost is well, high, its £5.69 for a bottle which will do 21 washes, and this is where my budget dictates my choice. Simply put, its a price I cannot afford to pay, so unfortunately I am unable to buy Ecover,
Many people recommend Bio-D and Faith in Nature, however, these detergents are not biological, and so need a higher temperature to work, they are as expensive as Ecover, and in my experience far less effective, due to the lack of enzymes.
So I make a compromise choice, I buy Surf Small & Mighty, I know its made by Unilever who are a big evil company, and it has palm oil from what is currently an unsustainable source. However its highly concentrated, which means you need less, there is less packaging and it needs fewer lorries to transport it to the stores, it packaging is also recyclable, and it is very good at a 15°C cold wash. It costs about £5.51 for a 1.47l bottle which will do 42 washes, so its friendly on the wallet as well.
Its defiantly a compromise choice, if my bosses ever decided to give me a nice payrise
(highly unlikely), I would be buying Ecovers detergent.
Other Stuff
When it comes to fabric conditioner its another story altogether, Ecovers conditioner is quite affordable at £3.00 for a 1l bottle, and that goes quite a good way, plus our lovely Riverford delivery folks, Ian & Gwen refill a 1l bottle for £2.50, saving me a little money and also reusing the bottle. We used to use Tesco Naturally Fabric Conditioner, which was Tescos own brand Ecover knock-off, it had a nice smell, and was equally as recyclable, and at £1.00 for a 750ml bottle, it was very good value. But my issue with it was that it was a cop-out by Tesco, it was one line out of many that was eco-friendly, so why couldn’t they all be?
Now when it comes to the really tough stains, my mother would have reached for bleach and all sorts of other harsh and nasty chemicals, but not me, no I reach for my trusty Ecover Stain Remover stick! To be honest I rarely use it, only when I get some serious dinner medals is it called upon, it was an impulse buy, when I was buying some of Traidcrafts Fairtrade rice from the One World Shop at the Church of St Thomas the Martyr.
As well as using products that are as eco-friendly as possible, we also try to make sure we only wash a full load for energy efficiency, wash on a 15°C cold wash, and when the weather is nice, we use solar energy to dry our clothes! Or in plain English, we put the laundry on the line rather than use the tumble dryer, and even in the nasty winter weather, we have a clothes horse!
And as for ironing, well ironing sucks, I mean it sucks on an epic level and wastes a lot of energy! So I don’t iron, I try to fold my clothes when I put them in the wardrobe, or hang them up, I fail miserably at it and my clothes are generally speaking pretty badly creased, but hey, at least its low energy!
So that is that, what a boring blog post eh!
God Bless
Michael
