Monday, May 14, 2012

Caving In - When Not Choosing the Most Frugal or Green Option Makes Sense

Well folks, I caved. Y'all know that I was reasonably pleased with my new dishwasher, but still, it really wasn't the life altering experience that I had hoped for. So I finally gave in and tried the free samples of detergent that came with it.

Now, I'm not generally a person who puts much stock in this sort of thing. My general philosophy has been detergent schmetergent... could one brand really be that different from another? So I've always just chosen the cheapest generic brand I could find.


But after a few loads where things just weren't getting very clean, I decided to give the Finish Powerball Quantum samples a try.



HOLY MOLY! Everything came out sparkling clean... like cleaner than it's looked in years!

At first I thought it was a fluke, so I tried a second load, and this time I threw everything I had at it. I didn't pre-rinse anything... including the cat food dishes. I tossed in a few baking dishes with cooked on grime, and I loaded that sucker FULL - three days of food with much of it firmly stuck on. And the results were...


AMAZING! As in totally amazing! Sparkling clean dishes with NO pre-rinsing!!!


So, at that point I decided to do some research, and discovered some very interesting facts.

First of all... in the past few years many states have banned/restricted the use of phosphates in dishwasher detergent. So most brands have switched their formulas nation wide. The environmentalist in me is jumping for joy at this news, because phosphates stimulate the growth of algae, and really do damage to the ecosystems of our streams, rivers, lakes and oceans.

However, since the formulas have changes, consumers have NOT been happy.


This made me realize that the installation of the new dishwasher also coincided with the opening of a new box of dishwasher detergent - and since the old box had been purchased at least 5 years ago when I bought a whole pile of the stuff when it was on sale, I'm pretty sure that the new box was my first experience with the phosphate free stuff. Hmmm...

My next stop research-wise was Consumer Reports. They confirmed the whole phosphate thing, and only had three types of detergent that they could recommend. These were: Finish Powerball Quantum, Finish Powerball Tabs, and Cascade Complete Tabs. All of these products use enzymes as well as detergent for cleaning, and also have the rinse aid built in.

Now... I'm not really thrilled about the idea of using a rinse aid. But... if it's built into the detergent tab rather than being dispensed in the final rinse, I figure there's a reasonable chance that the tab won't release the rinse aid EXACTLY during the final rinse, so there's a much greater chance that the stuff will get rinsed off. And I haven't noticed and bubbles or soapy taste like some consumers have reported with rinse aids.


Now these things are not exactly cheap... but I did find the Powerball Tabs at Costco for only about 15 cents each - and it turns out they work as well as the Quantum ones (which cost closer to 30 cents a piece.) Of course, they do come individually wrapped in plastic... and who knows what sorts of chemicals are present...


Anyhow - clearly using this product is neither a very green nor frugal choice, so why would a frugal green goddess like myself choose to go this route?


Well, here's the thing. I have issues... (no surprise there.)


No seriously, I've had a big time emotional battle with the dishes my entire life. It started when I was a child and our dishwasher died. My mother got so pissed off that she refused to replace it... which was fine, except that she decided that I now had to do all of the dishes for the entire family... by myself... every. single. day.

It's not that I don't think that children should have chores, but this was a fairly major one to load on a 7 year old, especially when my older brother was never asked to do any chores at all! I guess my "feminist" mother wasn't really so open minded after all, since she felt it was wrong to ask a boy to do housework.

So every day until I left home, I had to do the dishes. It still makes me so mad that I could cry.... after dinner my mother and brother would retire to the living room to watch TV and talk while she barked orders at me and reprimanded me for not getting the counters perfectly clean or the floor perfectly swept (which, according to my mother were part and parcel of the chore of doing the dishes.)


OK... I'll stop bitching about my dysfunctional family now, but suffice it to say that my issues with my mother run deep, far and wide, and doing the dishes has always been a very tangible reminder of my ugly childhood, which I got to revisit every day. It's sort of no wonder that it's always been a battle.


But now suddenly, for the first time in my life, the struggle is over. Seriously, I can just open the dishwasher, toss the dishes in, and they come out clean. And I don't have to hear my mother's voice screaming at me in my head.


Maybe this is just a cop out, but the way I see it, a little bit of plastic and chemicals is a small price to pay for getting my sanity back.


