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The Post reports on Virginia's move to ban the sale of dishwasher detergents that contain phosphates. Phosphorus has been found to be a major source of pollution in the struggling Chesapeake Bay.
The ban won't go into effect until 2010, however. The Soap and Detergent Association successfully lobbied several states, including Virginia and Maryland, the latter of which which already passed a similar ban, to wait two more years to put their bans in place in order to give the industry more time to develop alternatives to phosphates in dishwashing detergents. The Post's money quote is from Kristen Skowronski, an eighth-grader from Herndon who pushed her local delegate to get behind a bill to ban phosphates: "My family uses the phosphate-free kind. Our dishes are just as clean." In other words, the Soap and Detergent lobby is full of crap in saying they need two more years to develop phosphate-free detergents.
D.C. Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) introduced a bill earlier this year that would ban dishwashing detergents with 5 percent or more phosphate content from being sold in the District. At the time, our commenters were skeptical of the bill, saying nothing would stop District residents from buying detergents with phosphates in Virginia and bringing them home to D.C. With this latest news, it appears that by 2010, both Virginia and Maryland will no longer allow the sale of dishwashing detergents with phosphates. Cheh's bill is now waiting on action by the Committee on Public Works and the Environment, chaired by Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham.
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I wash my clothes in Tide. Know why? Because it's too damn cold out-Tide.
Take that, Chesapeake Bay!
The Soap and Detergent Association???
Really?
In Russia, soap washes you!
There's an association for everything. Hooray for lobbying.
We here at The Soap and Detergent Association (yes, there is such a place) wanted to respectfully set the record straight on our support of the legislation banning the use of phosphates in consumer auto-dish detergents.
There are indeed non-phosphate auto-dish detergents available today. But they represent a miniscule amount of the overall auto-dish detergents that are currently available in the marketplace.
SDA has successfully advocated for a uniform implementation of the phosphate ban - by July 2010 - in a number of states. This target date provides the necessary time for companies to reformulate their products without phosphates and ensure product availability throughout the supply chain.
You don't just snap your fingers and instantly change the formula of a product. If you change one ingredient, you change the entire formulation.
So, we hope Somer would perhaps be a tad more eloquent in her assessment of our position.
SDA is proud to work with lawmakers and public officials throughout the Mid-Atlantic on thoughtful, solution-oriented legislation like what was passed in Virginia.
Sincerely,
Brian Sansoni
VP - Communication
The Soap and Detergent Association
Well, Brian, if you ever do succeed in pushing this legislation through DC you are going to have to tear my bottle of Cascade from my cold, dead hands.
mmm. runoff pollution. mmmmm. decades of tv watching. mmm.
brian, i'm sure sommer would have appreciated it if you spelled her name right. if you take one letter out of her name, you change the entire spelling.
imgoph is proud to make fun of lawmakers and public officials throught the mid-atlantic with ridiculous, snarky comments like this one right here.
sincerely,
imgoph
vp - the commenters
dcist.com
In response to the soap industry, there are already many detergents that are phosphate free like the ones that I use today. They don't need any time to reformulate. There was already some sort of Ban on Phosphorous in VA 1988. If we just pass the law now they would have a product out pronto. There are delaying hoping that they can change lawmakers minds or the public will forget in three years.
The picture of the 18 year old model who is so passionate about her tide is obviously put there by the soap industry too. So don't be duped. Write your deletegates and don't be duped into not voting. By electing responsive leaders we can all win against the few who want to make more money for billionaires at the expense of the public.
Phosphate free detergents have been commercially available for decades. Their formulas are not rocket science, nor are they necessarily more expensive to produce or buy. In fact, many higher priced name brands actually contain more phosphate rather than less.
The lobbying association's objections are about protecting the market share of the large, established, high volume companies who need to consider the costs associated with reformulating- costs of changing materials, supply, and manufacturing processes. The lobbying association was relatively upfront about this part- what they're not saying is that phosphate's been widely recognized for the last half-century as a major pollutant. In light of that, it's hard to see how their continued foot-dragging equates to "support".
Closer to the truth is that, after fighting regulation and sound environmental business practices for decades, they're apparently now (reluctantly) resigned.