Save the planet, switch laundry detergents?

[rhiandmoi]

If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 50 oz. ultra petroleum based liquid laundry detergent with our 50 oz. vegetable based prodcut, we could save 99,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 5,700 U.S. homes for a year!

I was shopping around for some laundry alternatives, and I found that statement. Of course it was being used to sell vegetable based laundry detergent, but that doesn't mean it is total BS. But so far I haven't been able to figure out how much petroleum is actually in laundry detergent to compare them.

I did find this: http://www.bio-pac.com/biopac/reality.htm

Because cleaning products are poorly labeled, most consumers don't have any idea what's in their cleaners. Much ado has been written about how detergents are made, whether they are vegetable based or petroleum based, etc. A study by the Franklin Associates showed that the total amount of petroleum used (net usage) was virtually the same for "vegetable based" or petroleum based detergents. It makes sense only after you contemplate how detergents are made. Even detergents based on plant resources use tremendous amount of oil in the production, refining, etc. that turn oils into detergents. We feel this issue has been blown way out of proportion by ridiculous marketing claims. If one were to believe the labels on many cleaning products, you would think you were harming the earth not to use them!! The problem with petroleum use is we burn oil, not use oil. We would have a virtually infinite supply of oil if we did not depend on it for our transportation needs. Many products are made from the "left overs" of fuel production. It is ironic that we drive our oil burning vehicles to the store and demand" vegetable based" detergents. We should be biking to the store demanding petroleum based detergents! It's an excellent use for them.

Anyone know anything about detergent?