Earth Day

So, after having a dishwasher repair guy come out to my house today to look at my overflowing dishwasher, I got to thinking about my good ole' planet Earth. How does this relate you wonder? I will tell you.

So the guy showed up. Immediately asked me what kind of dishwashing soap I use, looks at my machine, and then proceeds to tell me I use too much soap. How can I use too much soap I tell him? I use those prepackaged packets that measure the soap out for you. You just stick it in the tray and start the machine. That's more than twice as much soap as you need, he tells me. Great, I think to myself. Then he starts my dishwasher and runs it a few minutes, opens it up and shows me how much soap is at the bottom. Thing is, we didn't add soap. So this is what I have to do, he tells me. Run the washer for a few minutes to let it fill up at the bottom, add 1/2 cup vinegar and then run it for five minutes. Drain it and repeat 3 times. THEN go to Lowe's and buy something called "Dishwasher Magic" (less than 4 bucks a bottle) and use that every 2-3 weeks in an empty dishwasher. THEN, use Cascade POWDER only and fill it half way, nothing in the "prerinse" side. That should fix my problem. So I do it and ya know what....he just might be right, because after doing the vinegar thing three times, there is STILL soap at the bottom of my washer.

Anyway, it got me thinking. I've read online (a lot) lately that we use too much soap for a lot of things. Our washing machine detergent is more and more concentrated these days, yet most of us use just as much as the less concentrated kinds call for. Obviously our dishwasher detergent is not pre-measured correctly, or else I wouldn't have had the problem I had. I'm sure the list goes on. So what can I do about it?

Then I remembered these soap nuts I got a while back and have only used a few times. I like them. They seem to clean my clothes just fine. I haven't used them much though because it's hard for me to "think" they are really cleaning my clothes. So this is my resolve. I'm going to start using my soap nuts for my washing machine. And I'm going to use A LOT less soap in my dishwasher. It may be a little step, but I think each little one counts in helping, not only save our planet, but save my pocket book a little money too.

So that's my "soap" box for the day. Happy Earth Day (tomorrow)!