Thanks to WildforWags for the heads up on a $5 rebate when you buy a small bag of Cascade Platinum. The detergent is on sale for $3.99 at Walgreens this week, and there are probably also other places where you can get it for less than $5. At that price, you even make a little money after postage.
The rebate is good in the U.S. and runs through the end of the year. You can download it here.
(Waste-wise, I’d prefer to use straight-up powdered detergent, but because of the hard water where I live, it doesn’t actually clean very well. So I’ve become a convert to these fancy packs. I like to tell myself that even though there’s more packaging, they help me save on water and fuel consumption by allowing me to run shorter cycles and skip prerinsing of dishes. It would be interesting to see an environmental cost-benefit analysis of the two options.)