Posted on 04/01/2009 9:42:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It seems that folks in Spokane Washington are dealing in the latest of illegal substances…………….. dishwashing soap.
A recent law passed in Spokane County prohibits the sale of dish soap containing phosphates as part of an effort to reduce water pollution. The problem is that the eco-friendly detergents do not perform as well as their counterparts.
Many people were shocked to find that products like Seventh Generation, Ecover and Trader Joe’s left their dishes encrusted with food, smeared with grease and too gross to use without rewashing them by hand. The culprit was hard water, which is mineral-rich and resistant to soap
The result is that people are having to rewash dishes or use longer cycles on the dishwasher which results in more water use and potentially more pollution to the environment.
Interestingly phosphates were banned from laundry soap since 1993 and as far as I can tell my clothes still get reasonably clean. It looks like in this case however they need a little more time to perfect the formula for a low or non phosphate detergent before the law is expanded nationally. Of course this is what these kinds of test laws are for, but it is still not clear if the many pending laws will be put on hold until things are improved.
The result is people from Spokane are driving to Idaho where it isn't banned in order to shop for products like CASCADE.
The end result is MORE pollution -- from more cars driving back and forth between Spokane and Idaho.
Here’s more to the news :
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h5LoYHymG_TJcf7aX3AvXutsKWJwD976J3IG0
Spokane residents smuggle suds over green brands
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS – 4 days ago
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The quest for squeaky-clean dishes has turned some law-abiding people in Spokane into dishwater-detergent smugglers. They are bringing Cascade or Electrasol in from out of state because the eco-friendly varieties required under Washington state law don’t work as well. Spokane County became the launch pad last July for the nation’s strictest ban on dishwasher detergent made with phosphates, a measure aimed at reducing water pollution. The ban will be expanded statewide in July 2010, the same time similar laws take effect in several other states.
But it’s not easy to get sparkling dishes when you go green.
Many people were shocked to find that products like Seventh Generation, Ecover and Trader Joe’s left their dishes encrusted with food, smeared with grease and too gross to use without rewashing them by hand. The culprit was hard water, which is mineral-rich and resistant to soap.
As a result, there has been a quiet rush of Spokane-area shoppers heading east on Interstate 90 into Idaho in search of old-school suds.
Real estate agent Patti Marcotte of Spokane stocks up on detergent at a Costco in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and doesn’t care who knows it.
“Yes, I am a smuggler,” she said. “I’m taking my chances because dirty dishes I cannot live with.”
(In truth, the ban applies to the sale of phosphate detergent — not its use or possession — so Marcotte is not in any legal trouble.)
Marcotte said she tried every green brand in her dishwasher and found none would remove grease and pieces of food. Everybody she knows buys dishwasher detergent in Idaho, she said.
Supporters of the ban acknowledge it is not very popular.
“I’m not hearing a lot of positive feedback,” conceded Shannon Brattebo of the Washington Lake Protection Association, a prime mover of the ban. “I think people are driving to Idaho.”
Steve Marcy, manager of the Costco in Coeur d’Alene, about 10 miles east of the Washington state line, estimated that sales of dishwasher detergent in his store have increased 10 percent. He knows where the customers are coming from.
“I’ll joke with them and ask if they are from Spokane,” Marcy said. “They say, `Oh yeah.’”
Shoppers can still buy phosphate detergents in Washington state by venturing outside Spokane County, but Idaho is more convenient to many Spokane residents.
Phosphates — the main cleaning agent in many detergents and household cleaners — break down grease and remove stains. However, the chemicals are difficult to remove in wastewater treatment plants and often wind up in rivers and lakes, where they promote the growth of algae. And algae gobble up oxygen in the water that fish need to survive.
While traditional detergents are up to 9 percent phosphate, those sold in Spokane County can contain no more than 0.5 percent.
The Washington Lake Protection Association has launched a campaign to encourage people to give the environmentally friendly brands a fair chance. The group suggests consumers experiment with different brands or install water softeners to help the green detergents work better.
“Clean lakes and clean dishes do not have to be mutually exclusive,” said association president-elect Jacob McCann.
Phosphates have been banned in laundry detergent nationally since 1993. Washington was the first state where the Legislature passed a similar ban against dishwasher detergents, in 2006. The ban is being phased in, starting with Spokane County.
“It’s nice to be on the cutting edge,” Spokane resident Ken Beck, an opponent of the ban, said sarcastically.
Among other states that have banned or are banning phosphates in dishwasher detergent are Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan, Vermont, Minnesota, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York. A bill on Capitol Hill would impose a nationwide ban.
The Soap and Detergent Association, which represents manufacturers, initially fought the bans. But as the movement gained strength across the country, the association asked legislatures to delay bans until July 2010 to allow for a uniform rollout of products.
The industry has been working to develop better low-phosphate detergents, said Dennis Griesing, vice president of the manufacturers group.
“This is an irrevocable, nationwide commitment on the industry’s part,” he said.
For his part, Beck has taken to washing his dishes on his machine’s pots-and-pans cycle, which takes longer and uses five gallons more water. Beck wonders if that isn’t as tough on the environment as phosphates.
“How much is this really costing us?” Beck said. “Aren’t we transferring the environmental consequences to something else?”
Get a couple. Let them "pass on" after meals and you'll be back to sparkling dishes in no time.
This wouldn’t have happened if WA had treated the problem like they do with gasoline formulations.
Call CASCADE, tell them that in order to sell in WA, they must have no phosphate (new formulation) and that the new formulation must not have an identifier on the box. Or it can’t be sold in the state.
Then, citizens go to the store, buy the box like always, but it does not have phosphate 9and costs more). That way many citizens would not know that their product had been changed.
But now I’m thinking of driving up there with six 400lb drums of trisodium phosphate (good ol TSP) , which I’ll sell by the half-pound as a phosphate enhancing additive.
I’m “dawned” if I’ll give up my Dawn!
Oddly enough, the EPA mandates that the water system I run add phosphates to the water to adjust the Ph level. Our water is a bit too acidic, and slightly hard. Deep wells.
LOL..My beagle washes every plate before they go in the dishwasher.
Are you a democrat?
Here is a question -— IS THIS LAW EVEN NECESSARY ?
By how many years are we postponing environmental armageddon by making it illegal to use CASCADE ?
In California, they’re making recreational marijuana use legal, and here in Spokane, they’re making the use of detergent illegal ( turning ordinary law abiding citizens into smugglers ). Go Figure.
It is a county law, not the whole state of Washington.
The real question here is how the ban was instituted if EVERYONE knows that it wouldn’t work?
Ours is just the opposite. VERY soft and somewhat basic from 720 feet down.
So if eco-friendly dish soap results in food-encrusted dinnerware, what about eco-friendly personal hygiene products? (shudder)
Some minor concept of sanity?
Well, it is Spokane so there is some hope of Sanity.
http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/spokane/ElectionResults/Pages/ElectionResults.aspx?e=20081104
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