Is stardrops environmentally friendly?

tattoed_bum

now thriftlady is that not just taking the lentil thing a bit to far you will be suggesting oats next:rotfl:

i must admit that comment gave me the best laugh yet :rotfl:

are all the stardrops bad ,as i have been using the one with ammonia in it for a while now i have found it great for taking the school paints of my sons t-shirts .

but i'm gutted that they are bad for the enviroment , i thought i was doing well just using that instead of all the other cleaners i used to use .

Swan_2

Penelope_Penguin wrote:

and save your bicarb for muffins

thriftlady wrote: »

or for cutting your cocaine;)

NOOOOOOO!!! shades of Mrs Doyle in Father Ted :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Ben84

Considering petrochemicals in detergents, ecological ones made from plants and minerals also consume petrochemicals, even when they're not in the bottle. Growing the plants often needs petrochemical fertiliser and oil powered machines, and processing too. It's not unreasonable to wonder if all these extra steps require more petrochemicals than just turning oil in to detergent.

Oil based detergents can also be readily and harmlessly biodegradable, although this isn't always the case. Sometimes far from it. Also, you can (and they do) make some pretty environmentally unsound detergents from natural sources, sometimes they're just not biodegradable or the source is the issue. Palm oil derived surfactants is one with a poor record regarding rainforests being cut down to grow the palms, and phosphates are a natural mineral that do anything but environmental good when they go down the drain.

Natural isn't always better than synthetic. I'm mostly interested in how biodegradable the ingredients are under normal conditions, and the environmental impact of the source. Easily recycled packaging is important too. I don't see why a petrochemical based product couldn't come out high on a list of environmentally sound products if it matched all these requirements.

juliapenguin

thriftlady wrote: »

I realise my standards are pretty low, but I find most things are easily cleaned with a damp cloth;)

I'm so glad you said that - sometimes I think there must be something wrong with me because I hardly use any cleaning fluids at all and my house always looks and smells clean. I'm a great believer in the damp cloth with a lot of elbow grease and a bit of Ecover washing up liquid if absolutely necessary! My DH drives me potty saying 'it won't come clean' while dabbing at whatever it is as though it were a priceless 1000-year old Ming vase... Elbow grease is seriously under-rated... and absolute MSE and OS (although I might need extra chocolate if I've worked extra hard...)

And BTW we never get tummy bugs or 'food poisoning' or anything like that, so my chemical-free ways are obviously hygienic enough. Even when DS was little I didn't use much and he was always very sturdy and healthy.

sophiesmum_2

Caterina wrote: »

Re. Stardrops, they have a really bad mark in the ethical stakes, I think I read about it on the Ethical Consumer (or something like that), not only they are naff for the environment (as PP pointed out, petrochemicals = fossil fuels etc.) but also apparently the manufacturers did not come out very well on an ethical basis. Will investigate more if you want, and let you know.

Caterina

Stardrops rated higher than ecover on the ethical consumer site

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

Triciaxx

juliapenguin wrote: »

I'm so glad you said that - sometimes I think there must be something wrong with me because I hardly use any cleaning fluids at all and my house always looks and smells clean. I'm a great believer in the damp cloth with a lot of elbow grease and a bit of Ecover washing up liquid if absolutely necessary! My DH drives me potty saying 'it won't come clean' while dabbing at whatever it is as though it were a priceless 1000-year old Ming vase... Elbow grease is seriously under-rated... and absolute MSE and OS (although I might need extra chocolate if I've worked extra hard...)

And BTW we never get tummy bugs or 'food poisoning' or anything like that, so my chemical-free ways are obviously hygienic enough. Even when DS was little I didn't use much and he was always very sturdy and healthy.

LOL! I've got a DH like that as well :rotfl: I agree about the 'chemical free ways'. At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old woman, I brought up my kids that way and they are fine - not an allergy between them :T

I've always had stardrops in the cupboard - as did my mother - but a bottle lasts me about 5 years.

rozmister

flissh wrote: »

The house I'm moving into has a cesspit or septic tank, (not sure which yet!!) and suppose we are going to have to use stuff that is compatible with this. Have a feeling it won't be cheapo stuff though.

My parents have a septic tank and at home they just use normal cleaning products. I remember Cif and variants of Cif (Cif Bathroom, Cif Kitchen, etc) playing a large part in my childhood cleaning chores but I think that was because my Mum trusts Cif rather than it being good for our septic tank. We used Domestos on our loo too and Dettol on our surfaces and Finish in our dishwasher.

Stardrops can't be good for the environment I've seen it get red wine out of a beige carpet before. We used to swear by it in my first student house to sort out literally any cleaning issue. But to be that strong can't be good! I know it's a terrible thing to say but I still use it because it's cheap and very effective. I know I'm a selfish and a horrible person!