Product-related information for sustainable use of laundry detergents in Finnish households

The purpose of this paper is to report on research on how product-related information can guide sustainable product use in the context of laundry detergents. More precisely, the purpose of the study was designed to analyse how the detergent package information and dosing instructions are read, understood and followed in the Finnish households. Data collection methods included interviews in 340 Finnish households in 2004 and 299 households in 2005 with a standardised questionnaire. Results show that the majority of respondents did not know if the washing water is hard or soft, which indeed has a direct effect on dosing amounts. However, package information per se was found to be easily understandable, although dosing instructions for calculating the right amount of detergent for the laundry were often confusing. Finally, it is discussed how product-related information could be further improved to guide sustainable product use and to educate consumers about sustainable consumption.