Have you ever stopped to consider what's in your dishwasher soap?

You've seen the TV commercials.  Each company is trying to best the other with which soap is the strongest and the cleanest and the one that leaves the dishes without streaks.  But have you ever stopped to read the box?

Consider what goes into your dishwasher on a daily basis.  You probably have silverware, maybe some ceramics, some china, your glassware, your standard plastics (storage containers etc.) and your wooden stuff, right?

More than likely any type of soap residue is washed off from the china and possibly the glassware and the silverware.  But what about your favorite wooden spoon (admit it, you have one) and the plastics?  Wood and plastic are very porous (absorbent) materials.  Unglazed ceramics will do the same thing.

Now consider that you feed your family with these items.  So, essentially, you are giving them a mouth full of soap on a daily basis.  Soap is the worse thing for the human body.  That is why it is used as a torture technique.  Soap eats away at the intestinal lining causing all kinds of problems.  Once its gone, that lining doesn't grow back.

What's worse is, every time you go out to eat, you're subject to even higher doses of soap residue as commercial dishwashers use concentrated amounts of soap due to the very short cycles of the washers (sometimes as short as four minutes).  That's a whole lot of soap.

There are several things you can do:

Go to a natural food store or to the natural foods isle and buy dish soap from there.  Check the ingredients.  Standard soap labels should not have tons of chemicals or bleach. 

There are a myriad of products available to consumers. 

Toni Natural products can be ordered online.  They boast all natural cleaning products without harmful chemicals. 
While I'm not a big fan of Seventh Generation, they do carry a line of natural and environmentally safe products.  Their products can now be found at your local food store. 
Trader Joe's is my all time favorite.  They have a fantastic line of natural and environmentally safe products.  Unfortunately, they are not nationwide (yet) and you can't order online. 
Sun and Earth has a good line too and you can order from them online or at your local stores. 
Caldrea items also claim to be earth friendly but their marketing niche seems to be to the more fruiffy consumer as they advertise "luxurious household cleaning supplies."  Who wants lavender smelling dishes anyway?
This is just a short list.  There are many other products now available.

So, the next time you go shopping for dish washer products (and any other types of cleaners for that matter), review the labels and consider how much of those products you're actually willing to ingest.

Bonus:  Currently, there is a contest to win a year's supply of GREEN laundry detergent called Dropps.  Check it out here!  Hurry, contest ends 3/31/08.