I’m not sure about the detergent question, but one great way to reduce the environmental impact of doing laundry is not to use your dryer, or to use it as little as possible. It’s a huge energy sucker. Laundry lines or racks are obvious alternatives. You could also damp-dry things in the dryer and then air-dry them the rest of the way.

Pound on rock in stream, air-dry.

@hossman that’s good advice!

This is one of those situations where doing what’s right for the environment ends up being cheaper than the alternative, while involving minimal work.

We’ve been using this method in our house for about six months and it works incredibly well (my clothes are all clean – that’s a good sign), and we’ve enjoyed the cost savings on top of that.

The major bonus is that it’s really much more environmentally friendly on many levels – better ingredients, no box/container waste, etc.