"Be kind to the Polar Bear, When in the wild, leave him there." First line of "Ursus ...
"Be kind to the Polar Bear, When in the wild, leave him there." First line of "Ursus Maritimus" written by myself, see my poetry opinion if you want to read the whole thing.
This is a 5 litre white opaque plastic container with a white plastic screw top. The washing up liquid within has a citrus aroma to it, like tangerine and lime.
The label is an orange blue and white picture of a patterned mug, cup and plate in the washing up!
It is clearly marked "Vegan" though there is no detailed ingredient list.
This is a strong liquid, concentrated, they claim a "little squeeze" will unleash "grease cutting power" to leave your dishes clean and sparkling. Indeed, it will do the job as well as or better than any other. The "mild formulation" intends to go easy on your hands. If you have sensitive skin this is best for you.
Modern detergents can crack your skin or cause other harsh reactions. Not so this special mild formula.
This "Clear Spring" has been constituted to have minimal environmental impact. Everything in it is fully biodegradable. This is good news for the sewage trundling towards our seas and indeed for the soakaway and septic tank owners who know they are minimising chemical pollution and generally causing less damage.
This product has never been tested on animals. Unfortunately many other household products cannot give such an assurance. None of the ingredients have been animal tested more recently than 1982. We are thus informed of the evolution of a product in terms of animal testing of it's ingredients knowing a bit more about what we are doing than if we weren't told anything.
Buying a large container like this means decanting it into smaller bottles. It does seem to last a long time and does a good job. You can use your little Spar bottle kidding everyone your just another junk shopper when really, under the sink, you refill from a lovely ethical, futuristic source Buddha would have smiled at under the Bhodi tree had it been on offer then.
There was a recycling policy on the label I bought.It told me that if your retailer participates in the "Recycle -A-Bottle" scheme, you should return the bottle when you buy any 5 litre Clear Spring HouseholdCleaning Product. Faith Products then clean it and refill it for resale. Checking with my retailer who would have participated in this scheme they were told over the phone that plan had been abandoned and will not be on the new labels. A pity but not the end of the world.
When it comes to the final act of plastic annihilation there is still comfort in the knowledge that "This container can be completely destroyed by burning under approved conditions without emitting toxic gases."
The address given for the producers is;
FAITH PRODUCTS LIMITED Unit 5, Kay Street, Bury, Lancs, BL9 6BU, England Tel 0161 764 2555 Fax 0161 762 9129
The triangle symbol with a bunny in it looks like the BUAV (British Union For The Abolition of Vivisection) symbol, but without the letters BUAV I'm not sure if they have approved this or not.
I paid £5.95 for my 5 litre bottle. Compare this with Ecover Vegan Washing up liquid (Lemon and Aloe Vera) at £8.85 for 5 litres. I was surprised when I found out some Ecover washing up liquids were not vegan.
Safe, gentle and caring? I'd say so and would buy this in preference to any other washing up liquid. Availability? Not in the supermarkets and I haven't seen it in many health shops who often stock Ecover instead. On the Internet? No website that I have found yet for Faith Products. It may well be listed on other suppliers' sites somewhere.
This is a product of high quality made for caring people who will have to go out of their way to obtain it. Having done that, those dishes will sparkle, a fresh clean aroma will fill the air and the mind will be calm and gratified about the attempt to save the environment and helping all species.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Sounds really impressive, and a good price. I'm impressed, I will definately be keeping an eye out, although it seems hard to find. xXx
The-Operator 01.05.2004 11:20
Excellent review on something I'd never come across. Not surprising though as the ethic behind such products kind of fails as soon as they have to get distributed by big smelly lorry. Even though it's made in Bury it doesn't seem to have made it the 50 miles south to Crewe yet! The answer is - CANALS!!
Floon 10.10.2003 17:55
Sounds good value as well as good quality. Brandy tastes better, though I have to admit that it doesn't do dishes nearly as well (but after a few glasses who'd notice?). Excellent, informative op, Rob...Les
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