Laundry
Have you ever walked around your neighborhood and noticed that fresh smell of someone doing laundry? Bad news: when you breathe in that “clean” familiar scent, you’re actually getting a lung-full of toxic chemicals.
In addition to the millions of plastic bottles going into landfills each year from the plastic laundry jugs, most laundry detergents are toxic. Popular detergent options contain over 25 toxic chemicals.
This wasn't always the case. Prior to the 1950s, most laundry detergents were made with soap, pure soap, made via saponification, a natural process involving lye and animal fats/oils - quite harmless overall.
What happened? War.
During the war these fats and oils became required elsewhere, leading to the creation of synthetic alternatives. These synthetic laundry detergents, derived from petro-chemicals, leapt ahead in popularity. Since then, the chemicals lurking in your laundry detergents have only gotten more complex, dangerous and toxic. It's a wonder they are allowed to be sold at all.
And, while warning labels on packaging usually only refer to the risks posed by ingestion of the substance, it's worth noting that only around 10% of health issues are a result of ingestion. The other 90% are caused by consistent inhalation of particles, vapors and skin contact.
Alternatives:
Reuse and Refill - Not only will you save your plastic jug from spending the rest of eternity in the landfill, all of our laundry soaps are plant-based, environmentally friendly, scented only with organic essential oils and highly concentrated…so you use much less product per load. Plus, the scents are heavenly!
Laundry sheets - great alternative for travel or weight and space issues.
Wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets - Add a drop or two of essential oils if you like the extra scent.
Plant-based stain removing stick instead of a Tide To-Go. No plastic…no toxins!
Hang your clothes outside to dry if you can…it's a satisfying meditation and it smells great!