Comments on: Oh, the irony: Dawn saves wildlife with oil-based dish soap

By: Jennifer Grayson

Jennifer Grayson — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 04:30:00 +0000

The concern is not just the petrochemicals on the production end of the cycle; it’s also what happens to these petroleum-based surfactants when they go down the drain and enter the ecosystem, polluting the water and harming aquatic organisms. And some eco-friendly dish soaps don’t use petroleum in their production at all, like Ecover:

http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/home/291234/is_this_the_future_of_cleaning.html

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:24:44 +0000

I must say I stand in the middle. I have been looking for an environmentally conscious way of doing my dishes. I looked at all the “green” alternatives. It all boils down to oil. We live in an oil based economy, even plant based products use oil in its production (the fertilizers, oil used in its transport). The actual cost due to ineffiencies of planting plants then turning them to oil may be even worse than just using a petroleum based product, imagine the forests that were destroyed to plant those plants. People like the idea of green products but in reality there is none.

I come to the conclusion, use whatever but use less of it.

By: concernd consumr

concernd consumr — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:49:09 +0000

hav used soaps with coconut derived surfactants, cant recall name? 7th gen doesn’t really cut it. we were told that sodium laurel sulfate (sp?), sls, can contribute 2 such things as leaky gut, by increasing intestinal permeability via some mechanism once ingestd…which we can easily do by way of residues left on dishware, post cleaning. So rinsing well is crucial no matter whats used. Having gluten intolerance, we do not in our household need 2 cre8 more digestiv issu…not sure if plant based surfactants r any good 4 us either, but told less of health risk. Eithr way, rinse..

By: gene herr

gene herr — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:16:37 +0000

With all due respect, if all you were doing was pointing out a “simple irony”, you would not have also gone on to speculate, or as you say “assume”, that Dawn contains toxic petroleum byproducts, comment on the requirements of federal law, recommend boycotting the product and finally suggesting an alternative trade name product. There was definitely an agenda. Which is fine since it is on an environmental website, but at least be honest.

By: Gene

Gene — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 12:39:26 +0000

Being a saponifer (a person who makes soap) I know that you can not make real soap without oil. However, the oil (which by the way is and acid – all oils are acidic) is neutralized in the process.

By: Jennifer Grayson

Jennifer Grayson — Tue, 17 May 2011 02:22:44 +0000

Well said, Ray! The point of the post was just to point out a simple irony: That a petroleum-based product was being used to clean up a petroleum spill. Just a little food for thought.

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:40:51 +0000

I have read all of these posts. For new arrivals, I suggest starting with Marti’s post (July 11, 2010). All posts from there on, except Dan’s, convey reasonable, relevant, and informative perspectives. The gist of it seems to be that Dawn (or something like it) is nearly ideal for cleaning oil-soaked birds; Dawn is also probably superior for cutting heavy grease on dishes; there may be other dishwashing tasks that could be done well enough by a non-petrochemical dishwashing liquid; and the impact on the local environment is probably less when people use non-petro dishwashing liquids.

By: annie

annie — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:27:08 +0000

thanks for all the new information and all but dawn is still taking part in the oil spill and they have for every oil spill occured. its helping the animals and if it wasnt they wouldnt use it. and plus buying dawn actully cleans your dishes, xo why not donate to the cause when it actully works?

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:25:11 +0000

Lol@this article. Seriously, articles like this are worse pollution than the oil spill. Thanks for the corporate terrorism you’re committing with this propaganda; nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with the tires on your car, or the nylon in your toothbrush either.
But really, don’t tell others to look down on a benevolent company just so they’ll look up to you. People are dumb and will actually believe this kind of crap. Do you really want your kids believing everything they read on the Internet? Me neither. Get informed people, and not by people with limited perspectives and anger-fueled agendas.

By: Spring Cleaning « Holy Shilajit

Spring Cleaning « Holy Shilajit — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:52:51 +0000

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