This may seem like a bit of a non sequitur, but one of the motivations for us around raising our own animals is because of concerns for commerical animal treatment. We half-jokingly refer to commercially raised products as cruelty-X, for example “cruelty chicken”, “cruelty beef”, and on rarer occasions “cruelty carrots” (yes, in most cases that’s a joke). It wasn’t a conscious decision, but started occuring in our conversation as we became more eduated about commercial operations (including organics unfortunately!). Yet it remains as a regular reminder when we make decisions to go the “easy route” and disregard, or fail to research, the origins of the product of choice. This article is enlightening because it also demonstrates how far reaching commercial livestock products are. I didn’t realize that there were animal products in the laudry aisle. The feel of fabric softeners has never appealed to me, but now I have another reason to avoid it.
“Dihydrogenated tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride
A derivative of rendered fat from cattle, sheep, and horses. Just boil it down and mix with ammonium (NH4). After a series of chemical pit stops, out comes a quaternary ammonium compound, or quat—a positive ion in which the hydrogen is replaced by long-chain organic molecules. Quats effectively coat your clothing with lipids, making the fibers soft to the touch. These fats also make fabric a bit less absorbent—don’t use on towels or cloth diapers—and the positive charge neutralizes static electricity. There are a few other quats in Downy, with easily pronounceable names like 1-methyl-1-tallowamidoethyl-2 -tallowimidazolinium methylsulfate.”
