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Concentrated and Powder Detergents

post #1 of 6
6/14/08 at 4:02am
Thread Starter 

I've always wondered why companies dilute their detergents with water when you are adding it to a large tub of water??? Never made sense to me. If companies would stop watering down their detergents we would save so much H2O. I believe powder detergents are the big winner in water savings, but for those who love the liquids, then this below info might be interesting to you.

 

I was fumbling around the web to see if I could find any info on how much concentrated liquid detergents saved us in water vs. the soon fading fad of diluted competitors.

 

Though I don't like Wal-Mart too much, I did find this and wanted to share it with you all, after all they do bring up good #'s and statistics, however my thought is this; why not just push powder detergents, wouldn't that be truly green? it seems wal-mart always does things half-way just enough to get in the public eye to greenwash

 

Wal-Mart Concentrated Liquid Laundry Detergent

On September 26, 2007 Wal-Mart president and CEO, Lee Scott, announced a bold initiative to sell only concentrated liquid laundry detergent at U.S. Wal-Mart discount stores, Supercenters, Sam’s Clubs and Neighborhood Markets as part of its commitment to sustainability and helping people to save money and live better. With approximately 25 percent of the liquid laundry detergent sold in the United States through Wal-Mart Stores, transitioning to only concentrated liquid laundry detergent demonstrates Wal-Mart’s unique position

to drive change across an entire industry for the benefit of business, customers and the environment. Wal-Mart completed this goal in May 2008.

Concentrated Liquid Laundry Detergent Rollout

All Wal-Mart stores are now fully transitioned to concentrated liquid laundry detergent across all detergent brands, including Tide®, all®

small-and-mighty, Wisk®, Purex®, Sun®, Great Value®, Arm & Hammer® and Xtra®. The rollout began in October 2007 and was

completed in three regional waves:

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South – October

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North and Midwest – February

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East coast –May

Concentrated Liquid Laundry Detergent Environmental Impact

Concentrated liquid laundry detergent has a positive impact on the environment (plastic, water and transportation savings) and will change the way our customer shops. Wal-Mart expects to sell more than 800 million units of concentrated detergent over the next three years, which will benefit the environment by:

 

•

Saving over 95 million pounds of plastic resin

•

Preserving more than 400 million gallons of water

•

Conserving over 520,000 gallons of diesel gasoline

•

 

Concentrated Liquid Laundry Detergent Consumer Benefits

Our customers’ laundry experience and results will not change now that we are only carrying concentrated liquid laundry detergents. We

are still providing the same high-quality products with the additional benefit of positive environmental impact. Some changes and benefits

customers will see in Wal-Mart aisles and at home are:

•

the water than the standard size

A single bottle of concentrated detergent washes the same number of loads as a standard 100-oz. bottle and with approximately half

•

Smaller bottles eliminate bulk, requiring less storage capacity and shelf space

•

All detergent brands made the switch, still allowing customers to purchase their preferred brand

•

Many detergents launched new and improved formulas with the transition, increasing quality for customers

•

By conserving and eliminating excess water from detergent formulas, less detergent is required per load of laundry

Concentrated Liquid Laundry Detergent Background

Partnering closely with our suppliers, Wal-Mart made the decision to offer only concentrated detergent, and leading manufacturers began

transforming their facilities to accommodate this request, leaving less capacity for old-fashioned detergents with high water content. This

influenced other retailers to move toward selling only the concentrated version of liquid detergents. In effect, Wal-Mart’s initiative will act as

a catalyst to transform the entire liquid laundry detergent category across the retail industry and save vast amounts of natural resources....

Reducing more than 125 million pounds of cardboard
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post #2 of 6
6/14/08 at 8:27am

Well I did some quick research, and from a 100 fl oz bottle of 2x concentrated detergent, you get about 64 loads (1.56 fl oz per load).  From a 32 fl oz bottle of 3x concentrated detergent, you get about 32 loads (1 fl oz per load).

 

From a standard liquid detergent, it's like 3-3.75 fl oz per load.

 

With powdered laundry detergent, it's about 177 oz for 63 loads, or 2.8 oz per load.

 

1 fluid ounce weighs about the same as 1 dry ounce, so somehow the concentrated detergent uses less mass per load than the powdered detergent.  That's definitely counter-intuitive.  Anybody know why that might be?

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post #3 of 6
6/14/08 at 10:17pm

No idea on the powdered vs. liquid concentrate Q, Dana, but HOLY CRAP!  Wal-Mart just earned some major brownie points, in my view.  I think of it like climbing a ladder of consciousness.  They take one step, it's that much easier to take another.  With its amazing buyer power, Wal-Mart has the ability to do a ginormous amount of good if they focus on it.  How about covering all their parking lots with solar panels. It'd keep the customers cooler and run their stores sustainably.  Of course, few people walk to Wal-Mart, so they'll undoubtedly suffer as the gasoline economy collapses, but may recover after the bottom falls out, if they keep climbing the green ladder.  The greener that company becomes, the greener all their customers become automatically not because they themselves are climbing the ladder, but because they are only given a better option.  =D

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post #4 of 6
6/15/08 at 12:33pm

I don't want to step on any feet here, so please don't be offended with my post here.

 

Lee Scott has been quoted as saying the Walmart is not green. Of course, we all know what kind of green is their bottom line.

 

I understand that we are all here to help save our planet, and if shopping at Walmart helps with that, then why not?
 

My opinion is, that even though we want to save the planet, we need to think about the people on our planet,too.

 

You all already probably know the negative impact Walmart has on communities and also the environment, so I won't go on about it.

 

If you are interested, please visit  www.wakeupwalmart.com .

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post #5 of 6
6/20/08 at 11:33am

What no one is talking about here is the content of the concentrated laundry products that

Walmart is selling and their environmental impact, albeit in smaller quantities and with

reduced packaging. My new website, mygreenhometoday.com will be answering these questions,

and recommending the "greenest" products you can buy for your home. Look for us online soon!

Thanks to huddler for creating an "epinions" for green products. The end user/consumer is

the most honest reviewer!

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post #6 of 6
7/25/08 at 10:50am

I think any step in the right direction is good, and i'm glad this is an option now that maybe some who shop at walmart will use and will help the bigger picture, but i still feel it is just a drop in the bucket compared to what they do that is not so eco-green

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