Slippery Soap Smugglers of the Pacific Northwest
In Spokane County in Washington state, a new, soon to be statewide mandate against dish soaps with phosphates has taken effect, causing residents to take things into their own hands. The measure was designed to reduce water pollution. The downside is, the phosphate free detergents don’t do as good a job of getting the dishes clean.
Nicholas K. Geranios has the story:
Many people were shocked to find that products like Seventh Generation, Ecover and Trader Joe’s left their dishes encrusted with food, smeared with grease and too gross to use without rewashing them by hand. The culprit was hard water, which is mineral-rich and resistant to soap.
However, in nearby Idaho, no such ban on sales currently exists. Hence the new Phosphate Corridor on Highway 90.
Real estate agent Patti Marcotte of Spokane stocks up on detergent at a Costco in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and doesn’t care who knows it.
“Yes, I am a smuggler,” she said. “I’m taking my chances because dirty dishes I cannot live with.”
(In truth, the ban applies to the sale of phosphate detergent — not its use or possession — so Marcotte is not in any legal trouble.)
Marcotte said she tried every green brand in her dishwasher and found none would remove grease and pieces of food. Everybody she knows buys dishwasher detergent in Idaho, she said.
Sitting in the dark, eating off dirty dishes, waiting to get in to see our doctors…what else do our wonderful government planners have in store for us?
Cross Posted at Proof Positive
