Instead of the Dishes » Around the House, Go Green, Homemaking » Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent
Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent
The One Small Change initiative is starting back up again. I’m very excited about this, as I’ve fallen off the horse a bit, and this will motivate me to get back to doing something “green” each month. I’m hoping to do a post to recap the “One Small Changes” we made in 2010, but in case I don’t get it done, here’s a link to all of the One Small Change Posts.
I’d like to formally invite you to join the One Small Change initiative. You don’t have to blog to participate this year – just leave a comment on the website each month with your change. In addition to decreasing our impact on the earth, we’ll also be eligible to win cool prizes for participating! Be sure and tell them I sent you.
And now for our January Change! Thanks to Kroger having a sale on Seventh Generation products and me having a stockpile of Seventh Generation coupons, we have officially made the switch to eco-friendly laundry detergent. I spent about $30 total on two huge bottles of detergent, which, along with the smaller bottle I already have, should last us through 2011.
We average about 3 loads of laundry per week, putting us at 156 loads per year. Utilizing an earth-friendly detergent affects our water supply as well as our clothing, as there are fewer chemicals left hanging around on them after the wash.
Seventh Generation’s detergent is plant based, whereas most detergents are petroleum based. According to the label on the bottle, if everyone in the U.S. replaced one 100 oz bottle of petroleum-based detergent with 100 oz of plant-based detergent, we would save 370,000 gallons of oil, which is enough to heat and cool 21,200 U.S. homes for a year. I’ve used Seventh Generation detergent in the past, and I feel that it works just as well as other non-eco-friendly detergents I’ve used.
I know, I know – I could make my own laundry detergent. Remember though, I’m not very domestically inclined. But, for those of who are, here’s a post over at Big Dreams for a Green Life with step by step instructions for making detergent. It doesn’t seem too hard. Maybe next year…
Filed under: Around the House, Go Green, Homemaking · Tags: green laundry detergent, home made detergent, One Small Change, Seventh Generation
4 Responses to "Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent"
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Grab My Button!
Thanks for posting a link to my detergent post. It really isn’t that complicated to make. I’ve never tried Seventh Generation yet, but I’ve heard so many good things about it.
So how much did you end up paying per bottle? I have looked at 7th Generation Detergent before but have always been turned away by the high price.
Also doesn’t sound like you do enough laundry for a family of 4. Maybe I do too much for my family of 3. Then again I generally only do laundry every other week so I guess doing about 6 loads every two weeks isn’t really any different than you.
Friend. How on earth do you manage to only have to do 3 loads of laundry a week?? You are officially my laundry hero. (and an eco-friendly inspiration.)
Jenny
Ha. We have a large capacity front loader, and are careful about re-wearing clothes if their not visibly dirty or stinky. Much harder to do with TWO boys, I’m sure!