Green Product Review: Mrs. Meyers Laundry Detergent (Lemon Verbena)

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I recently found out that my natural laundry detergent wasn’t quite as natural as the bottle lead me to believe. So I looked at the other options at my local grocery store. One was Mrs. Meyers. I had never tried Mrs. Meyers laundry detergent before, but I had tried other Mrs. Meyers products and liked them a lot. But the Mrs. Meyers laundry detergent was $15 a bottle… That’s way more MMCD_LEM_Laundry68than I had been spending on laundry detergent. And it’s such a little bottle too! The bottle said 4x concentrated and that one spoonful would do a whole load. But I was skeptical. After all, with three adults, three dogs, and nine cats in the house, my dirty laundry is really dirty. I was afraid of going through the whole bottle in a week or two. I stood in the store for about five minutes looking back and forth from the bottle to the price tag and back again. I had a little extra money, so I decided to go for it. I bought the lemon verbena.

I’ve used it for about 15 loads so far, and it’s done a great job on all of them. One spoonful (half of its tiny cap) really does do the whole load. I also put in a little baking soda, let the clothes soak for an hour, and put a little vinegar in the fabric softener/bleach section for a little boost/peace of mind, but I did all that with the old detergent too.

And it smells really good too. Sadly, I don’t smell it on my clothes after they’re done. They don’t really smell like anything after they’re done. But I’m not sure if that’s the fault of the baking soda. Either way, it’s not a big deal.

My only real complaints are the bottle and cap. And looking at the reviews on the Mrs. Meyers website, it looks like I am not the only one who doesn’t like them. The bottle is small, which means it takes up less room in a grocery cart, is not heavy, and takes up less room on a laundry room shelf. That’s all good. The problem is that it does not have a handle, and it’s just large enough that it’s a bit challenging to hold with one hand. That makes pouring very awkward. The bottle also doesn’t have a spout or drip catch like some other detergents have. And the detergent is so incredibly thick and sticky (it’s got a consistency like honey) that pouring without a spout or drip catch means that some drips down the side of the bottle, and it’s actually pretty hard to wipe or even rinse off. Also, when I go to put the cap back on, there’s a weird air pressure thing going on that keeps pushing the cap back up.

But those are pretty minor complaints for a green laundry detergent (it’s made with at least 98% natural ingredients and is leaping bunny certified) that will last me a few months. So I give Mrs. Meyers laundry detergent a green thumbs up.

 

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Plastic Ocean Pollution

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This picture is from the exhibit “Out to Sea – The Plastic Garbage Project” from the Zurich Museum of Design in Switzerland. It shows how much garbage ends up in the oceans every fifteen seconds.471212_444702802227405_1680750966_o

A lot of this garbage is accidental. It’s stuff that got blown away or swept up in a storm. But most of it isn’t really accidental. It’s plastic water bottles that people left on the beach. It’s balloons that people release because they think it’s a nice tribute to someone (it isn’t, it’s just pollution). It’s waste materials from ships.

It’s all a problem.

But plastic pollution is probably the worst. It’s estimated that plastic pollution kills about one million sea animals every year. Animals can get tangled in plastic bags and suffocate. Or they can mistake plastic bags for jellyfish. If they try to eat the plastic bag, they can choke or get an intestinal blockage. It’s estimated that plastic bags kill 100,000 animals a year that way. Another problem is nurdles. Nurdles are tiny plastic beads. They often end up in the ocean where they resemble fish eggs. Animals eat the nurdles but can’t digest them. As their stomach fills with nurdles, the animal becomes unable to eat and pass real food. And they die of starvation.

So what can you do?

  • Never take a plastic shopping bag at the grocery store. Bring your own reusable bags instead.
  • Make sure you don’t leave any trash behind when you visit the beach.
  • Cut down on how much garbage you make. Recycle. Buy things that don’t have a lot of wrappers and packaging that will just get thrown away.
  • Don’t buy soaps that have those little plastic exfoliating beads.
  • Buy non-toxic soaps, shampoos, and cleaners.

Sources:

Causes and Effects of Ocean Dumping

http://www.environment911.org/The_Effects_of_Ocean_Dumping

http://www.ryot.org/microbeads-impact-environment-micro/361757

 

Product Review: Sophie’s Kitchen Vegan Crab Cakes

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I just tried Sophie’s Kitchen vegan crab cakes for the first time. 69e83695b76dd4b5ea6cb58f01909c85

The directions said you could bake them at 375 for about 15 minutes. I baked them on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. After 15 minutes, they didn’t look done to me (although I admit to not letting the oven preheat). They looked sort of gray and gooey. So I cooked them for another 15 minutes. Then they looked a bit golden and more firm.

My omni SO and I both tried it. Neither of us had ever had a crab cake before, vegan or not. So we didn’t have anything to compare it to and were just taking it for what it was.

When he broke off a piece and ate it, he said, “Ew, you can have mine.” Then after about 30 seconds he said, “I changed my mind, I want mine,” and proceeded to scarf the whole thing. While we had never had crab cakes before, he said he thought the flavor tasted more like clams than crab, which was fine with him.

I usually eat pretty bland food, so I found the flavor good but a bit strong. That was a good thing in my opinion because it meant I could stick it on a toasted bun to give it a little more crunch and make it more filling. Next time I think I will bake it in a cast iron skillet and eat it on a toasted bun with some toppings.

At $6 for a box of four cakes, they are a bit pricey. But since the flavor is so strong and versatile, you could easily pair it with pasta or stick it in a bun (like I did) to make it more filling and stretch further. And it’s not like vegan seafood is easy to find! Also, there is a $1 off coupon on their website.

You can also feel good about the fact that Sophie’s Kitchen donates 5% of their profits to help preserve ocean species and habitats. They’re also Non-GMO Project certified.

We recommend Sophie’s Kitchen vegan crab cakes and give them a green thumbs up.

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