Because the oceans and all that live there are so important to us all, Ecover has always had the goal to make sure our products have a minimal impact on aquatic life. So when we hear about others who want to protect the ocean, fish, coral reefs and all aquatic life—we want to spread the word! So let us share a bit about Suzanne Chisolm, co-director of The Whale.

Ms. Chisolm is a British Columbia filmmaker who has filmed, directed and produced more than 20 documentary pieces for the National Geographic Channel. She’s explored subjects as diverse as puffins, melting ice in Greenland, rising sea levels in the Netherlands and ecological hotspots in the South Pacific.

Her recent film, The Whale, is about an orphaned orca whale, and it features Ryan Reynolds as the narrator. Ms. Chisolm directed the movie with Michael Parfit, and they chose to premiere it in the Faroe Islands, a place known for the annual pilot whale hunt – during which close to 800 pilot whales are killed each year.

Ecorazzi tells us that after the premiere, Ms. Chisolm said that many people, especially children, loved the story, and the whale “Luna.”  She said, “[The film ] The Whale doesn’t tell you what to do. It just tells a story about the strongest of emotions, about friendship across boundaries.”

By making this movie about friendship between a whale and humans – and premiering it in a country where whale hunting is ingrained in the culture – Ms. Chisolm may have started a sea of change! Perhaps the next generation on the Faroe Islands will see whales in a different light because of this film. It just might foster in them an urge to protect these beautiful creatures. Well done!

Image 1 via planetinfocus.org
Image 2 via wegotthiscovered.com

When it comes to beets, many of us just don’t know how versatile and delicious they can be! The often under-appreciated beet packs a major nutritional punch: they’re rich in fiber, folate, iron, magnesium and a slew of vitamins. The foodies at Ecover suggest a recipe that will impress you with a creamy texture and stunning color – Kay Bushnell’s Red Velvet Soup. It makes for an irresistible combination and a great way to sneak more veggies into your diet. Seriously, this isn’t your grandfather’s borscht! So go ahead and try ‘em – you just might like ‘em!

Ingredients:

1 pound red beet (about 3 2-1/2″ beets)
3 medium russet potatoes or 2 large potatoes
2 cups beet cooking liquid
1 cup soymilk OR rice beverage
1 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon brown rice syrup OR sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice (or to taste)
2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Scrub the beets and cut off most of the stalks, leaving 1 inch of stalks attached. Do not remove beet skins or thin root tails. Scrub the potatoes and place beets and potatoes in a large cooking pot. Cover the potatoes and beets with water, and boil them until they are tender, about 40 minutes. With a slotted spoon remove beets and potatoes from the pot, and set the red cooking water aside. Cool and peel the potatoes and beets, removing the thin beet root tails. Reserve 3/4 of one beet and slice it into julienne strips (matchstick-size strips). Place the remaining beets and all the potatoes in a blender or food processor along with about 2 cups of red cooking water. Blend until very smooth.

Return the blended beets and potatoes to the cooking pot. Add the soymilk or rice beverage, vinegar, rice syrup or sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and julienned beets. Taste and adjust lemon juice and salt. Add more red cooking water if a thinner soup is desired. Heat gently and serve. Garnish each serving with a sprinkling of thinly sliced chives or green onion.

Yield: Makes 6-7 cups of soup.

Recipe by Kay Bushnell © Copyright via Sierra Club.org
Image by FotoDawg via Flickr.com

OK, so maybe cleaning the toilet isn’t our favorite job…we know that no one likes to do it. But why not make the task easier with a product that really works!? Our Toilet Bowl Cleaner  is great at removing scale and calcium soaps, its convenient spout makes it easy to use, and its great scent keeps the experience fresh!

Ecover is always happy to answer questions, and here are two about our Toilet Bowl Cleaner.

Why didn’t it remove a pink ring/stain around toilet bowl?

The stain is probably bacterial in origin. Sometimes stains can develop that aren’t scale-based and not readily removed by the cleaner and they often occur at the waterline; with constant contact with both water and air and a fairly fixed location, it’s less susceptible to cleaning (as the product gets diluted the moment it hits the water in the bowl). We would recommend applying the Toilet Bowl Cleaner and letting it rest for an hour or two, then scrubbing it vigorously with a toilet brush.

How come the cleanser “etched” the tile?

The citric acid in our toilet cleaner bonds with other ions to make them soluble. Ceramics are commonly colored by adding certain metals to the clay; so it’s possible that the citric acid has leeched them out of the tile. But product would need to have been in prolonged contact with the tile (not just hours, but days or even weeks) and the tile would have to be of a poor quality.  Also, if the tile was conventionally painted, the citric acid may have leeched metallic pigment out of the paint—unlikely, as metal-based paints are becoming rare. The toilet cleaner does not contain any sort of bleaching system, so something (grime, pigment or paint) would have had to have been actively removed from the tile.

More questions about our products? Don’t hesitate to contact us. We love talking about cleaning and helping our customers get the best results!

