Sarah+F

Sarah F 2011-2012
 * DETERMINING WHETHER DETERGENTS LABELED ORGANIC WERE TRULY ECO-FRIENDLY. **

The purpose was to test whether detergents labeled organic, were eco-friendly. It was hypothesized that the Melaleuca detergent would be the most eco-friendly because Melaleuca is meant to be “the best for eco-friendly”. It was also hypothesized that the Seventh Generation would come in second because it is “Free+Clear”, but meant for people with sensitive skin or allergies. To test the detergents in the first experiment, one tablespoon of each detergent was added to a cup of water. Once the solutions were made, the Wisconsin Fast Plants were planted on a light cart with a self-watering system. The plants are meant to be watered for the first three days so the control was watered on the first three days, yet the plants being tested were watered with one teaspoon of the solution each day. In the first experiment the detergent plants did not grow, yet the control grew 20 mm tall. In the second experiment, the method was the same, except one teaspoon of detergent was mixed with one cup of water for the solution, instead of one tablespoon of detergent. In the first experiment the plants being tested did not grow and the control grew to 10 and 20 mm tall and the leaves were 10 mm. In the second experiment all plants grew, the control grew 10 mm by 8 mm, the Melaleuca plant grew 10 by 4 mm, the Seventh Generation plant grew 5 by 3 mm, and the Cheer plant grew 7 by 3 mm.
 * ABSTRACT **

To improve upon the experiment a good idea would be to have a better way to water the plants with the detergent solutions. When using the measuring cup to pour the measured amount, it was difficult to make sure that all of the liquid got in to a certain plant, making it harder to tell if all of the plants had the same amount of detergent. In future experiments that would be improved. In future experiments detergents would be tested on different plants, not just Wisconsin Fast Plants. Also in future experiments different detergents would be added to the list.
 * EXPERIMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS AND FUTURE EXPERIMENTS **

