Green, but not so clean
Phosphate-free dishwasher detergents may help restore the Chesapeake Bay, but there could be a price to pay -- dirtier dishes.
Maryland is one of 14 states that are banning sales of dishwasher detergents containing phosphates next July, and Congress is considering extending the ban nationwide. State lawmakers are yanking phosphate dishwasher detergents from store shelves to protect the environment -- the phosphorus in standard detergents spurs growths of algae, which can suck the oxygen out of water that fish need to survive. And the bay is choking on an overdose of nutrients, including phosphorus.
But some consumers have complained that the new phosphate-free detergents don't get their dishes as clean as the old standbys. In Spokane, Washington, where phosphate products were banned last year, some housewives becames so upset with their dirty dishes that they began driving across the state line to Idaho to buy the outlawed dirt-fighting blends.
Now comes Consumer Reports to say the greener dishwasher detergents generally don't work as well as the phosphate soaps. "In our tough tests, five of seven phosphate-free dishwasher detergents left lots of baked-on food," the magazine reports in its August issue. The rankings are available only to subscribers, but you can read the magazine's general comments on dishwasher detergents, with mentions of some individual products, here.
(I've found the same thing, though admittedly without the rigorous testing. I spied Palmolive Eco in my supermarket several weeks ago and decided to give it a try. We found bits of dry cereal still clinging to the bowls when the dishwasher finished its work - an inconvenience that seemed to end when we switched back to a phosphate gel.)
Not all phosphate-free detergents flunked Consumer Reports' tests. Method Smarty Dish tablets did pretty well, for instance, though not with cleaning pots. The key may be the enzymes used in lieu of phosphates, the editors suggest.
But your options in buying phosphate-free detergents right now are still pretty limited. That's the reason, says Brian Sansoni of the Soap and Detergent Association, that the industry lobbied Maryland lawmakers a year ago to delay their phosphate ban by six months, from Jan. 1 to July 1 of next year. The major detergent manufacturers said they needed more time to develop and market greener products.
What to do for now, then, if you care about the environment but can't stand spots or grit on your dishes when you take them out of the dishwasher?
"It's most certainly a quandary for people," acknowledges Celia Kuperszmid-Lehrman, deputy home editor for Consumer Reports. She suggests taking greater care in loading the dishwasher - making sure dishes are not stacked on top of each other or too close together.
She also recommends using rinse agents if the dishwasher is equipped to dispense them; many folks like me skip them because they seem an unnecessary expense, but Kuperszmid-Lehrman says they actually do help keep food from sticking to dishes.
Tempting as it may be, she cautions, don't pre-wash bowls and plates before putting them in the dishwasher. "That wastes an enormous amount of water," she said, thousands of gallons a year.
The same advice applies for those who wonder if it wouldn't be greener just to scrub plates and silverware by hand in the sink. A dishwasher uses five to 10 gallons of water - maybe 15 if it's an older model - to clean a load, Kuperszmid-Lehrman points out. But the standard kitchen faucet spits out 2.5 gallons a minute, so you'd use more water washing dishes by hand if you left the faucet run as little as five or six minutes.
"Dishwashers are quite an efficient use of resources,'' she said. Meanwhile, detergent manufacturers are still working on developing green dish cleaners, so maybe they'll find more suitable substitutes for the scum-fighting power of phosphates.
Has anyone else discovered this dirty little secret about green dishwasher detergents? Or is it much ado about nothing? Are a few gritty dishes a small price to pay for cleaner water?
Comments
Paper plates. Problem solved.
Posted by: bryanintimonium | July 8, 2009 8:18 AM
this is a nitpick thing - but on the home page, the description of this article is "clean bay or dirty dishes"? I think they meant to say clean bay or clean dishes.
TW: Good point, Jen. Thanks!
Posted by: jen | July 8, 2009 9:27 AM
A simple solution is to rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher ! My spouse and I have found it easier, faster & more convenient to wash our dishes by hand anyway. Just because you have the machine doesn't mean you need to use it all the time.
