Guest post from Allayne Roper on her quest for a greener washing up liquid.
Given where we live (on a boat), my husband and I like to choose greener products as they are more effective, having minimum impact on the environment and based on plant and mineral ingredients which limit the chemicals in your home and the environment too.
The going green and environmentally friendly bug is taking us over and we are enjoying trying various green products to see if they are value for money and environmentally friendly.
Until now, we have been using Ecover washing up liquid, which you can usually buy from your local supermarket store amongst the general household cleaning products. Ecover’s washing up liquid can be found in three delectable frangrances, Chamomile and Marigold, Lemon & Aloe Vera, and Grapefruit & Green Tea.
As more of us are turning green,the market for greener and environmentally friendly products is steadily increasing, giving us a wider range to choose from.
So how would you feel if you were asked would you swap your regular washing up liquid for one week to use a greener product? Would you be tempted? Or would the fact that your own favourite branded product used for many years mean you wouldn’t even consider changing?
We used to use store branded products which worked very well. To begin with, I thought Ecover would not make the grade but I was wrong. It had a clean soft perfume, cleaned my dirtiest dishes well, left no residue and was kind to my hands. (I don’t always wear ‘Marigolds’ when washing up so I noticed the difference.) To cap it all, the container itself is environmentally friendly too when you are ready to dispose of it.
But we recently discovered the True Food Community Cooperative, which offers a wide range of organic and enviromentally friendly products. So we decided to try Bio D Concentrated Washing Up Liquid to see how it compares with Ecover.
Bio D, like ‘Simple’ products, is perfume free - so, like Simple, it would be suitable for people with allergies.
The result? You need very little liquid for washing up and it cleans well leaving no residue. As it has no smell, your dishes will not smell of scent like some fragranced products if not rinsed properly. The bottles are family sized. We can refill them at a cheaper rate from our local True Food Community Cooperative thus saving both money and the environment- there may be other outlets if you are not lucky enough to have one near you .
We are all trying to save the pennies these days, and to make things last: because Bio D is concentrated, it seems to be lasting much longer than the usual branded products (including Ecover). (Of course, at the end of the day it’s personal choice. There are also other branded environmental products in this range too.)
If you do decide to give either product a try, I hope you like them, and whether you live on a boat or on land, you will be helping the environment in your own way.
