What happens to your dish soap after you pull the plug? Most of us never find out. Let’s follow one soapy drop on its journey, because where it ends up is a big part of why we care about biodegradability at Earth Choice.
Follow the drop
Whether you’re doing the dishes, mopping the floor or running a load of washing, the suds head down the drain to a wastewater treatment plant or, in some homes, a septic system. Treatment removes a lot, but not everything. What’s left is released into rivers, oceans or soil, and some households also reuse greywater on the garden. Either way, a little of your cleaning product goes back to nature.
Meet the clean-up crew
Here’s where biodegradability comes in. Wastewater plants, rivers and soil are full of microorganisms that treat certain ingredients as food. An ingredient is biodegradable when these microbes can break it down into simple, harmless substances: water, carbon dioxide and biomass (basically, more microbes).
Readily biodegradable is the stronger claim. It means the ingredient breaks down quickly and thoroughly under standard laboratory test conditions, rather than hanging around in waterways.
Why does it matter?
Surfactants are the clever molecules that lift grease off your plates, and they’re the ingredients most likely to go down the drain in large amounts. If they don’t break down, they can build up in waterways and harm aquatic life. The faster and more completely an ingredient is broken down, the less chance it has to cause trouble.
Think of it as cleaning up after the cleaning. A product that does its job in your kitchen but lingers in a river hasn’t really finished the job.
Is plant-based the same as biodegradable?
Not quite, and this is where it gets interesting. “Plant-derived” tells you where an ingredient starts. “Biodegradable” tells you where it ends up. We look at both: where an ingredient comes from, and what happens to it afterwards.
Not all “biodegradable” claims are equal
The word is everywhere, but on its own it doesn’t say how quickly or how fully something breaks down. A claim backed by a recognised test tells you far more.
The SLES we use is plant-derived and readily biodegradable according to Australian Standard AS4351, the Australian standard for testing the biodegradability of surfactants. In plain terms, it has been tested against an independent benchmark and meets the requirements for breaking down readily in the environment.
What to look for on a label
- A named standard or test, not just a general statement.
- Ingredient transparency. A brand that’s open about what’s in its products is usually open about what happens to them too
- Answers. If you can’t find the information, ask the company.
The bottom line
Should cleaning products be biodegradable? Absolutely. They end up in our waterways and soil, so it makes sense that they break down responsibly once they’ve done their job.
Got a question about the ingredients in our products? Our customer service team is happy to help at enq@naturesorganics.com.au.