I was looking at our giant plastic bottle of Tide Liquid the other day, and got to thinking how ridiculous it is that we throw those beefy things out every time we’re done with laundry. Certainly, powders must be better since they come in cardboard boxes—but I have to assume that the Tide plant is an environmental nightmare.

I’ve tried some of the “green” laundry products (seventh generation, ecover) at our local co-op, but they’re super expensive and I’m not sure they work as well as the reigning commercial competition.

Does anyone have actual data to point at a good solution?