Ecover!

[jazzactivist]

Hi everyone. I have been using Ecover washing up liquid for quite a few years now, from when you could only by it in small health shops! However, I don't think that it is as good as it used to be. I have just bought a bottle of their new Grapefruit and Green Tea washing up liquid and it seems thinner and doesn't seem to cut grease as well. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just me? I hope that this old ethical standby isn't going downhill now that it is much more widely marketed...

[Crocus]

Hi Jazz, of course we don't get Ecover over here, but for the sake of what you're saying that the product is perhaps going downhill, I find the same with paperbags. I've just put a posting in on the "Do you remember your bags" thread. I also find that the bio washing up liquid here not as good as the usual one I used for many a year now. xx

[Rustic Pumpkin]

Ecover also isn't as environmentally consciensious as it used to be, apparently.

I have used Clearspring (Faith in Nature) as it is amongst other things paraben free.

[jazzactivist]

Eek! Thanks, Rustic pumpkin, that'll explain the change then. It can be so hard to keep up with the changes to ethical products. An indicator is usually when they start to become available in mainstream shops. I remember when Green and Blacks chocolate was ethical and lovely, and only available in some small shops, but then it appeared everywhere including in ads on TV and it turned out that a large number of their shares had been sold to Cadbury's. Now the chocolate isn't so nice for a range of reasons. They sell Clearspring products in our local health shop, so I'll get that in future. Thanks for the suggestion. Has anyone else spotted any changes to products lately?

[Rustic Pumpkin]

I know a couple of people who are very 'in to' this sort of thing and after years of using Ecover they have stopped while making further investigations into their environmental committment and animal testing policies. I will let you know what they find out. I have used Faith in Nature for years. Also, wasn't G&B taken over by Cadbury as an effort on Cadbury's part to be 'doing the right thing'. How easy to become fair trade: buy a company!

[Ivy]

Ecover has just become available here and it is sold in most supermarkets. I use lemon and Aloe Vera and noticed that it has no artificial smell which is the main reason I had been looking for a new washing up liquid. Rustic if you find out more about them not being what they say they are (eco friendlier than the rest) please let me know. The washing up liquids I used so far that I bought in health shops seemed to go off within a matter of weeks turning into smelly slime nothing I would like to was my plates with.

[Rustic Pumpkin]

Ivy, I think it has to be said that whatever else, Ecover is definitely still among the better preferences for environmentally sound choices, its just that they are, allegedly, not as 'sound' as they used to be, and it seems that if this is the case it is due to getting bigger and not being able to cope with the demand. Perhaps this has/will change with time. Someone hinted to me that they have been bought out, but I have yet to find substantiating evidence for this claim.