Green Options

Environmental groups will sue Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and two other chemical cleaner manufacturers later today to demand that they release the ingredients to their products.

Attorneys from EarthJustice will file the suit on behalf the Sierra Club and American Lung Association and four other groups. The lawsuit will be filed in New York to take advantage of a seldom-used 1976 law against using phosphates in soaps.

As I washed dishes in a house we rented with friends in Maine this summer, I pondered the dish soap (yes, I know many of you are avid label readers, too– what else is there to do when you wash dishes?).

It was Dawn dish soap, and on the label it had a picture of a mallard duck flying. It read, “Rescuing Wildlife for 25 years.” As I searched the label, I found no information about exactly what wildlife they were supposedly saving. Not even a link to a website for more information.

Apparently, us consumers are just supposed to see the wildlife, sigh, and think happy thoughts as we buy Dawn soap to use on our dishes. When in reality, Dawn dish soap is poisoning the very wildlife it is supposedly saving.

How? Dawn antibacterial dish soap contains the chemical Tricolsan, which is in everything from toothpaste, to hand soap, and many, many other household and personal care items, is toxic to both humans and the environment (according the Environmental Working Group).