So what do you think? Am I selling out? Have you ever made a less-than-green-and-frugal choice in order to preserve your mental health?




22 comments :

  1. Yes, there are some things that are work compromising your green principles for, and sanity is one of them. I'm sure I've made similar decisions, though I can't think of one off the top of my head. Come to think of it... I do have an ex-mother-in-law who would bundle all the mess into cupboards just to get it out of sight. She loved her dishwasher (and probably still does). I do my dishes by hand ;-)

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    1. Ha! That sort of sounds like the reason that got me into cooking in the first place... My mother HATED to cook, so cooking became a form of rebellion for me. Oh my...

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  2. No dishwasher functioning at our house but we do have an ornamental model. How I would love to see it sparkle my dishes, alas after we bought it I discovered the installation costs in or rental were prohibitive. I use a nasty toilet duck because I can't get the toilet clean without it, I'm sure there are other ways but I'm yet to discover them, and lets face it, I don't want to spend ages with my head in the toilet bowl. I never did any dishes growing up, thoroughly spoilt, my mum is a perfectionist and we never did them to her liking.

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    1. Oh dear... an ornamental dishwasher does not sound good. I have no earthly idea what a toilet duck is, but not having to spend one's life with one's head in a toilet seems like a good idea to me!

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  3. I'm so glad you found the power balls! I cringe to think of you doing all the dishes by yourself at 7 years old.
    I've given myself permission to run the dishwasher as often as I need to. My German husband would load it twice as full, but I am not that logical. It hurts my head to arrange the dishes for optimum space saving so I've given up. So there!

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    1. What is it with those Germans? My stepmother is the same way about gardening... rules, rules, rules. I applaud your decision to do the dishes in the way that works for you! Isn't it crazy that we have to "give ourselves permission" for this sort of thing?

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  4. I'm SO happy you found something because I too am OCD about my dishes...I'll have to give them a try (even though I'm already panicking about tossing all those little plastic bags away). I try to be all eco-friendly, but sometimes I just need a break...so I buy sandwich bags or toss something that can be recycled or drive to the store half a mile away. I think it's a hard balance to find between continuing green efforts and cutting yourself some slack. Glad you found something that works for you!

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    1. Well... the Quantum tabs actually come in a blister pack like giant pills, and the plastic part of the blister pack is recyclable, although the part you pull back isn't. So I'm not sure if that's "better" or not, but I decided to go with the lease expensive of the ridiculously expensive options.

      Oy... I mean I logically know that the fate of the planet does not rest exclusively on my shoulders, but I still feel guilty. Sigh. Balance... I must remember that my goal is balance...

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  5. It's hard to be green when it seems that most people don't give a monkey's and do whatever suits them with no regard for the planet (or anyone else, often). And if you have an issue that runs as deep as dishes do with you, then your needs have to come first in that area. You are majorly more green than most people, so pat yourself on the back for that and forget dishwashing issues.

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    1. Awww... thanks so much for your support. I really do feel like I'm slightly crazy for getting so worked up over the dishes... I mean, shouldn't I be "over it" by now? But I've gotta say, I really feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. It's so funny... I just spent half an hour hanging the laundry out to dry, and that doesn't bother me at all... in fact, I sort of enjoy it. I guess emotional buttons don't respond well to logic.

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  6. I'm sure I made less-than-green-and-frugal choices before, but with a baby in the picture, it seems like I'm making them all the time. Just one example: We line dry all of our laundry, and don't even own a gas or electric dryer. However, our downstairs neighbors have a dryer, and do resort to using it for the diapers sometimes. There are the general, "I'm tired," or, "if we wait for the diapers to dry on the line, we'll run out," type of excuses, and then things like line drying makes the diapers really stiff and scratchy which irritates his skin or we need the heat of the dryer to sterilize the diapers.

    We've had decent results (but not as good as yours) using an eco-friendly dishwasher detergent that we refill from a bulk bin along with WaveJet, an "earth-friendly" rinse aid. Not sure how it really compares to conventional rinse aid, how much residue is left of the dishes, etc.

    Anyway, it seems like if you're really not rinsing the dishes at all, the switch to this new detergent might be a wash, so to speak, environmentally. And if it helps your sanity, I can't argue with that.

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    1. "it's a wash" yuk, yuk, yuk! I'll just keep telling myself that whenever the old environmental guilt monster rears it's ugly head.

