How to Choose an Earth Friendly Detergent

"Go green!" seems to be the cry of many industries this year. From restaurants to hotel chains, every corporation is trying to save the world and possibly save money in the process. For many of these businesses, not only does "going green" mean that they can clear their consciences of any great carbon footprint that they'd be leaving upon the earth, but it also means that they will probably have a greater appeal to their consumers who are also trying to abide by more "earth friendly" ways. Indeed, one of the industries that is making the process of "going green" affordable for their customers is the detergent industry. For anyone who is seeking to start purchasing a more environmentally friendly detergent, here is a list of criteria that they should consider before purchasing the detergent.

A green detergent should be one that is fairly concentrated. This means that instead of requiring a large volume of detergent for each load of laundry, an earth friendly detergent might only require half of that volume. Since the reactants are more concentrated, only this reduced amount of liquid is needed for each load. This is important because it means that a smaller bottle of detergent can be used for the same amount of laundry as a larger bottle could be used; a smaller bottle means less plastic, and thus is more environmentally friendly than a larger bottle.

A green detergent should also be made of renewable resources. This means that it is produced from reactants that are derived from sources that can regularly be recreated or replanted, such as plant sources. If a product is made up of non-renewable sources, then consumption of such a product is using up a substance that cannot readily be replenished to manufacture more detergent. Logically, a product that is made up of renewable resources should be cheaper than one that is not made up of such resources.

Finally, a green detergent should be made up of chemicals that are easily biodegradable and don't negatively impact the environment that they degrade in. Plant sources for detergents are a great example of a naturally biodegradable resource. Since plants decompose readily in nature, extracts from them that are used to manufacture green detergents are also fairly biodegradable as well. Detergents tend to be taken out in the waste water from laundry loads, and disposed of into nature again; if the chemicals composing our detergents were originally extracted from these biodegradable natural resources, then they usually have less of a negative impact on the environment.