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That's great. Seventh Generation is the one "green" dishwashing liquid at my local mart that doesn't smell like fish guts.

what was a recommended brand, then? i don't subscribe to consumerreports and the companion website is a nightmare to navigate.

what a bummer... I literally just bought some.

Suddenly consumer reports cares about the environment? They just wrote about kitchen remodelling a few issues ago, and devoted lots of space to "debunking" green materials - like suggesting that vinyl flooring was a better option than Marmoleum or bamboo.

I do read all labels and am skeptical of many products that claim to be green. However, I am surprised about Seventh Generation - that is one label I do trust more than others.

I am surprised about that too! The coop I belong to sells it. I buy Restore cleaning products though. They are a local company and the cleaners smell citrusy and tasty!

Total bummer, I rationalized paying the higher prices because I thought I was doing a good thing for the environment. Now I'm one very unhappy consumer!

Of course I read the labels, though I think we all have our favorite companies that we trust - unfortunately, everything changes over time and any good company can go "bad" so staying up-to-date is very important.

It is quite disappointing to hear that Seventh Generation and Biokleen did so badly.

I already thought that Consumer Reports had an ax to grind with the green movement before I read this article - like Sister Rae I thought the last article about kitchen remodeling went out of the way to trash green products with vague, non-specific complaints (they were really negative about cork floor for instance but they had only tested one product from one low-budget manufacturer), and in the past they have also written pretty snarky articles on hybrids and ethanol.

I suppose what's a little startling is how quickly everyone is ready to believe Consumer Reports and not do any other research. Why not email Seventh Generation and ask what's up? I agree with SisterRae and PhillyMama - what's Consumer Report's motivation? Seventh Generation seems to be a good company - why switch brands immediately because of a one liner you read on a blog that you aren't interested in backing up yourself. At least let the company respond to your question. These things do indeed get brought up in top level meetings - I assure you.

ditto phillymama and oven mitzie.

i for one don't trust consumer reports as they usually review products from very high profile companies, that are not all well meaning. Take for instance, a while ago Brita was called to the mat for something like hitting to close to making the claim that they were providing "pure" water through their filtration systems.

There are many green products out that are very good but produced by small companies that don't have the marketing $$$$ of Johnson $ Johnson or Colgate etc.

A lot of big corps are cashing in on the "green" theme w/out actually greening their products. As the ole saying goes, buyer beware.

Here's Seventh Generation's explanation (SG admittedly "screwed up" on a legacy label, apologized, removed the biodegradable reference and thanked CS):

http://www.seventhgeneration.com/making_difference/newsletter_article.php?issue=100&article=561