      I can only imagine the "green compromises" that having a baby would entail. I just have to keep reminding myself that perfectionism will get me nowhere (other than the loony bin!)

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  7. My initial reaction to you buying the over packaged product was "get over it"(your dishwashing history) but in thinking it over I realise that we all have problem areas in our bid to be gentler on our planet.From the toothpaste I use to the kitty products I buy, there are ways I could be greener;but if 80% of the time I choose the less polluting/packaged/poisionious/ product,I think I am doing well.
    The fact that you are aware of WHY you make the purchases you do goes a long way to improve your overall shopping habits.
    When one stops and thinks about the ramifications of a product on our environment we are able to make saner decisions and ensure these decisions are not made for us by the advertising industry.
    Thank you for helping me clarify my thoughts on this

    Marie

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    1. Hi Marie,

      Well, "get over it" would be good advice for me both in terms of my childhood "issues" as well as the environmental guilt. CatMan thinks that I get all worked up over this sort of thing because it's easier than dealing with the bigger (and significantly more uncomfortable) emotions from my childhood - and he has a point. However, knowing the reality of a thing with logic, and accepting the reality of it emotionally are two very different things.

      But my hope is that by eliminating some of the circles that I get stuck in on a daily basis, I can free up more time and mental energy for dealing with the big stuff.

      I also totally agree about the 80% rule. It's what we do most of the time that counts.

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  8. Uh...I just spent a week in Hawaii for my mental health, and I'm pretty sure the impact of my vacation is waaaay higher than a few dishwasher tablets. The time away from my computer broke me out of some unhealthy loops I had been on (and strengthened my conviction to quit my crappy job by the end of the year if things aren't drastically improved), and I was really happy to meet some artists in Hawaii who were busy (and happy) being full time artists.

    I think the dishwasher compromise makes perfect sense for you. I would have been traumatized if I'd had your experience, too. My sister and I were responsible for dinner dishes in the summer, but I think that was a lot more reasonable than what your mother forced on you.

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    1. It's so inspiring to meet people who are "living the dream" isn't it? Thanks for helping me keep things in perspective here...

      You know, on some level I know that the whole battle with the dishes is really just a symbol for all of the crappy stuff that happened when I was a kid, but it sure feels nice not to have to deal with them any more!

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  9. I am sure that you have waaaaay less negative impact on the environment than many of us; you live very conscientiously and the fact that you hardly use your car puts you miles ahead. So I hope you're not losing any sleep over this. You do so much RIGHT.

    I also use the Powerball tabs, and I wish they weren't individually wrapped. I'm guessing this is in part because the Powerball frequently falls out. Glad to see you checked Costco; I buy mine at Sam's by the canister as they are the cheapest there by far.

    I'm currently experimenting with Seventh Generation powdered dishwasher detergent, and I love it, but too many days in a row of it starts to show majorly in the stick factor :( I've decided to rotate it with the Powerball tabs; that seems like a good compromise (so far).

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    1. I think you're right... the ball does tend to fall out. I wish they could just wrap them in paper though. That being said, I've become a complete Powerball tabs convert. I just totally can't believe how wonderful it feels not to have to fight with the dishes anymore.

      And you're right... I don't use shampoo, I seldom drive, I haven't been on an airplane in nearly 20 years, I spent a fortune buying the most efficient furnace possible, and I recently switched to all organic meat, so I guess I can cut myself some slack on the dish washing detergent.

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  10. I use the eco tabs; maybe I'm just not that fussy about how the dishes turn out - they seem "adequately" clean! Meanwhile I have a horribly polluting gas lawn mower. I am just not convinced a rechargeable electric is up for the job. Also, my spouse has 6 computers, a Playbook and a Kindle :)

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    1. I actually have a hand push lawnmower... the old fashioned kind. It wasn't so much an environmental move as an attempt at self preservation. I destroyed 3 gas mowers in the first summer that I owned the house (I kept running over things) and decided that maybe a person like me should just stick to simpler technology that wasn't likely to do serious damage to any of my limbs! I do have an electric model that I use for "emergencies" - an emergency being defined as the times when I've been too lazy to mow it and it's ridiculously long!

      I may have to check out the eco tabs, although, to be honest, the tub of Powerball tabs that I got at Costco should last several years.

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  11. In this case chemicals rule!!! No really! :)

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