Posted by: Ed Weglein | July 8, 2009 10:08 AM
Rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher may seem like a simple fix for keeping food grit from clinging, but as the Consumer Reports editor points out, that uses up a lot more water and energy. So does washing all your dishes by hand - unless perhaps you've got a triple-basin sink where you can dip scrubbed dishes twice to rinse the soap off.
Posted by: Tim Wheeler | July 8, 2009 10:58 AM
I tried a couple of brands of phosphate-free detergents a while back, but a year or so ago I gave up and went back to the regular kind. One of the phosphate-free ones was really, really bad. The other one was much better than the first, but then I noticed my glasses had gotten all cloudy looking, and I'd never had problems with "etching" (I think they call it?) before. The regular detergent hasn't returned my glasses to their clear condition, but they at least haven't gotten any worse.
Posted by: KristinB | July 8, 2009 11:43 AM
As a recent transplant from Baltimore to Spokane and now working for a N. Idaho environmental group, I can say that the Spokane housewife cross-border run for detergent is not exactly a widespread phenomenon. (Much more common is the Idaho liquor run, since booze prices are better.)
More to the point, the Spokane River's nutrient problems make the Chesapeake Bay's problems seem so very easy. I doubt that Consumer Reports has calculated the costs to consumers for the particular sewage treatment plants that will be necessary to meet water quality standards in the Spokane River.
In some parts of the country, it very well may be that the greenest option is to go ahead and use just that little bit more water to rinse the gunk off your dishes first.
Posted by: tjh | July 8, 2009 2:03 PM
Hello, I would like to thank the sun for letting us comment on this subject. However I think that we (adults) need to think more about what we are doing now and for the future when it comes to the toxin chemicals that we use in our homes and at work daily. Not just for us but our kids, pets and the environment. I will say that this is a great start for the bay. And yes we also need to deal with the company's that discharge into the bay knowing. There is a product that is on the market right now that is enzymes base. Meaning differant enzymes for differant cleaning duties. The products will clean up to 6 hrs and Two (2) miles down stream. Brand new to the market. I don't think i can post the site but I did. Well good luck and i hope this helps you all.
Posted by: kristyh | July 9, 2009 12:16 AM
I have never had a dishwasher - I am the dishwasher.
Posted by: NotableM | July 9, 2009 9:08 PM
I can't believe people will get so upset about a bit of gunk left on their dishes. I use about a quarter of what I'm supposed to and depend on the hot water and rinsing to clean the dishes. Yes, sometimes they come out with something on them. I take a sponge and wipe it off, swipe under the water and it's done. I just think people are so incredibly spoiled. Is this too much of a sacrifice for us to make?
Posted by: Lynn | July 10, 2009 12:52 AM
I go out of my way, yet have trouble finding phosphate-free detergent, so I'm glad this ban is finally taking effect!
Trader Joe's has dish detergent powder that's phosphate-free, is affordable, and cleans well. Much better than Ecover, which I just tried out.
For those who're worried about cleaning ability, everyone aid the same thing when phosphates were banned from laundry detergent, but now nobody cares, it works fine.
Posted by: Chris | July 12, 2009 9:16 PM
I've been experimenting because the phosphate free dishwashing products did fine for cleaning dishes, but left my glasses a mess.
Two solutions I have come up with: I put Palmolive Eco liquid in the first cup, and white vinegar in the second cup. Beautiful. But even better, I found the Ecover tablets do a great job. Just pop one in my cutlery basket and that's it.
Posted by: Christine | July 20, 2009 9:00 PM
I experimented with non-phosphate products for a year before the ban. The best solution I found was Seventh Generation Automatic Dishwater Gel (lemon or grapefruit) in the first cup in the door of the dishwasher, and an Ecover tablet in the second cup. Glassware sparkles, flatware is not discolored, and tea stains on mugs disappear.
The only thing I found non-phosphate products couldn't clean is lipstick on cups or mugs. So items with lipstick will need to be washed by hand. A small price to pay for algae-free waterways,
Posted by: Christine | December 8, 2010 10:16 PM