Dashing Hollywood actor Kevin Costner has been in numerous movies with titles that sound pretty appealing to environmentalists, like Field of Dreams, Dances With Wolves and Waterworld (which looked at a future where the polar ice caps have melted and the world is desperately short of resources). Ecover has enjoyed Costner’s performances over the years, and now looks at the work he’s doing to help keep our planet’s water cleaner.

The Daily Green recently nominated Costner for its 2011 “greenest celebrity” award. Here’s what they had to say about him:

While many celebs spoke out against the Gulf oil spill, Kevin Costner took
direct action through an innovative, science-based startup he co-founded,
Ocean Therapy Solutions. Costner had spent the last 15 years supporting
research on centrifuge systems to more safely and effectively remove oil
from water … Costner also testified before Congress, not just as a
concerned actor, but as an expert in marine cleanups.

Now, through Blue Planet Solutions, Costner’s technology is being used as the first line of defense against disastrous oil spills. The devices collect crude oil as soon as a spill occurs, helping to avoid irreversible environmental damage to the world’s oceans. According to Blue Planet Solutions, Costner’s “vision and ultimate success with [the centrifuge] technology is its unparalleled efficiency and success in spill cleanup.”

We love to see the impact that one person can have on the environment! Thanks to Costner’s dreams and his investment in this innovative technology, the Earth’s oceans are already safer from oil spills devastation.

Image by BP America, via Flickr.com

At Ecover we know that allergies of all kinds are difficult and even dangerous to live with. Dealing with allergies can be particularly daunting for parents of young children who are faced on a daily basis with an allergen-filled world. The good news is that one of the best ways to keep children safe from allergens is to keep a clean home.

Whether you’re trying to keep a bedroom free of dust mites or avoid cross-contamination in the kitchen, cleaning regularly and thoroughly can make a huge difference. For example, dusting and vacuuming routinely will help eliminate dust mites. In addition, using special covers for pillows and mattresses—and washing them frequently —helps keep dust mites at bay.

When it comes to food allergies, families cannot be too careful. While some parents keep potentially dangerous foods out of the home completely, others follow strict protocols to make sure that an allergic child is not exposed to the offending food. Keeping a clean kitchen is a must. In addition to keeping foods with the allergen in a specific (and out-of-reach) place, precautions such as washing dishes thoroughly and cleaning counters often are just two ways to help ensure that work surfaces and serving items are safe for children with allergies.

Of course, using ecological products like Ecover is a good choice too, our products have mild or unscented varieties. In fact, many of our laundry products have been dermatologically tested to be safe for sensitive skin. A clean house is a safer house for kids with allergies … and Ecover is happy to be here to help make that happen!

Image by needoptic via Flickr.com

No matter what kind of dirt or stain winds up on your clothes, it’s no match for Ecover’s Liquid Laundry Wash. Whether you’re washing a big load or small, colors or whites; our powerful cleaning action, plant-based and mineral ingredients, make Ecover Laundry Liquid ideal. Your clothes will come out so fresh and so clean, you’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch sooner!

It’s because we utilize  pioneering ingredients which give the words “clean clothes” a whole new look! Our Liquid Laundry Wash does the dirty work by removing the tough stains, but it’s safe and gentle on your family’s skin because of those natural, plant-based and mineral ingredients. It tackles stains and keeps colors bright – without the unnecessary optical brighteners or phosphates, glycerin or borax. So you get an affordable product that doesn’t harm your family’s wellness!

For optimal results, be sure to wash at a temperature of 140 (F) or lower. Of course Ecover’s Liquid Wash is completely biodegradable, minimizing negative effects on aquatic life!  Our low-sudsing, High Efficiency (HE) formulation has always been suitable for HE machines and isalso totally biodegradable which means It is compatible with top and front loading machines.

And our Liquid Wash has a light, fresh scent that is heavenly! With so many laundry products on the market with harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances, it’s great to know that there’s a better and safer option out there that leaves your precious clothes looking and smelling great. Ecover’s Liquid Wash provides peace of mind knowing that its pleasant aroma is natural.

So whether you use a front-loader or you prefer to wash by hand, you can trust that our powerful Liquid Laundry Wash. We’re confident its power and pleasant scent will leave you hooked!

Halle Berry may be best known as a talented actress and a red carpet showstopper, but Ecover also knows that she’s stunning and special on the inside as well as she is committed to sustainable living and supporting a number of charitable and environmental efforts!

When she gave birth to her daughter Nahla, Halle decided to use organic fabrics, cloth diapers and other ecological products that are safe both for her baby and for the environment. She said, “I’m working on the nursery, but it’s all going to be organic and eco-friendly. There are so many things out now…I’m going to really try hard to make it all organic!”

In 2006 Halle and other celebs including Pierce Brosnan and Cindy Crawford gathered on a beach in Malibu to protest a proposed natural gas facility, arguing that the terminals don’t meet clean air requirements.

