When shopping for a laundry detergent, my primary concern is to choose a brand without a long list of chemicals or petroleum-based products. Despite my best intentions, my research occasionally leaves out additives or terms I'll come across that I’m not sure about, such as “optical brightener” or “surfactants.” Although these terms may sound "sciency", I have a feeling they're not the best for my skin or our water supply. Rather than expound on the various vagaries detergents list as containing (or claim they are free of) OR digress about how scary it is that companies are not required to disclose their chemical ingredients, I’ve decided to spotlight the little-known soapnut, also known as the soap pod.

You can order organic soapnuts online, as they are not common yet in the United States. Soapnuts have no chemical additives and make your clothes smell nice and clean! Although there are some good eco detergents out there, soapnuts are reusable for several washes, and are also much less expensive. They're also great if you have sensitive skin or allergies to other soaps- read on…

I first learned about these funny little hazelnut-like gems when I was living in Dublin, Ireland. I picked up a handy sack of them and reused it throughout my entire 5-month stay. Forget hauling heavy bottles of detergent while balancing a load of laundry. All you need are 4-6 soapnut shells in a little cotton bag (which is usually included for free). Add this in with your laundry and you're done! The skin of the soap pod contains 12-15% saponin, which, with its lathering and cleansing effect, is the active cleaning ingredient. Water and agitation work together to release the saponin from the soapnut shells, which cleans your laundry as well or better than chemical laundry detergents. I’ve heard that the pods themselves work better than soapnut powder, which may also be available.

So often with detergents, and also toothpastes and shampoos, people think that unless washing machine or mouth or hair becomes laden with bubbles, it’s not getting clean. The truth is that the amount of bubbles in any soap or detergent has nothing to do with its cleaning ability. All those bubbles are caused by cheap foaming agents, usually sodium lauryl or laureth sulfate. Commercial laundry detergents and personal care products are full of that stuff and it’s added to make people think things are getting clean. Even if you already use Seventh Generation or Biokleen detergent instead of Tide, a 32-ounce bag of soapnuts yields 300 or more loads of laundry and saves you serious money. It ends up being less than 15 cents per load!

I suppose the only other environmental consideration is that the soapnuts grow on trees in warm, temperate, tropical and sub-tropical regions of Asia. The tree grows in many places from Afghanistan in the west to China in the east and also Florida, the Caribbean, Nepal, India and Africa. It would be interesting to track the carbon footprint left by transporting them via ship versus air, since they do not grow natively in the Northwest that’s for sure. Apparently, soapnuts are only harvested once a year, and according to the director of www.soapods.com, work is scheduled to be done with the Fairtrade Foundation. One other positive aspect is that the soap pods can very readily be composted, so there is no energy disposal process for the product or the packaging. 

Just add a drop of tea tree or lavender essential oil to the laundry load and you’re set. Now I’ll get off my soapbox, but below are a couple great sites. You can even make your own household cleaning solution and shampoo out of with instructions found here, along with a list of where to order online here.

Image: Flickr/muffet