Soapmaking is a creative and satisfying activity to do at home, but how exactly does it contribute to the environment?
Let's look at 4 different ways in which handmade soapmaking proves to be a sustainable & eco-friendly activity that also has no-to-minimal impact on the environment.
Control over ingredients
When you make soap at home, you have complete control over the ingredients that go into your soap. You can choose to use natural and organic ingredients, and avoid harmful & unnecessary chemicals or additives that are commonly found in commercial soaps.
A good portion of these ingredients are not biodegradable & accumulate in water bodies affecting marine life & the biosphere in general. Avoiding these synthetic chemicals not only makes your soap better for your skin, but it also reduces the environmental impact of large scale soap production.
If you are interested here is a link to a post I made on Instagram after I did a case study of ingredients found in commercial soaps.
Reducing Packaging Waste
Natural handmade soaps eliminate the need for liquid cleansers and the plastic bottles that they come packaged in.
Soaps made from scratch need to breathe right from the time it is made, to storing it & to using it. So it is best to use reusable or recyclable materials for packaging. In fact, you can even keep them naked & they'll thank you all the more!
This way, you can avoid the excess & unnecessary packaging that often accompanies commercial soaps thus reduce your contribution to the world's waste problem.
Recycling and Reusing
Soapmaking at home often involves reusing and recycling materials. For example, you can reuse left over cooking oils in soapmaking, spent coffee grounds, dried orange peels in your soap. Furthermore, you can use leftover soap scraps to make new bars. This csets in motion, a circular economy making soapmaking a zero waste activity & one that minimizes impact on the environment.
Sustainable activity
Learning to make soap with locally available ingredients reduces the carbon footprint to an extent. And by making only what you need, you reduce the consumption of excess ingredients & reduce the amount of waste generated in the first place.
Sustainability is the need of the hour & soapmaking can actually have a positive impact on both your own life and the planet. So why not give it a try and start making your own soap today?
What do you think about soapmaking & its impact on the environment? Have I missed any important point above that further solidifies soapmaking as an eco friendly activity? Let me know in the comments below!