Why eco-friendly products are not as green as they appear...

competitionscafe

paulwf wrote: »

It's a shame companies like Faith In Nature (inc Clearspring range), Ecoleaf (by Suma), Orange Mate and Bio D weren't mentioned in the article as I would generally trust them more than a Tesco brand for example so it would have been interesting to see how they were rated.

Ethical consumer rated household cleaners:
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/FreeBuyersGuides/householdconsumables/householdcleaners.aspx
[Bio-D, Green People, the Homecare brands (Hob Brite, Bath Brite, Shiny Sinks) and the Earth Friendly Products brands (Orange Plus and Parsley Plus all come out best.]

and laundry detergent:
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/FreeBuyersGuides/householdconsumables/Laundrydetergent.aspx
[The brands Clear Spring, Bio-D, and ECOS are all best buys.]

as well as washing up liquid:
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/FreeBuyersGuides/householdconsumables/washingupliquid.aspx
[Bio-D Caurnie and Clear Spring (0161 764 2555) came out best]

They have free buyers guides to a wide range of products:
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/FreeBuyersGuides/householdconsumables.aspx

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/FreeBuyersGuides.aspx

moonrakerz

Ken68 wrote: »

Yes, test it on politicians....

Pointless - they are SO thick skinned !

Ken68

It will have to be the Bankers, then, Moonraker. They probably use Fairy Liquid anyway.
Squeaky bum time for these unethicals.

Ben84

The big environmental impact of cleaning stuff is probably due to excess. Too many products, and too much disposable and short lived stuff that's dilute and needs replacing every week or two. A tin of good quality wax polish lasts years, while spray cans of polish run out fast. Most supermarkets have dropped long lasting products from their shelves as they need the high turn over to make money. Bars of laundry soap that have never failed yet to take out stains and lasted ages have vanished from supermarkets and in their place dozens of brightly coloured, heavily packaged, tv advertised and expensive wonder products that I really found to be useless have appeared. Not to mention loo cleaner. We did have perfectly clean bathrooms before people started pouring expensive plastic bottles of brightly coloured gels down their loo. Bars of soap for washing hands and in the bath are now vanishing from supermarkets too.

I own about 6 cleaning products and clean everything in the house with them. Soda crystals, stardrops, washing up liquid, wax polish, washing powder for clothes and a bar of laundry soap. I've never actually bought disposable cleaning wipes, antibacterial sprays, fabric softener, spray cans or loo cleaner, or really the vast majority of cleaning stuff in the average supermarket.

Mids_Costcutter

And of course the big supermarket chains would claim they're just selling consumers what they want!

Ken68

This is my bible against naughty selling.....http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~taflinge/words.html

Fire_Fox

Ben84 wrote: »

I own about 6 cleaning products and clean everything in the house with them. Soda crystals, stardrops, washing up liquid, wax polish, washing powder for clothes and a bar of laundry soap. I've never actually bought disposable cleaning wipes, antibacterial sprays, fabric softener, spray cans or loo cleaner, or really the vast majority of cleaning stuff in the average supermarket.

I use mainly Bio-D off the back of the Ethical Consumer ratings. I agree the most important thing we can do is use fewer cleaning products - I use washing up liquid for quite a few different jobs. I do have both antibacterial wipes which I use for the toilet and occasionally the cat litter tray, plus antibacterial spray which I use to clean up after raw meat and kitchen worktops as the cat climbs on.

MortgageMamma

i used to buy my cleaning products froma company based in the lake district called the green housekeeper. they have a website btu i cant remember it. The products were predominantly based on bicarb of soda with a natural fragrance. They were pretty good and all hand made on a farm premises by an entire family. The only thing they didnt have was washing solution for clothes. They are not very well known but seem to trade ok - maybe you should check them out. THIS IS NOT SPAM!! LOL

luv2bhome2

I buy all my cleaning supplies, personal care products and even some pharmaceuticals from a true green company and their prices are better than the store chains. They also help the environment by making some of the products concentrated to use less packaging and all packaging is recyclable. Very good products, my family has been so much healthier since I stopped using the usual products......if you want to check it out go to switchingstores.com/azure

Ben84

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I use mainly Bio-D off the back of the Ethical Consumer ratings. I agree the most important thing we can do is use fewer cleaning products - I use washing up liquid for quite a few different jobs. I do have both antibacterial wipes which I use for the toilet and occasionally the cat litter tray, plus antibacterial spray which I use to clean up after raw meat and kitchen worktops as the cat climbs on.

Although its not well known, some antibacterial products can be very bad for cats. I'd always check the bottles or speak to the manufacturer before using them anywhere the cat is likely to spend time.

I recently noticed bio-D in oxfam and discovered that they don't use palm oil ingredients. I'll certainly pick some up next time I'm passing and see how it goes. However, do you find it cleans well, lasts well, and are refills ever available?