When it comes to oil spills, wildlife activists rely on Dawn dish soap to clean the covered animals. We have all seen pictures on TV and in the news about the ducks, otters, and other wildlife animals having the oil cleaned off of them and most of us simply think that is great.
Helping animals survive is obviously a great thing and since we humans did cause this problem, it is great that we can help. However, they say no good deed goes unpunished, and here is a case in point. But we will get to that in a moment. First, this...
Proctor and Gamble, who owns Dawn dish soap, has donated thousands of bottles of soap to wildlife rescue efforts over the past 30 years, which have helped to clean over 75,000 oil spill victims. Even the International Bird Rescue Research Center’s website states that the use not just dish soap, but Dawn to clean oiled birds. The site explains how the birds go through a series of water and Dawn soap baths to gently rinse the oil off the birds.
Proctor and Gamble have taken this use of their product and run with it advertising and marketing wise. The company releases special bottles that say they will donate one dollar per bottle to wildlife rescue efforts. They also release commercials to promote their involvement in the efforts.
While all of this is really good, and they should help if they can, there is an irony to it. Dawn liquid dish soap is actually made from petro (oil) itself. So by cleaning wild animals who are covered in oil with Dawn, they are really cleaning oil covered animals with oil.
Federal law does not require companies to list the chemicals used in their products. The Dawn dish soap website does say that it contains chemicals, but used only nice sounding one’s in their statements. For example, Dawn states that it contains “mildness additives” and “surfactants” to down play the fact that there are chemicals and to confuse consumers with strange, wildly unknown words. This is a powerful marketing tactic, but it is not doing us any favors when it comes to our atmosphere and land.
Here are the facts. Dawn dish soap does have a great talent for cleaning oil spill victims. Proctor and Gamble as a company has donated and continues to donate money and product to oil spill clean up efforts. However, there are other options. By continuing to use Dawn dish soap, the large business is being supported, chemicals are still being put into production and then into our atmosphere and land, and eco-conscious people are not doing their best to help.
Instead of Dawn, activists have been switching to another liquid dish soap by a company called Seventh Generation. Not only does it also clean oil covered animals, but if every household switched to this natural brand, it would save over 81,000 barrels of oil a year.
What brand of dish soap do you use? Do you choose to use chemical based or organic based soap and cleaners? Comment below.
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About the author:
Kayleigh has always loved animals and has spent time volunteering at the local dog shelter. The love of her life is her four year old Rottweiler, Lizzie. She enjoys writing for YeePet.com since it combines her love of animals with one of her favor...
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