Ecostore - No 'Nasty Chemicals'
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 01.20.06
Remember when we brought you news about the Organic Guy line of blokes personal care product, that included a long list of ingredients they wouldn’t use? This time around we have a New Zealand enterprise heading down the same road. No parabens, propylene glycolphosphates, nitrates, chlorine, ammonia, enzymes, synthetic perfumes, coloring or dyes, optical whiteners or brighteners or chemical preservatives. Phew! Thought I was going to run out of pixels there, for minute. Instead, Ecostore use simple mineral salts, renewable vegetable based surfactants and essential oils which are highly biodegradable. And they spread these ingredients across a diverse range of merchandise: household cleaners, laundry products, personal care, pet care and organic gardening supplies. The company also sponsors community projects in the vein of their "Growing Organic Kids" initiative whereby school kids get “real hands-on experience in growing an organic garden.” And they learn about “the art of composting and recycling, and an understanding of sustainability, zero waste and other organic principles.” ::Ecostore
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Err, dumb question from the non-biology-major here. How can anything organic not use or rely on enzymes in some way?
I was about to ask the same. What the heck is wrong with enzymes?
In fact, I'd venture so far as to say that much of what is scary about this list of "no's" is that the names are "chemical" sounding and intimidate the average under-educated person with enviromnental leanings: "if it doesn't sound familiar, it's got to be dangerous, right?" What's wrong with parabens and glycophosphates? What's wrong with nitrates?
Okay, so granted, there's nothing wrong with nitrates in and of themselves since they are necessary in many biological processes, but too much of it causes eutrophication of lakes and rivers where the treated water is released. But the majority of of the rest of the time, people freak out without thinking when they hear a chemical term they're not familiar with and presume that anything that advertises "no" whatever proves that whatever it is that is omitted must be somehow evil.
Good questions
As part of the team that started ecostore in 1993, we have been looking at the effect of chemicals on human health as well as the health of the planet.We have even rejected some chemicals that are plant based because they can have an adverse effect on human immune systems
You asked about the following chemicals
Enzymes in laundry products can have irritating and sensitising properties, reactivating in areas where clothes become damp.
Nitrates and phosphates add to eutrophication as mentioned plus nitrates can combine with the common TEA, or DEA chemicals found in many products to form carcinogenic nitrosamines
Parabins have long been suspect and were recently connected in the UK with breast cancer
The scientific case is not black and white in every case but we use the 'precautionary principle', that if there is enough doubt, we will use a different ingredient