(And is it really good for graywater use?)
Ask Google AI and it’s likely to say Ecos. Probably also Ecover. They do have very few ingredients, and they’re both free of the kind of synthetic additives, artificial dyes and scents, and harmful chemicals like alkylbenzene that you find in standard industrial laundry detergents.
But if you plan to pour these soaps on your yard, you have to pay a little more attention.
Ecos is proud to say their one sodium ingredient is derived from plants. Ecover has three sodium ingredients.
Ecos also says on their website that their detergents are “good” for graywater use.
The thing is, if you’re putting it out on the ground to feed your plants, why are you including any sodium at all? Especially when there are sodium-free options like Oasis and Bio-Pac?
Are you about re-using graywater?
Or are you just wanting to put less harmful junk through the sewer system? (Which is a fine thing, to be sure, if that’s all you want to do.)
The point to get about raising a garden or having a healthy landscape is that you’re feeding soil microbes. And soil microbes are damaged by salt.
A little salt damages them a little. More salt damages them more.
Why do you want to damage them at all?
Here’s how it works:
Plants breathe in carbon dioxide (CO2). They also absorb water (H2O). They separate carbon from oxygen in CO2, and they separate hydrogen from oxygen in H2O. They breathe out the oxygen, which we are glad about, and they use carbon to build their bodies. (Plants are made out of carbon – when you burn wood, you release carbon back into the atmosphere.)
Another very interesting thing plants do with carbon, in combination with the hydrogen from the water, is they make carbo-hydrates.
Even more interesting is that they exude those carbohydrates from their roots. We call them root exudates.
Why do plants make root exudates?
Because fungi and microorganisms in the soil thrive on carbohydrates. It fuels them to break down organic matter and minerals into simpler forms that plants can use as nutrients.
Plants can’t soak up nutrients as they are found in the ground. They need fungi and microorganisms to break them down first.
So the trade being made is, plants give out carbohydrates, and fungi & bacteria etc. give back phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen, and all the trace elements that plants need to live.
It’s the exchange of nutrients between living things in the soil that makes your garden grow.
So when you’re feeding your garden, you’re not just watering your plants; you’re not even really feeding them – you’re actually feeding the entire soil food web, all the fungi and bacteria and actinomycetes and nematodes and protozoa and everything else that lives down there. Those are the guys who feed your plants.
So don’t feed them sodium.
You can certainly use less poisonous soaps than Tide, All, Gain, and the rest of the industrial chemical concoctions sold as laundry detergent. You can send less toxic junk to the sewage treatment plants.
But if your goal is to feed your living garden, whether you’re growing your own food or not, why don’t you use stuff that’s clean? Ecos and Ecover say they’re “good” for graywater use, but really they’re just not as bad as the big-name stuff sold in big-box stores.
Halophytes are plants that are adapted to salty environments. If you’re growing a halophyte garden, go ahead and use the sodium eco-soaps.
What are your reasons for not using Oasis, Bio-Pac, or Dr. Bronner’s?
Send us an email and tell us why. We’re curious to know.
Here’s a 6-minute video from Dr. Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web School explaining the basics:
Here is an academic paper from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory called “Feed Your Friends: Do Plant Exudates Shape the Root Microbiome?”:
Link to article online: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/69z6h6mx
Downloadable PDF:
Even industrial agriculture is getting the clue about the importance of soil microbiology.
What Are Soil Microbes & Why Do They Matter?
July 1, 2023
No-Till Farmer is a magazine that since 1972 has delivered expertise to thousands of growers on how to boost crop yields and increase profits:
