Some background: Jamie Gold and Jason Goldenburg, 2 buddies since high school, started messing around with a tree-born, Chinese Soapberry, as a planet-friendly alternative to typical chemical-laden laundry soaps. The resulting product – their innovative laundry detergent, Berryplus – first made in-roads on college campuses and laundromats keeping clothes, as well as the planet, nice and clean. (The 40, 60 and 100 size pouches shown above will be available in a couple of weeks.)

The challenge: How to make a more people and earth-friendly laundry detergent. Typical laundry detergent contains plenty of synthetic chemicals, unhealthy stuff like petroleum distillates, phosphates, chlorine, EDTA, surfactants and phenols. Some of these nasty chemical residues can land on our skin – which is especially problematic for those with allergies and skin sensitivities. Berryplus, on the other hand, is 95% berry-based. What’s in the other 5%?  Vegetable based glycerin for softening; olive leaf extract to kill bacteria; .1% each of food grade preservatives made from plants: sodium benzoate and sodium potassium.

Put to the test: I was given 2 small vials of liquid soap to test. I washed a load of whites and a separate load of darks, each in cold water cycles and the clothes came out smelling fine and looking good.

Aside from how Berryplus is made, what’s also amazing is how little you need, a microdose…less than half a teaspoon. It takes up less space, which is another eco perk.

The packaging is made of bio-resin and is 100% recyclable; and the company donates a penny per load to Rock and Wrap it Up, a nonprofit fighting poverty, hunger and waste in America.

How did they do it? Gold and Goldenburg originally discovered a naturally derived ingredient in a particular Chinese Soapberry tree found in the Himalayan foothills that has been used by Asians for centuries to clean their clothes. They figured out how to extract and concentrate saponin, a naturally occurring cleaning agent, and transform it into microdoses of safe and effective laundry detergent. Essentially, the cleaning power is derived from a soap nut or dried fruit that foams up when wet and agitated, making it possible to get clothes clean naturally. No added fragrances, dyes or chemicals. No SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) or SLES (sodium lauryeth sulfate).

The verdict: Berryplus is good stuff, I’d give it our green thumbs up. find @ berryplus.com and alice.com. And hey all you globetrotters –  it’s now also available at Newark Airport (Terminal C, above) for busy jet-setters.