ECOSTORE LAUNCHES NO LAUNDRY DAY ENCOURAGING AUSTRALIANS TO WASH LESS AND HELP SAVE THE PLANET

Ecostore, the innovative environmental and sustainability company, is urging the nation to embrace conscious choices in their daily laundry routines by introducing No Laundry Day on Friday, 20^th October to coincide with National Water Week.

While Australia holds the title of the driest populated continent on Earth, it also ranks amongst the countries with the highest water usage per capita[i]. With washing clothes estimated to use around 15% of each household’s total water use,[ii] there’s a chance to make a real difference by examining our laundry habits.

In Australia, it’s estimated we use an astonishing 337 billion litres every year to wash our clothes[iii], the equivalent of 134,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools[iv]. For perspective, if you laid those pools end to end, you could swim from Brisbane, through to Sydney, onto Melbourne, then Adelaide, and all the way to Perth and still have some laps to do[v].

While laundry is an essential chore, acknowledging the environmental impact of washing and changing laundry habits to be more sustainable will help contribute to a healthier planet.

“We believe doing little bits of good and making small changes to embrace sustainable living sets off ripples that accumulate over time. No Laundry Day aims to create a positive environmental impact by inspiring households nationwide to forgo laundry activities for a day,” says Pablo Kraus, ecostore’s CEO.

On Friday, 20^th October, ecostore is inviting every Australian household to participate by simply not doing a load of washing. With everyone taking part, we could save over 923 million litres of water from going down the drain[vi]. And that’s just the impact of one single day.

No Laundry Day is just the beginning for the ecostore team who want to help change mindsets around laundry long-term, encouraging all households to reduce the amount of washing they do. “One less load of washing each week, that’s the challenge,” Kraus says.

“Ecostore’s Senior Brand Manager for Australia, Louise Minshull, explains, ‘Our laundry habits significantly impact Australia’s unique environment, and by being more mindful about how we wash our clothes, we can collectively create a significant positive change for our country.”

Ecostore recommends adopting some of the following practices to achieve little bits of good in your laundry: 

·         Wait until you have enough clothing for a full load, rather than doing several small loads. According to figures from Smart Approved WaterMark, 60% of Australians do not regularly fill the washing machine[vii]. 

·         Wash clothes only when necessary; consider reusing items when possible. For example, it’s generally believed jeans can be worn multiple times before washing. 

·         Commit to doing one less load of washing per week. 

·         To save power, use lower temperatures for standard washes, reserving warmer washes for heavily soiled garments. 

·         Choose concentrated laundry products, like ecostore’s 3X Concentrated Laundry Liquid. 

Ecostore’s 3X Concentrated Laundry Liquid is an innovative product that is produced using 55% less water than the regular ecostore laundry range. Concentrated products require less energy and resources to produce and transport which helps to reduce their carbon footprint.

Ecostore’s concentrated laundry products are a convenient and efficient way to achieve a sustainable, high performance laundry routine. They ensure easy dosing and are mess-free for added convenience. All products within ecostore’s concentrated laundry range are formulated with naturally derived ingredients that are gentle on your skin and free from harmful chemicals.

For more information on No Laundry Day visit https://bit.ly/NoLaundryDayAU

Enjoy the day off the washing on ecostore’s No Laundry Day, Friday October 20^th.

About ecostore:

Ecostore is an innovative environmental and sustainability brand in Australia and New Zealand, focused on Home, Body and Baby products. This year ecostore celebrates its 30th birthday and has had a presence in Australia since 2004.

Ecostore began in a small New Zealand ecovillage in Northland. Residents noticed that even with some of the purest water in the country their household wastewater had a detrimental impact on the land around them. They set off on a mission to create alternative products that were more gentle on the environment. By creating these products they also discovered they had positive impact on people’s health.

Today ecostore continues its mission to help families care for their homes, their health, and the world. This care goes into every home, body and baby product, because ecostore believes it should be easy to create a safer home, a healthier world and a better tomorrow. To find out more information visit www.ecostore.com

References:

[i] https://www.yourhome.gov.au/water

[ii] https://www.gww.com.au/water-waste/saving-water/saving-water-home/your-laundry

[iii] See note 7 below.

[iv] An Olympic sized swimming pool is approximately 2,500,000L.

[v] The journey from Brisbane to Perth via Pacific Hwy/A1 and M1is approximately 5,277 km. 134,800 Olympic sized pools end to end (50m in length) equals 6,750 km.

[vi] See note 8 below.

[vii] https://smart-approved-watermark-2-prd.s3.amazonaws.com/media/dd/documents/Billions_of_water_using_minutes_2022.c514d94.pdf

We use the following for our calculations, these are based on the best available information.

1. There were 10,852,208 private dwellings counted in the 2021 Census (source).
2. The latest available figures show that 97.8% of Australian households have a washing machine (source).
3. We estimate there are approximately 10,613,000 washing machines in Australia (97.8% of 10,852,208, rounded).
4. Both Australia’s Energy Rating and Water Rating programmes are based on households using their washing machine seven times a week or 365 times per a year (source, source).
5. We estimate there are approximately 3,873,745,000 domestic machine loads done each year in Australia (Number of washing machines, 10,613,000, times the number of times each machine is run per year (365).
6. The Australian standard test (full capacity load, warm wash) says a front loader will use 79L per load and a top loader will use 95L per load. We’ve taken the average of 87L per load for our calculations (source).
7. Australians use an estimated 337,015,815,000L of water each year for washing clothes (3,873,745,000 washing loads per year x 87L).
8. Australians use an estimated 923,331,000 of water each day for washing clothes (337,015,815,000L / 365 days).
9. There are 2,805,661 dwellings in Victoria (source) and 97.6% have a washing machine (source). This tells us there are approximately 2,738,300 washing machines in Victoria.
10. Using the same methods as above (points 4-6) we estimate 999,479,500 loads of washing are done in Victoria each year. The total water consumption of this is estimated to be 86,954,716,500L per year.
11. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-20/surveyors-find-exact-measurements-of-melbourne-cricket-ground/6709520
12. There are 3,357,785 dwellings in NSW (source) and 97.8% have a washing machine (source). This tells us there are approximately 3,283,900 washing machines in NSW.
13. Using the same methods as above (points 4-6) we estimate 1,198,623,500 loads of washing are done in NSW each year. The total water consumption of this is estimated to be 104,280,244,500L per year.
14. The population of Greater Sydney is 5,231,147 (source).
15. On average, each person in Sydney uses about 200 litres of drinking quality water every day (source).
16. There are 2,190,424 dwellings in Queensland (source) and 97.3% have a washing machine (source). This tells us there are approximately 2,131,200 washing machines in Queensland.
17. Using the same methods as above (points 4-6) we estimate 777,888,000 loads of washing are done in Queensland each year. The total water consumption of this is estimated to be 67,676,256,000L per year.
18. https://wetnwild.com.au/attractions/giant-wave-pool