Out With the Wash : We need to clean up our getting-clean act and cut down on the phosphates.

Now that the rains have renewed the freshwater supply of the county, let’s keep things that way. Fresh. Using environmentally friendly laundry and dishwashing soap is one of the famous “50 Things” (remember that book?) we can do to save the Earth, our local streams and the surfing beaches into which they flow.

Ventura Sanitation Supt. Dan Rayburn gave me some figures that indicate we need to be a little more careful with the detergents we use.

“First, we’re wasting a lot. You don’t need to use as much each time with the new concentrates,” he said, confessing that he too has taken awhile to break the habit of tossing in a couple of cups per laundry load when only one is needed.

According to Rayburn, the phosphate content in Ventura’s sewage has gone up 25% in the last five years. Phosphate used to be considered necessary to get a bright-looking wash. But it also fouls rivers and lakes--causing “algae blooms”--unwanted underwater vegetation, and thus has been banned in 40% of American markets, mostly in the East and in the Great Lakes states.

Detergents containing lots of phosphates are still on sale in California--except around Lake Tahoe--side by side with containers of the low or no-phosphate kind. They can be found here because we don’t have a lot of lakes and rivers to foul up. But we do have the Pacific. It’s not the source of drinking water in our county like it might become up in Santa Barbara. But we surf in it.

“Scummy foam” is a worry of the Ventura County chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

“We recommend baking soda and vinegar for washing,” said Delis Gorey, leader of the group’s “Blue Water Task Force,” which closely monitors conditions at local beaches.

Fortunately, those happen to be the main ingredients in the detergents many manufacturers offer in the low phosphate category. Arm and Hammer Brand is one that is widely available in local supermarkets. According to Hamilton Carson, managing editor of HAPPI (Household and Personal Products Industry), the soap business’ trade journal, “All these (low phosphate) brands work.”

But Gorey, who has a chiropractic practice in Ventura, is also concerned about some other substances that we locals dump into the sea. The rain carries the runoff from our chemicalized lawns and illegally dumped motor oil into the Pacific via local storm drains. She suggested I tell readers about a publication available through the local Surfrider chapter, “Twenty Ways To Protect The Beach Even If You Live Fifty Miles Inland.”

One of the ways, as Gorey mentioned, is to use baking soda-based or some other nontoxic soap or liquid. She uses a brand called Simple Green, available locally at Price Club.

“Somebody at my office bought it and now I use it at home,” she said. I have my favorites, too. But first a word of caution.

Environmental labeling of detergent is kind of problematic. Green Cross, a national environmental testing organization, is unsatisfied with the current usage of the word “biodegradable” on labels. They tested 40 soaps and found none of them met an acceptable standard of biodegradability.

The point for consumers is when shopping, look for what’s not in the soap, like chlorine, boron, artificial fragrances and chemical brighteners. If they’re not there in the first place, they don’t have to “degrade” after they go down the drain.

A good example of the type to look for is Ecover. It’s interesting not just because its label reads like a health restaurant menu--”Vegetable oil, citrates, zeolites, soda”--but because the factory where it’s made produces zero pollution. Yup. It’s not even hooked up to the sewer and has no chimneys, smoking or otherwise.

Everything is recycled or put to another use on-site. The plant opened last year in Belgium and another is planned for the U.S. These people are serious about keeping pollutants out of everybody’s water system. The least we can do when we hear about this kind of model eco-responsibility is to shop for a low or no-phosphate detergent and then, if it’s the concentrated kind, scoop less of it into the wash water.

FYI

* Environmentally friendly detergents like Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda and Axion Bleach Alternative are available locally at major supermarkets. Brands like County Safe, Oasis, Life Tree and Ecover are available at Mrs. Gooches, Lassens, local health food stores and even Green Thumb Nurseries.

* For a copy of the Surfrider Foundation’s publication, “Twenty Ways To Protect the Beach Even If You Live Fifty Miles Inland,” call 646-6561.