Making Life Greener – Simplify Your Soap

One of the goals of Greening Families is to help families make their lives greener more easily. To that end, we are adding the “Making Life Greener” series to the site. This series will profile simple changes you and your family can make to green your lives. No family is alike so pick and choose the changes that work best for your family now. As we go along, we’ll organize the suggestions in a variety of ways to help you group changes if you prefer.

The topic today is soap. What’s the big deal about soap, you ask? More than 60% of the products you place on your skin will be absorbed into your body. Experts say this figure is even higher for small children since their skin is thinner. Since soap is an item people use every day, switching to a nontoxic soap will immediately reduce your family’s exposure to harmful ingredients. Choosing a nontoxic soap will not only protect your family but will also protect the environment since dangerous chemicals won’t be produced to create it and won’t be released into your area’s water when you use it.

Like all personal care products in America, the ingredients in soap do not have to meet any pre-market safety tests. In other words, a company does not have to show that the ingredients it uses to create a soap are safe. That fact was an eye-opener for me. I realized I could not assume that items on a store shelf were safe for my family; I would have to check them out for myself.

After a bit of research, I found Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. Those of you who are campers have no doubt heard about these soaps as they are completely biodegradable. Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps uses 100% Post-Consumer Recycled bottles and paper labels so even the packaging is earth-friendly. These soaps are pure-castile soaps so are vegetable rather than animal-based. All of the ingredients are organic and certified fair trade. Even better, they are items that are understandable without a degree in chemistry. Here is the entire ingredient list:

INGREDIENTS: Water, Saponified Organic Coconut*, Organic Palm* and Organic Olive* Oils (w/Retained Glycerin), Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Essential Oils**, Citric Acid, Vitamin E
* Fair Trade Ingredients
** Available in Peppermint, Lavender, Almond, Tea Tree, Eucalyptus, Unscented Baby-Mild, Rose and Citrus Orange

That’s it! (Saponified just means converting a fat or oil into a soap – I had to look it up, too.)

The peppermint scent is very refreshing, especially on a hot day. The almond scent has a wonderful smell which is a favorite of our children. I hope your next bath time is enjoyable and nontoxic!

Check out MotherNature.com for a great selection of Dr. Bronner’s Soap.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.