Many of the products we buy are composed of just a handful of chemicals mixed with water. As a result, many of the soaps, detergents, juices, and other items on our shopping list can be bought in concentrated form, which is much more efficient to manufacture and more environmentally friendly.
Purchasing products from concentrate prevents extra waste of packaging and water. Recently, Wal-Mart announced that it will now sell only concentrated laundry detergent in their stores. Wal-Mart estimates that this will save approximately 125 million pounds of cardboard, 95 million pounds of plastic, and 400 million gallons of water. Considering that Wal-Mart sells 25% of all laundry detergent used in the United States, this is a major step forward.
Concentrated laundry detergents are just as effective as standard detergents, but require less detergent per wash, leading to smaller plastic containers and less water mixed with the cleaner. Similarly, buying one package of concentrated juice can provide just as much or more beverage, with the same taste as a regular container, but using much less water and packaging. You can re-hydrate the juice with the exact amount of water that you need, therefore eliminating wasted water. Concentrated products are simply non-watered down versions of the product, giving you more of what you are paying for and less water and using less packaging. If we “concentrate” a little more on what we buy, our environment will be much healthier.