In addition, she supports the Shaster Foundation’s Indlovu Project in Africa. The Shaster Foundation supports the Monwabisi Park community, helping build an eco-friendly clinic, youth center and soup kitchen. Eco tourists who stay in a dorm or guesthouse can volunteer with the Indlovu Project during their stay, and funds from those accommodations support the community project. When Berry visited in 2010 she was “so impressed with all the work that’s being done here. It makes my heart feel good. There’s sadness too…but I’m also inspired because I see that people care, and I think that’s what makes a difference in the world – that people really care and show up.”

It’s wonderful to see this actress use her talents and financial standing to help make the world a little better. Just gives us another reason to smile when we see her in the movies or gracing the cover of another magazine!  

Photo: Halle Berry visits the Shaster Foundation’s Indlovu Project, a squatter community turned Eco-village.

Image via ShaneshirleySmith.blogspot.com

We wish that our business model was followed in every industry. Today we’re looking at the case in the construction industry, where fluid economics and demanding schedules can conspire to make building a haphazard process. Commercial building projects can chew through raw materials, consume great amounts of our resources and waste energy and send a seemingly endless parade of waste to landfills.

Fortunately it appears that there’s growth in some ecologically-sound building practices, thanks to the efforts of environmentally savvy (and LEED certified) architects and trade groups. Along with government incentives and education, developers now get greater input relating to the use of sustainable materials and practices.

 LEED Gold certification is a goal for projects seeking sustainable building.

In addition, it’s consumers at home that may be fostering more change than trade groups or government regulations – because of the growth of home projects among DIY’rs.  Popular media outlets like HGTV and Planet Green, and other educational information  provides a wealth of integrated solutions for efficient remodeling in your home.  Big-box retailers like Home Depot and Lowes also help ecologically friendly remodeling and insulation construction more accessible to DIY.

Perhaps this consumer driven effort at home will provide a “trickle-up” effect, with commercial construction following the buzz to less wasteful building practices, and more earth-friendly standards.

Image via Wikimedia Commons: excess or damaged building materials often go straight to landfills.

The cleaning aisle is a minefield of potential irritants when you have sensitive skin. So many laundry and dishwashing products contain chemical fragrances and dyes that us sensitive types need to avoid! Ecover knows many of you trust our plant and mineral based products to be gentle on you and your family. But hey, there’s no need to just take our word for it – we put a whole range of Ecover products to the test – and an external team of dermatologists found them suitable for sensitive skin!

The following products were tested and passed with flying colors:

• Dishwashing Liquids
• Laundry Liquid
• Laundry Powder Zero
• Bleach Powder
• Fabric Softeners
• Delicate Wash

In conducting the tests, specially trained dermatologists recruited 22 men and women with sensitive skin, who then used Ecover products in their everyday lives for three weeks while washing dishes and doing laundry. During this testing, dermatologists closely oversaw the participant’s reactions, thoroughly monitoring their skin for any development of abnormalities. The men and women were also asked to score the products on several criteria, such as skin irritation, redness, and itching. All the Ecover tested products were found to be “gentle to the skin.” Yesss!

We are proud of these results of course, and we want everyone to be confident with our products and their skin sensitivity. So we took a look at the many confusing logos pertaining to sensitivity currently on the market, and decided to develop one that had a clear and direct message – simply: dermatologists found our products suitable for sensitive skin, nothing less. So look for the new “Dermatologically Tested For Sensitive Skin” logo on the Ecover website. Rest assured that Ecover will always be tough on dirt, but always kind to your skin … naturally!

Mark Boyle, an economics grad and former businessman, gives the adage “less is more” a whole new meaning! Inspired by Gandhi’s call to be the change you want to see in the world, and being disillusioned by society’s emphasis on materialism and consumerism, Mark set out with empty pockets and resourceful ambitions to become “The Moneyless Man.”

He sold his houseboat to live closer to nature without a penny to his name. He found a place to live where he could barter labor for accommodations; he set up a “rocket stove” made from two old catering tins, feeding it with old wooden boxes. Then Mark made his own solar shower – a black plastic bag suspended from a tree and warmed by the sun — and his meals consisted of produce from his organic farm and wild food he foraged. Mark even created his own compost toilet!

Money, in Mark’s opinion, is the proverbial root of all evil. “The degrees of separation between the consumer and the consumed have increased so much that people are completely unaware of the levels of destruction…in the production of the food and “stuff” we buy. The tool that has enabled this disconnection is money,” Mark maintains. Mark’s lifestyle allows the opportunity to reconnect with “life,” and he discovered that not only could he eliminate bills and burdensome accoutrements of modern day living, but that he was healthier, happier and more productive without money.

In his book “The Moneyless Man,” Mark shares his journey, useful tips, and relays the philosophical lessons he learned. Profits from the book are invested in buying land to create a “Freeconomy community,” where people can experiment living close to the Earth and far from finances. At Ecover we admire Mark’s simple and sustainable philosophy on life…we think he’s onto something!

Image via Wikipedia