THE FAITHFUL CONSUMER October 06
… connecting faith and the environment
By Sarah Streed
In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the poet felt his life was measured out in “coffee spoons.” With five children, I feel like my life is measured out in scoops of laundry detergent. That poses a dilemma because for years it seemed as if there was no environmentally-friendly way to do the laundry. All the brand-name detergents are full of phosphates and chemicals that go into wastewater and from there to our rivers, streams and lakes.
I think I’ve tried every non-toxic method of washing clothes, from magnetic beads that attract the dirt to old-fashioned Borax—and they have all proved disappointing. The beads left clothes dingy and grey; I found that adding Borax to water combines to form a mixture that’s probably equally as bad as detergent.
Then I found Method cleaners. From laundry detergent to stainless steel to wood, Method has an array of non-toxic, biodegradable cleaning products sold at Target. On the back of the detergent it says, “Every year, over 400 million gallons of water are used to dilute laundry detergents. That squanders our planet’s most precious resource. Our concentrated formula contains 2/3 less water and requires less water to rinse clean. …phosphate-free/biodegradable/never tested on animals.”
Method also passes the teenage girl test. Clothes come out bright and smelling good—stopping the wails of my daughters, who at 15 are hyper-vigilant with their nose to determine cleanliness: If it smells clean, it is. (The other eco-cleaners never passed this test …)
But what about those times when every parent needs to use bleach? Answer: Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing. Maybe you remember it from your grandma’s laundry. From the bottle: “Not only does it whiten whites, it also brightens colors and does so without harsh chemicals, prolonging the life of any garment. People are seeking environmentally safe products and they know that MSB is non-toxic and biodegradable.” An additional plus is that if you have kids of a certain age, you’ll love making a magic salt crystal garden—I remember doing this both as a girl and then with my kids and to watch the colorful crystals grow in exotic formations was exciting and fun.
To clean clothes without using chemicals and phosphates is no small thing. If hundreds of coffee spoons add up to a life, so do hundreds of loads of laundry. How people of faith do their laundry matters. It matters for our water, which replenishes us and the earth—the gift of life, a gift from God.
October’s tip: Don’t finish your current box or bottle of laundry detergent. Consider it an act of faith to toss it and start using Method detergent from Target.
Sarah Streed is a board member of the Wisconsin Interfaith Climate & Energy Campaign (WICEC) and runs Write Stuff Works (www.writestuffworks.com ) a writing business. She lives in Stoughton, Wisconsin with her husband and children. Email smstreed@sbcglobal.netAll rights reserved by Sarah Streed.
Back to Faithful Consumer Page