Baking Soda...Earth Friendly?

A frequently used product for household cleaning is Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate). This product is ok for a list of uses but is not environmentally sustainable. The raw materials are mined out of the ground and are not plant-based. It is however, safe and non-toxic. I know personally because my Mom gave it to me for  tummy aches, but it is not necessary Earth-Friendly and good for the sustainability of the environment! Other products for "household cleaning" in many instances are superior and like Brightly Green and our HG Labs products are sustainable, safe and effective!


The Mining of Sodium Bicarbonate

Naturally occurring deposits of nahcolite (NaHCO3) are found in the Eocene-age (55.8 ± 0.2 - 33.9 ± 0.1 Ma) Green River Formation, Piceance Basin in Colorado. Nahcolite was deposited as beds during periods of high evaporation in the basin. It is commercially mined using in-situ leach techniques involving dissolution of the nahcolite by heated water which is pumped through the nahcolite beds and reconstituted through a natural cooling crystallization process. Natural Soda, Inc., the only North American processor of natural sodium bicarbonate, is owned by AmerAlia (AALA) and The Sentient Group. The operation is located 54 miles northwest of Rifle, Colorado. The Natural Soda facility has changed ownership several times over the last decade, it proving difficult to turn a profit. All other North American producers base their production of sodium bicarbonate on trona found in the Green River Formation of Wyoming.