ECOVER Natural Dishwashing Liquid - Review

I have signed up to blog my review of certain products with  www.NATURALLYSAVVY.COM.
I have been asked to blog a review on ECOVER's Natural Dishwashing Liquid.
I received a sample for free as part of the review.

I am big into trying to purchase products that are easy on the environment and not harmful to my family, myself and the world around me, so I was pretty excited to try this product out.

I am impressed by the company using the Diamond Model to reduce impact during resource extraction and transformation, product usage and environmental fate afterwards.  They have a notable website that you can check out at www.Ecover.com.

They use state of the art facilities to be very energy efficient and they are now using 100% PlantPlastic bottles made from sugarcane that is recyclable.  I truly commend companies that consider the environment when they are building their business.

Before I started researching or even trying the product out though I read the ingredients.  I do that with everything from my food, to cleaning supplies, to makeup because it is all going into or onto the skin to be absorbed somehow.  It will also make its way back into the environment.

So, I was happy with most of the ingredients but I  guess I was a bit surprised to find out that the second ingredient was sodium laureth sulfate, which I have known for years can have carcinogenic properties and irritations to the skin and eyes.
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/chemicals-in-your-cosmetics---sodium-laureth-sulfate/ - Taken from the above link to the David Suzuki organization, they write, "Depending on manufacturing processes, sodium laureth sulfate may be contaminated with measurable amounts of ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane.  1,4-dioxane is also persistent, so, it doesn't easily degrade and can remain in the environment long after it is rinsed down the shower drain. 1,4-dioxane can be removed from cosmetics during the manufacturing process by vacuum stripping, but there is no easy way for consumers to know whether products containing sodium laureth sulfate have undergone this process."

I did try to research this to find out if 1,4 dioxane had been removed or even used.  Reading their reviews, awards they have won and companies they have teamed up with, I am hoping they have done that or have some other processing method.  Also, when I compare ECOVER Dish washing Liquid to other brands, they don't need to put a First Aid Treatment or Poison Control treatment on their packaging, they even say on their website that "Grey (waste) water is safe to use for to water your plants and garden. However we recommend that if possible you allow the water to 'settle' for 2 - 3 days first. During this time the process of bio degradation will have already started to happen, minimising further the impact to the environment."

I found this article online, recent too, from July 29th, 2012 regarding ECOVER and other green products. It is interesting and puts things in perspective. It is almost impossible to have no impact, humans just breathing alone will have an impact, it is to have the least amount of impact possible, which ECOVER is working towards. Check out this link. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/green-cleaning-theres-the-scrub-2030312.html

Ok, so now I was ready to TEST the product.
Filled the sink, squirt of ECOVER dishsoap. 
I found it really does clean well.  It removes grease on dishes, lasts for the whole sinkful of dishes and only need to use a minimal amount of soap...
I have now done many sinks full of dishes and am still happy with the results.  But, don't take my word for it.. Try it out and research for yourself what goes on and into your body and the environment.

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
www.plnyoga.vpweb.com