Humanities Information

(StatePoint) Ninety percent of Americans want to live more sustainably, but only 11% consistently do. Why? Research from Procter & Gamble conducted in 2023 found that Americans think sustainable habits at home are too difficult (82%), too expensive (89%) and sacrifice product performance (73%).

Sustainable choices don’t have to be a burden though, especially if you know where to prioritize your efforts. For example, the highest environmental footprint of many everyday products, like laundry and dish detergents, comes from the water and energy needed to do the job, like when you wash your dishes in the sink or use your washing machine.

As part of the #ItsOurHome campaign, Cascade and Tide have partnered with digital creators to offer the following easy hacks to help you live a more sustainable lifestyle, continue to get great results and save money on household bills:

Skip the Sink

Did you know that a dishwasher uses 4 gallons of water per cycle while the sink can use the same amount in just two minutes? In fact, each week you use an Energy Star-certified dishwasher you can save up to 140 gallons of water versus washing dishes at a running sink for 11 minutes per day.

You can also skip some of the traditional dishwashing steps when you select the right detergent. Brands like Cascade are building a water-positive future and helping to reduce daily water use in American households by offering options that provide a high-quality clean without the need to pre-rinse dishes. With its innovative formula, the enzymes within Cascade Platinum ActionPacs latch on, break down and wash away food so you can skip the sink and save water.

“We know people want to save water, but they also want clean dishes. That’s why we created a sustainability hack, not a tradeoff,” says Marchoe Northern, senior vice president and general manager of North American Home Care at Procter & Gamble.

Beyond ecology-minded product innovation, Cascade has also joined the Change the Course initiative to support several water restoration projects in the United States. Over their lifetime, these projects are expected to restore nearly 2 billion gallons of freshwater in water-stressed regions.

Clean on Cold

Washing laundry in cold versus hot water uses over 90% less energy in every load. Put another way, that’s enough energy savings to power the entire average American household for over an hour. Consider the 30 billion loads of laundry done in the United States and Canada annually. That’s an enormous amount of energy that could be saved with a simple turn of the dial.

If you’re concerned about the cleaning performance of a cold wash cycle, consider this, Tide has innovated its products to clean on cold, every load, every cycle. Tide is on a mission to turn three out of four washes to cold water by 2030, which will help prevent an estimated 27 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

Washing in cold water with Tide means lower emissions, more financial savings on your energy bills, and a gentler wash that helps preserve clothes longer.

“At Tide, we want to reduce the environmental impact of a load of laundry and increase the impact of clean clothes,” says Amy Krehbiel, brand vice president of Fabric Care Innovation at Procter & Gamble. “We are proud to be helping families live more sustainably.”

Learn more about Tide’s sustainability initiative by joining the conversation on social at #TurnToCold.

With today’s current climate crisis, you may be looking for ways to lower your carbon footprint at home, and thanks to product innovation, that’s easier today than ever before.

PHOTO SOURCE: © Wavebreakmedia / iStock via Getty Images Plus, P&G