I'll admit it. I have a love-hate relationship with my dishwasher. I grew up with one in suburbia, but for years I washed dishes by hand in my small apartment's small sink. I don't know if I actually used less water, but it seemed so, and I felt better doing it. Besides, the hot bleachy aroma of the wash cycle and the preternaturally squeaky-clean dishes afterwards had always freaked me out. Good riddance to automatic washing and rinsing!

Then a year ago, I moved. I eyed the strange kitchen technology in my new apartment warily, but one night, gave it a try. Now, I'm happily addicted to using it a few times a week. I'm eating out less, cooking dinner for friends again, and trying more adventurous recipes that might involve something sticky being left on a pot, pan, or baking dish. In short, I'm shocked that this machine has brought such joy into my life.

Dishwashers aren't all joy, however; most detergents designed for them aren't biodegradable and can pack a wallop on the environment by releasing chlorine, phosphates and toxins into the water (and who knows what stays on your plate). Even worse, the apparent solution-natural dish soaps-are not all created equal. As I learned from trying, some of them protect the planet but leave gunk in your glasses-meaning your sustainable soap forces you to waste water re-cleaning.

One solution? Plant-based dishwasher tablets from Ecover, a 25-year-old sustainable cleaning products manufacturer in Belgium. Their tiny bricks are like miracle pills for your dishwasher-you simply unwrap the recyclable wrapper, pop the tablet into the soap door (or utensil basket), et voila! You wash the greasy, sticky stuff away, and rinse clean and gunk-free. Teacups I considered permanently tannin-stained suddenly shone white inside for the first time in years. Although the company recommends buying a separate rinse aid, I've found it works pretty well even without it. Even better, wastewater from Ecover's tablets is completely biodegradable. Oxygen-based bleach, plant-based fragrance, and other non-toxic ingredients are all that's used. The box is made of 95% recycled cardboard, and the soap is made in a nearly emission-free factory built with bricks of waste materials, with an oxygen-emitting grass roof for insulation.

Ecover releases a complete ingredients list for all its products, and the following list has brief explanations from Ecover's Belgian scientists (paraphrased for average folks):

• Oxygen chlorine free bleach, plant based bleach activator - for cleaning
• Plant based non-ionic tensio-active surfactants -non-ionic means the charge of the ions are neither positive nor negative; the tensio-active surfactants don't adhere to your plate; they simply "take away the food residue and leave the plate."
• Guaranteed non-GMO enzymes - for stain removal
• Salts and silicate - for alkalinity and binding of calcium and magnesium, which prevents lime deposits, and protects glasses and the machine itself from corrosion
• Citrate - sequestering agent, also calcium binding
• Polypeptides - also disperse lime formed in the wash water, preventing deposits
• Plant based fragrance - so you smell lemons instead of pool supplies

Even if your eyes gloss over at the science, as mine do, Ecover's ethical approach to full disclosure is incredibly good for the user's peace of mind. And if for some reason you don't like tablets, Ecover makes a powder that's virtually the same, minus a few ingredients.

The only undesirable thing about my new dishwasher pills is that Ecover doesn't currently plan to manufacture them in the U.S. While I'm not thrilled with subtracting the environmental benefits by having to import my dish soap from Belgium, I'll keep using them. After all, it makes no sense to use another brand, even a natural one, if I have to re-wash everything.

Plus, I've got company coming for dinner.

Cost: $4.79 for 25 tablets

Where to Buy: Whole Foods, Wild Oats, or call Ecover at 800-449-4925 for a local recommendation

Photo: Ecover