One Small Step for Kitchens

Joy Vander Ven: Lake Michigan Serenity ~Enlarge

A ban on high-phosphorus household dishwashing detergents takes effect Thursday in Minnesota and five other Great Lakes states. It should help reduce phosphorus levels and algae blooms in the Great Lakes and inland lakes.

As someone who's used dishwashing soaps on and off for the last two decades, I can attest that there's been significant improvement in the effectiveness of low-phosphorus product over that time.  Our recent household use of Seventh Generation soap has proven it's as effective in cleaning dishes as (and maybe more effective than) the high-P brands sold by the big-name brands.

Let it not be forgotten that the Soap and Detergent Manufacturers Association fought the dishwashing ban just as it fought the laundry detergent ban in the late 1960s and 1970s.