eco-friendly detergents & soaps

Hi Simmo, check out a mob called Polo Citrus Australia they make a large range of Detergents, truckwash, hand cleaners etc . They are all environmentally friendly, phosphate free etc, their web site is www.polocitrus.com.au . hope this helps.

Simmo,

Check out your local Amway distributor in the phone book.

They were making eco/environmentally friendly products before the term was even thought up and became trendy.

L.O.C., one of their base products is possibly the original biodegradable multi purpose cleaner, and has been around since 1959.

enjoy the bush

DennisN

Great to see people trying to look after the environment - Cape York does have problems. - I saw some people that could not give a stuff using detergents in creeks and soap etc. Say something and they respond - I have to wash - I responded on 2 occasions carry your water 100m over there away from the creek to wash - I got there answer which was not pleasant - it does not matter if they were eco-friendly or not - they don't belong any where near the creeks. Saw a heap of rubbish and also toilet paper etc which had been buried but the pigs had dug it up.Cape York especially prior to the OTL should have a general code of conduct sign ie take all rubbish out with you, burn all loo paer and bury human waste etc. We just swam in the creeks and thought that was good enough a wash, washing clothes - usually waited until we were at a town or Service station to rinse out washing drum or do washing. You'll find out that you will be wearing shorts every where. Some of the camping stores have the products your looking for.

Simmo,

A couple of months sounds a long time but you will probably find that you can access some sort of shower every week or two which is perfectly acceptable for going without a soapy shower etc. In the meantime opting for minimal water use with body washing by relying on swimming in creeks and the use of a good deoderant, such as Mitchem. You might want to use some sort of moist body wipes, rather than using detergents in the water - dirty wipes should be carted out in rubbish bags until you reach the next town tip. Avoid washing clothes when bush camping by taking extra clothing and/or weaning clothes until very dirty - you'll find in the tropics that you wear swimwear, loose clothing anyway. Food plates can be just rinsed without detergent, pots can be washed by adding water and simmering over the fire or gas - if very greasy then wipe dry with paper towel which can then be added to your campfire or stored in your rubbish bags. Just remember, never ever to wash plates or bodies directly in rivers or creeks. Always cart water in a bucket and if you must use detergent, tip the soapy water into a very dry ground area (lots of this on the Cape) at least 100m from a watercourse.
Hope these tips help!ExplorOz

Many people see others doing the wrong thing - confronting them often puts the mood into an aggressive one - if you want to say something well do - but you can avoid a confrontation by ignoring the whole issue or you can act and say stuff you by simply noting down the Rego, make of vehicle, description of person, time etc photos would be good, witnesses and so on - pass the info onto the local management authority in the area and they can act on it - BUT in doing so you will need to be able to attend court if it leads to that. You could get a free trip back to the area again eg Cairns etc. Many people pass info onto Rangers in the hope that they will be able to book the buggers but the information is second hand (hearsay) and will not have any weight in court if the accused take it that far - so this information usually cannot be acted on. In Australia the courts have it that the guilty party is innocent until proven guilty - makes it hard to prove the person is not innocent. Anyway most people will not want to go to court which I can well understand and also confronting people is not advisable especially if you are by yourself. Next best thing is pick up the rubbish if that's the crime. We should have stickers that say "I'm a Rubbisher, I pollute the bush", and we could place one of these stickers on there cars, similiar to the "Don't be a Tosser" cigarette stickers.
On the way up to Cape York, there is a Quaratine Road Station which stops all vehicles coming south, you can pick up a info pack which includes a rubbish bag. In addition to this I think a info board with general codes of conduct could be added, I think this would be preferable than regualtion signs along the trails such as the OTL, a good location for this code of conduct sign could be just prior to the Wenlock crossing or at Morton telegraph station. This project might be something "Tread Lightly 4WD Club" might be interested in - I will pass this on being a member myself and I wouldn't mind another excuse to go up that way and meet a few other eco friendly 4WDers.
PS. There is nothing worse than looking around a camp site and finding a snow storm of loo paper - here is another project, loos could be provided along the OTL at key points, perhaps pit loos as this would scare away a lot of campers who like the more refined composting or flush loos. Provision of loos may reduce some of the snow effect and the campers wanting the flush type loos can head to the Twin Falls camping site.
I'm waffling on but it gives me the #$%&'s when I see rubbish. If something does not happen to reduce the problem some idiot may put a total stop to camping along this great 4WD track - it may be the local Aboriginal communities or the management authorities. If the 4WD community can be proactive and start to work with the land management authorities I think less places will be closed.