Ericathephantom’s Weblog

Although I’d never heard of this cleaning agent company before, a flash advert caught my attention on the Guardian website whilst browsing for my daily dose of eco-news. Normally i wouldn’t pay any notice to on-line ads but I decided to pursue this.

Ecover, a Belgian company, was set up in 1980 and uses only natural eco-friendly ingredients to make its detergents and cleaning products. Although it would seem this is just another big-shot company wanting to jump onto the eco bandwagon, Ecover claim they have been ‘trend setters from the very start’ by m,arketing a phosphate-free washing powder ‘even before phosphates were branded as a problem’.

So what’s the catch? Surely someone must have dug out some really horrifically damning dirt (excuse the pun) on these cleaning products. Well, yes, in a way. The best people have come up with is that the products are sometimes tested on water fleas and blood samples from farmed rabbits have been taken in the past. So if you feel empathy for water fleas, this product isn’t for you. Of course, these finding have ruffled the feathers of the Vegan Society who have dropped the product from their certified list. See the argument on Abi’s Hippy Shopper blog.

Could it be? An actual business doing what they can to be kind to the environment without actually doing it for selfish ‘jumping on the eco-bandwagon’ reasons? As for the products themselves, they can be found in most supermarkets across the UK. However, not all products can be found in one store, which is a bit odd. Maybe this is the time Ecover can truly blossom in this ‘eco-aware’ age and I wish them the best of luck. An advert has been made although I’m unsure as to weather this would make British television screens as I’ve only seen it on the internet. Check it out here.