Spokane Residents Smuggling Banned Phosphate Soaps

The most common substance smuggled over the border between Idaho and Washington isn’t cocaine, marijuana or methamphetamines. It’s dishwasher soap. Spokane County, Washington residents are willing to drive nearly an hour just to hit up the Costco in Coeur d’Alene for the contraband products.

The ban is in place for a good reason. A flood of pollutants, including phosphates from dishwaser detergent, has sucked the oxygen out of the water in the Spokane River, smothering its fish. The Spokane River is one of the most endangered in the nation, yet residents, annoyed by the limitations of green products, are using the phosphate-laden soaps anyway.

From the LA Times:

By day, Patti Marcotte is a working mom — dealing with the balancing act created by a 5-year-old daughter, a demanding job, a split-level house and a willful boxer puppy.

Come the post-dinner hour, however, Marcotte begins operating in the shadowy world of smuggled soap.

“With the ‘green’ stuff, the dishes come out with a real slippery texture — like somebody poured a cup of grease in some dishwater — and a white film. Just really gross,” Marcotte said. “And then the food gunk just mixes around the dishwasher and when it stops, it just settles on whatever’s there. I mean, it’s bad.”

Hey, I can sympathize with the frustration over certain green products not working all that great. I went on a dishwasher detergent quest of my own last year and had many a load of dishes coming out less than clean. I now use phosphate-free Method Smarty Dish and let me tell you, that stuff is FULL OF WIN. It works. It’s cheap. It’s at Target.

Anyway, there are products out there that do work, and the good news is, more are on the way. Industry officials say they’re working on products right now that will get dishes clean without harming lakes and streams. In the meantime, Spokane residents, keep looking – your frustration over dishes is not a good reason to continue polluting waterways in your own community.

Link [LA Times]
Photo credit: Wildlife Recreation

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