http://www.sustainablelifemedia.com/products/story/09282007

Notice in the article where is says and I quote, "The company (Walmart) says it will work to ensure customer acceptance and promote the benefits of the concentrated product."

Will Ensure customer acceptence? More like, "This is all you have to chose from, so deal with it."

Here is another article about Walmart's push to control your laundry room.

http://walmartstores.com/sites/sustainabilityreport/2009/en_sp_homeGoods.html

In this article Walmart even says, "We will require our suppliers to reduce phosphates by 70 percent in laundry and dish detergent by 2011 based on a 2009 baseline. We will measure this goal by calculating the total mass of phosphate content in detergents sold in the Americas per year."

Shouldn't that be up to the people and not Walmart? Here is what happened in one area when dish detergent was regulated.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/IndustryInfo/story?id=7275780&page=1

Now don't get me wrong. I understand that from an outward point of view they are trying to help the enviornment. On the flip side, a corporation is controlling my personal choice. They have completely taken away my freedom of choice in this issue. After reading all this, they may have taken away my choice in other instances.

I loved shopping at Wal-Mart, but after reading this I can guarentee you I will never shop there again. I would rather pay more and support a company who believes I can make my own decisions then pay less and get bullied into something I may not have wanted.

I'm usually a Wal Mart hater, but I have to say that your post makes me want to give them a second look if they are being so pro-active on creating more environmentally friendly products. I still feel like I'm going to the ghett-o every time I set foot in that store, however.

Is there some specific reason I should be offended by 2X and 3X products? Are they inferior to 1X products?

Regards to phosphates, it's not Wal-Mart that's setting the rules for that ... it's the local, state, and federal governments. The ABC News link you cite has nothing directly to do with Wal-Mart. The article clearly says the phosphate ban in that case was enacted by SPOKANE COUNTY in the state of Washington.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GINui9LdIQ

We aren't rich here either. That's why I liked Walmart. I just think if something is instituted it should be by people like you and me. Not a company.

I don't see any of this as bad.

As far as phosphates go, it is a governmental thing in which they are trying to protect streams and salmon habitat, etc.

I am happy there are the concentrated detergents and yes, I know it is a learning curve but seriously the learning curve isn't that bad once you get used to not overdosing with the product.

If you really are hung up on using 1 cup of detergent, feel free to add water to it. You'll have a comparable product to the old, but it won't be the same at least on many of them. P&G I know changed the formulas on their detergents when they went to the 2x. Some complain about that too but I have found no problem with it.

The biggest problem is lazy people who don't want to measure, then use too much and blame the detergent.

And FWIW, Walmart is not the only retailer who does such things. Best Buy, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc, all specify things to their vendors. Some is silly but some is practical.

And when detergents became more concentrated I didn't feel one bit upset! I applauded it and said it's about time! As far as I'm concerned they could make it so you use an eye dropper to add the detergent and that'd be fine with me. What gave me a laugh was watching some old ladies at the store yelling that they were being "cheated" because they're charging the same for 50oz as 100oz of the old. The poor clerk couldn't get it through their gray hair that it was twice as many loads so just use half. "You can't clean with only 1/2 the detergent!!!!" LOL

In case you haven't noticed the 150 oz bottles have had their shape changed to better accommodate store shelves I'm told. And no, it wasn't a Walmart directive!

And considering how long the manufacturers worked on reformulating to get the concentrated formulas they felt the public would accept, I find your charge that it was a Walmart directive to be dubious. I remember concentrated formulas years back that never were accepted. Now they are. People are more aware and sensitive to size, weight, cost, environmental issues and the like.

And I'm not watching an 11 part "documentary" without some idea of what it's about. That's simply a courtesy.

As I've said numerous times, I'm no fan of Walmart, but I don't approve of false and misleading statements being made about any business. Often it can have the opposite effect of what's desired.

BRAVO !!! Well said. Many companies dictate to their vendors the products they will sell. This happens in every industry I have ever been involved with. So as much as I dislike Walmart, they have every right to ask their vendors to provide specific products for their stores.

And given the buying power of Walmart what vendor would be dumb enough to tell them 'NO'.

At least SOMEONE admits their anti-Wal-mart feelings are sheer snobbery.

Wal-mart wants efficiency. Space efficiency for products mean more products per square foot for them and less packaging/fillers/air and a lower price point for us. Fuel and energy savings are also passed onto the consumer, as are the savings that Wal-mart sees from the AMAZING minimal-packaging (mostly resuable) stocking and shipping system they've developed.

Wal-mart is a company that gets 95% admiration from me.

It seems like a win-win situation to me. Less packaging, lower transportation costs, the consumer doesn't have to lug around one of those over-sized awkward jugs, space on the laundry room shelf is freed up, and the empty bottle takes up less space in the recycle bin. What's to complain about?