Last year David Suzuki published an article about a woman in Spokane, Washington who would drive to a neighbouring state to buy a phosphate-containing product to clean her dishes, as she believed the phosphate component was essential for good results.

Suzuki uses the story to illustrate the impact of choices we make concerning dishwashing, that impact the environment and the health of our families. He challenges us to consider the total life cycle of the products we use.

Phosphates have been used for years as very powerful detergents that cut grease and facilitate the cleansing process. But the trade-off for phosphates is large in the impact they have from wastewater on rivers, streams and lakes. The problem is that they cause large algae blooms in fresh water lakes and rivers, starve the water of oxygen and kill wildlife and plants. Canada became the first country to ban phosphorus from laundry detergents in 2008.   Canada also was first to require that phosphorus be removed from municipal sewage discharged into the Great Lakes. Many of the American states bordering the Great Lakes then followed Canada’s lead but it is only in 2010 that bans on dishwasher products in the US are being implemented.

At Green Cricket we offer a choice of phosphate free dishwasher products. Next month (April 2010) we are giving a free package of Greener Choice dishwasher tablets with every order. Try them – they work AND they are good for the environment.

Now is the time for you to choose to make a difference, one dish at a time!

[written by Trevor Smith]

Exclusive to Green Cricket

I had the honour of being able to interview Howard Kremer, one of the writers on ABC’s “The Goode Family.” (Fridays, 8:30/7:30 Central.) We talked about how Hollywood approaches telling the story of how a green family tries to be good.

The Goode Family is a show which follows Gerald and Helen Goode, an environmentally-conscious family who live by the code “WWAGD?” (What Would Al Gore Do?) The Goodes cope every episode with the trials of constantly working towards being greener.

As you know, green Cricket is a company dedicated to making a greener lifestyle achievable and affordable.

“It’s a really good thing to be doing, because the affordability thing is a huge issue, as you know.”

There is an impression that being Green is an upper class pursuit, but the Goode’s are a more middle-class family. Was that a deliberate choice?

The idea was for “what are the struggles for the common man who attempts to integrate green stuff in to his everyday life?” And it’s becoming a more average person’s burden now.

Los Angeles is a hotbed of people who are both religiously fervent about environmentalism and also a love of one-upsmanship. How have you brought your experiences with that behaviour to the show?

I think the way that comes out is through Helen and Margot. In an early episode, Helen has a moral dilemma at the grocery store when she forgets her reusable bags. She spots Margot, and knowing she can’t ask for paper bags, decides to carry her groceries out by hand.

Where Green Cricket is based, there is a bag tax. We have to pay 5 cents per bag. We have experienced this exact dilemma because you have to “resign” yourself to paying the tax and sometimes you get a hard time for “not being prepared.”

Really? That’s hilarious… the pressure that’s put on people. Most of these laws ideas… I support them. I think we shouldn’t have plastic bags clogging landfills, and I think we understand that these ideas come from a good place, but what is interesting to us is how close these rules can come to fascism. When you’re not even allowed to carry around a plastic bag without everyone else ostracising you or coming down on you?

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