By 2025, UK consumers are being asked to reconsider how they use dishwashing liquid in order to lessen the negative effects it has on marine life. British households use millions of plastic bottles every year, which are typically used for packaging.
Concerns over the packaging’s negative environmental effects as well as the liquid’s detrimental effects during dishwashing have been voiced by home cleaning experts.
Each washbasin that empties into the sewage system has the potential to disrupt aquatic habitats due to the combination of chemicals and fossil fuels in the washing-up liquid.
‘Surfactants’ are the active element in dishwashing solutions that removes dirt from dishes and keeps it suspended in the water, according to Sustainably Lazy. However, they cautioned:
“Mainstream brands use fossil fuel-derived surfactants, many of which end up in rivers and harm aquatic life.”
Ethical Superstore backs up this warning by pointing out that the majority of traditional dishwashing solutions include Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, or SLS.
It says: “Most conventional washing up liquids contain sodium lauryl sulphate or SLS. This acts as a surfactant, meaning it reduces the surface tension of the water and creates foam, leading to extra cleaning power. But it’s not without its issues.”
The Express reports “SLS doesn’t just dissolve away to nothing when it’s used. After it goes down the plughole it can end up lingering in our waterways, endangering marine life and doing untold damage to the ecosystem.”.
The severity of the harm surfactants can cause to marine life is shown by research that was published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology.
The statement read: “The use of surfactants in households and industries is inevitable and so is their discharge into the environment, especially into the water bodies as effluents. Being surface-active agents, their utilization is mostly seen in soaps, detergents, personal care products, emulsifiers, wetting agents, etc.
“Surfactants are capable of penetrating the cell membrane and thus cause toxicity to living organisms. Accumulation of these compounds has been known to cause significant gill damage and loss of sight in fish.”
The packaging itself presents environmental dangers in addition to the hazardous chemicals. Only a third of plastic packaging is recycled out of the more than 170 million tonnes of rubbish produced in the UK each year.
The persistence of plastic garbage was brought to light in 2018 when the Burnham Coastguard Rescue Team found a 47-year-old bottle of washing liquid on the beach that had not broken down.
People were urged to “try and reduce our day-to-day plastic use, which is difficult with current manufacturing.” Ocado provides a solution for anyone looking for environmentally friendly substitutes for conventional dishwashing detergents.
Priced at £4.50, Fairy supplies a refill carton for its plastic bottles, enabling customers to refresh a typical Fairy liquid bottle “more than twice.”
Fairy advocates for this environmentally responsible choice by saying: “Fairy Max Power antibacterial washing up liquid refill carton allows you to refill your 370ml upside-down bottle more than twice and helps you to save up to 85% of the plastic. The refill is recyclable.
“The Max Power bottle with no flip cap gives you Fairy’s ultimately convenient cleaning experience. It helps you get out of the kitchen faster by making washing dishes fast and easy.”
Other options available on the market include eco-friendly washing liquids made from plants that provide reusable solutions, as well as solid bars of washing liquid, which often work better in soft water areas than hard water ones.
Every time your washbasin empties into the sewers, you may be endangering aquatic life due to a mix of chemicals and fossil fuels.