Purex Natural Elements Laundry Detergent

I believe that most people want to live Greener, but we don't want to sacrifice our standards of living. That's why it's always nice to see a new product that's affordable, eco-friendly and performs just as well as conventional products.

Case in point - Purex® Natural Elements Laundry Detergent. What do we like? How about:

- 100% natural cleaning ingredients, such as surfactants based on palm and coconuts.

- Natural fragrance extracts (used in combination to create luscious scents like Apple & Melon)

- Ultra Concentrate formula that lets you wash a full load of laundry with half the liquid of a traditional detergent. Less product = less waste

- Biodegradable formula derived from sustainable and renewable resources

- Hypoallergenic and free of dyes

- Bottle that is not only recyclable (#2 HDPE), but also made from at least 25% post-consumer materials

So does it work? We didn't have any crazy dirty socks in our three loads of test laundry, but Purex Natural Elements certainly seemed to do a fine job of cleaning our usual load of washables. Clothes came out smelling fresh and looking refreshed -- no small feat in our building's industrial strength washers and dryers.

We love companies that price their Green products gently. Purex Natural Elements won't bust your budget. The 50-ounce bottle (good for 32 loads) has a MSRP of just $3.49, while the 100-ounce bottle (64 loads, natch) carries a $6.99 MSRP. (If you're willing to provide your e-mail address and receive an electronic newsletter, Purex will even give you a coupon to cut the cost further.)

Note - Just want to give a shout out to The Budget Ecoist, where I first heard about Purex Natural Elements and got inspired to do a little testing of my own...

Where to buy:

You can find Purex Natural Elements Laundry Detergent at Wal-Mart and other grocery and mass retailers coast-to-coast.