Dawn dishwashing liquid is to go-to soap for cleaning up birds and animals caught in crude oil spills. Wildlife rescue groups swear by it, and have for years. They say it cuts the crude without doing harm to the animal. A company representative says it's a delicate balance of surfactants that make it so effective.
Proctor and Gamble donates supplies of Dawn to animal rescue operations. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127999735&sc=ipad&f=1001 -via Holy Kaw!
(Image credit: Elizabeth Shogren/NPR)
What the company doesn't advertise — and these days is reluctant to admit — is that the grease-cutting part of the potion is made from petroleum.
"To make the best product out there, you have to have some in there," says Ian Tholking of Procter & Gamble. He says less than one-seventh of Dawn comes from petroleum.
"To say Dawn's horrible because of this, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense," he says, "and that's what we're trying to avoid. Because we're not trying to do something evil here."
"I think it's extremely ironic," says Martin Wolf, a chemist for Seventh Generation, which makes a dish liquid without petroleum. "Here we are trying to squeeze every last drop of oil we can out of the Earth, and it's despoiling the Earth. And we're using that same product that's messing up the Earth to clean it up."
Wolf says his company sent a truckload of oil-free detergent to the gulf, but he hasn't heard whether anyone has used it.
Proctor and Gamble donates supplies of Dawn to animal rescue operations. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127999735&sc=ipad&f=1001 -via Holy Kaw!
(Image credit: Elizabeth Shogren/NPR)
If you think petroleum's the debil, fine, but I think shining an unpleasant light on Dawn isn't the answer. They have an effective product and do good things with it.
Oil is everywhere (erg, especially now, thanks to BP).
Thing is, it's time NOW to discover or invent an alternative. I think the sun is our answer. Go solar!
...at least not on any practical timeline.
Try Dr. Bronner's Magic soap. It's CERTIFIED ORGANIC.
Orangic has specified definitions BY LAW.
Compare Seventh Generation's dishwashing liquid: http://www.seventhgeneration.com/files/assets/pdf/msds/English/Hand_Dishwashing_Liquids_MSDS.pdf
To Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild (free) Soap: http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/OLBA08/BabyMildLiquidSoap.htm
Notice there no preservatives or additives in the Bronner's soap vs. the preservatives and additives in Seventh Gen's.
Petroleum has become a bad word. When it has really just become a "blanket" word, for people who really want to make something sound worse that it is. Just like the word "nuclear".
Many items are derived from petroleum. Some are even used to process ingredients used in Twinkies, like the vitamin b3.
BTW-I had tried seventh generation to clean up diesel fuel and oil from clothing. Took two washes, it was still there, then I just went and used Dawn. S'rsly.
While I am in favour of moving away from oil-based products whenever possible, for now, petrolium continues to be a ubiquitous force in one's life, whether or not one owns a vehicle.
They are not likely to "experiment" with untested bird washing techniques in the middle of a crisis. They'll use their time-tested protocols, which include the use of Dawn. (In the past, untested products might be tried out on dead oiled birds.)
As a friend just commented, "they need bird-washing, not green-washing."
For more on this:
http://www.ibrrc.org/dawn_alice.html
http://www.ibrrc.org/gulf-oil-spill-frequently-asked-questions-2010.html
There is no inherent evil quality in oil. In fact, it comes out of the earth. It's as natural as a tree.
I don't think your comments are moderated because you are speaking out against a large corporation, rather, you're comments are being moderated because, well, you comment like a spambot. But I can see how you'd like to think the former.
But oil is hugely wasted on transportation, heating, electricity. These are the biggest users of oil and can be transformed.
Time for an oil change.
Unfortunately, that wont happen soon because there is still so much profit to be made.