For the Environment & You

Hi everyone,

I do apologize for my sudden appearance. I got occupied with school and now, I have more leisure time to do more of my blogging. What to expect these last precious months? Well, I have a lot – and I mean A LOT – of things to share with you, on my blog. Stay tune and see what I have to say. As a welcoming back surprise, I am going to review a product from Seventh Generation.

Seventh Generation is one of those unique brands where I occasionally do buy. They do offer more natural and sometimes organic alternatives that your household does not have like their organic tampons/pads, cleaning products with mild fragrances, etc. They launched an awareness campaign regarding, the “Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) of 1976, which regulates toxic chemicals”. By gaining your senators’ attention and tweeting them, they would do something about the act which states, “1) protects the rights of states to regulate toxic chemicals; 2) immediately gets the worst, most toxic chemicals off the market; and 3) prioritizes identifying and reviewing the most high-risk chemicals first”.
 

To participate,

Step 1 - Email your Senators NOW to tell the senate we want strong TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) reform!

Step 2 - Find your Senators' Twitter Handles HERE.

Sample tweet: @senatorsname I'm a mom who wants toxic chemical laws fixed! Support stronger TSCA reform, please!

 

Now back to my review…

I originally posted a review for Energy Smart Automatic Dishwasher Detergent Gel (http://www.seventhgeneration.com/energy-smart-automatic-dishwasher-detergent-gel). This was my brief review that I posted for them:

“I received this full size trial for free. I kindly thank Seventh Generation for giving this opportunity to test this out on their behalf. My following opinions below will be bluntly honest about this dishwashing machine detergent, and I am NOT getting paid to write this review or endorsement. Here is what I thought about Seventh Generation Energy Saver Dishwashing Detergent:

Unfortunately, I don’t have a high efficacy dishwashing machine. For many years, Costco only carries the cheap brand which is Cascade. To be honest, it was the only available and bargain valued dishwashing detergent available. Cascade dishwasher detergent always left like a soapy white residue, it didn’t really clean thoroughly, and I always had to hand wash dishes whenever I had the time. Seventh Generation, on the other hand, did an excellent job. Before I load my dishwasher rack, I always quickly rinse them out since my dishwasher isn’t the state-of-the art kind I would prefer using. Seventh Generation dishwasher detergent definitely saved me a bunch of my time. I wouldn’t need to go back and rewash every single thing I placed in my dishwasher. “

Allow me to go into further details. You might wonder why I could have bought a new dishwasher. Well, I live in a rental unit, so my landlord won’t allow that and he isn’t fond of spending more unless the machine consistently breaks down. I only use the dishwasher on special occasions such as hosting parties, cooking a big meal, or having visitors over. Dishes do pile up, and leaving the dishes out for more than 24 hours may lead to unwanted visitors.

As you can tell, the differences between using all-natural dishwasher detergent vs. chemically made one is significantly noticeable:

Cascade Advanced Power

Seventh Generation Energy Smart

	Cascade	Seventh Generation
Natural* *Contains no harsh chemicals including petroleum base	No	Yes
Size	7.81 lbs (3.54 kg)	4 lbs (65 oz)
Scent	Citrus	Original
Need to Pre-Wash	No	No
Ingredients Listed**	Only phosphorus is listed	All is listed (No phosphorus used)
Animal Ingredients/Testing	Yes	No
Packaging	Not Listed	Made from 100% recycled post-consumer plastic
Gluten Free	Not Listed	Yes

**Note: The use of phosphate helps the removal of food and grease, spotting, filming (cloudiness on dishes), and controls water hardness. Phosphate in dishwashing detergents cause harm to aquatic life, unsafe drinking water, damage plants and odor (sewage).
(http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/clean_living/faqs_phosphate_and_dishwasher_detergent.aspx)

 

My experience with Cascade has been more of a hated relationship. I have used other natural dishwasher detergent instead, but they continuously get discontinued, at my local grocery stores. I just want to stick with one brand, and preferably gel since the powder ones sort of leave a mess when loading into the dishwasher. My overall preference would be Seventh Generation Energy Smart dishwasher detergent, why? It actually works, knowing that no harsh chemicals were used, it's cruelty free, cleans better than Cascade, and no phosphates. Below I have provided some pictures when I was using Seventh Generation:

This is after

Before loading into the dishwasher
with Seventh Generation

  



 Picked out a neutral colored plate to showcase
Seventh Generation dishwasher gel

Used a paper towel to show how sparkly clean this glass cup



 

 



Left knife: after using Cascade

Right knife: after using Seventh Generation dishwasher gel