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April 01, 2009
Spokane Residents Smuggle Suds Over STUPID Green Brands
Spokane residents smuggle suds over green brands
The quest for squeaky-clean dishes has turned some law-abiding people in Spokane into dishwater-detergent smugglers.
They are bringing Cascade or Electrasol in from out of state because the eco-friendly varieties required under Washington state law don't work as well. Spokane County became the launch pad last July for the nation's strictest ban on dishwasher detergent made with phosphates, a measure aimed at reducing water pollution. The ban will be expanded statewide in July 2010, the same time similar laws take effect in several other states.
But it's not easy to get sparkling dishes when you go green.
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.
As a result, there has been a quiet rush of Spokane-area shoppers heading east on Interstate 90 into Idaho in search of old-school suds.
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.
Supporters of the ban acknowledge it is not very popular.
"I'm not hearing a lot of positive feedback," conceded Shannon Brattebo of the Washington Lake Protection Association, a prime mover of the ban. "I think people are driving to Idaho."
Steve Marcy, manager of the Costco in Coeur d'Alene, about 10 miles east of the Washington state line, estimated that sales of dishwasher detergent in his store have increased 10 percent. He knows where the customers are coming from.
"I'll joke with them and ask if they are from Spokane," Marcy said. "They say, `Oh yeah.'"
Shoppers can still buy phosphate detergents in Washington state by venturing outside Spokane County, but Idaho is more convenient to many Spokane residents.
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Wild Thing's comment........
LMAO I am sorry but I just can't help it.
I’ll give up my detergent when they pry it from my dishpan hands.
I am sooooo NOT an enviro person. If ever there was a bunch of human beings that are phony straight from the womb it is the enviro group. I LOVE that their stupid suds don't work LOL that is rich. If we keep caving in to these enviro nut cases we will be the cave dwellers, or grass huts and digging roots.
Forget ammo, start stockpiling Cascade!
Heh heh
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at April 1, 2009 06:47 AM
Comments
You know, I have no problem if someone chooses to use the green stuff, but I have a problem with laws being enacted that "shove" this down my throat. It should be my choice what I use, not what someone dictates to me. I'm a big girl now and I can make my own dinner and clean it up too.
Posted by: Lynn at April 1, 2009 08:19 AM
This green technology is as bogus as there nonsense detergent. It doesn't work, and wastes your money, trying to comply with impossible laws regulating something that doesn't even exist.
Posted by: Mark at April 1, 2009 08:54 AM
Get ready for more of this green nonsense. There will be Federal laws and regulations passed impacting all of us. This will be a convienent way for Obama and company to spread their communist controls.
Posted by: TomR at April 1, 2009 10:38 AM
BTW, cute graphic WT.
Posted by: TomR at April 1, 2009 10:39 AM
Lynn, I agree, I don't like those leading
the way in their groups, but regular
citiizens that want to follow the eco life
that is up to them.
But to force us is wrong, and we were never
given the choice.
Nicholas told me today that there are signs
up at the store here about there will be a
deadline and then all the normal suds will be
banned.
Posted by: Wild Thing at April 1, 2009 08:00 PM
Mark, it is going to be horrid. And Nicholas
said it is coming here where we are too.
Posted by: Wild Thing at April 1, 2009 08:01 PM
Tom, your right, this is one big step
to controlling all of us.
Tom thank you so much for liking the graphic.
I really appreciate it so much, it means a
lot to me.
Posted by: Wild Thing at April 1, 2009 08:04 PM
