Bar Soap

Liquid soap isn’t the first thing most people think of when it comes to reducing their environmental impact. But surprisingly, liquid soap has a large impact with its packaging and energy use. Luckily, there are easy alternatives that you can make yourself or buy for not a lot of money. 
​According to Conservation Magazine, “liquid soaps require five times more energy for raw material production and nearly 20 times more energy for packaging production than bar soaps do” (Tyler 1) [1]. In addition, on average, people use over six times less soap in a single use when they use bar soaps. This means that bar soap lasts much longer than liquid soap, so it’s also an economical choice. 
Liquid soaps typically contain more chemicals than bar soaps, and these chemicals go through the water system and end up in the ocean and the Great Lakes. This harms the flora and fauna in the water.
Unfortunately, bar soaps do have their drawbacks. They contain more natural ingredients, which requires land to produce. This makes the land impact of liquid soap less than that of bar soap. 

Eco-Friendly Alternatives
For the next two weeks, use bar soap instead of liquid soap. This will lessen your impact with packaging, chemicals, and soap use. 

Eco-Friendly Alternatives
There are many eco-friendly soaps that are very inexpensive. Any bar soap will require less plastic and will last longer than a liquid soap. You can get bar soap from most stores. If you’re the DIY type, you can easily make your own soap with a custom blend of ingredients. 

Sources
Johnson, Donna. “What Are the Ingredients of Liquid Soap?” Healthfully, 24 Dec. 2019, healthfully.com/what-are-the-ingredients-of-liquid-soap-4998848.html.
O'Brien, Brendan. “Consider The Environmental Impact Of Soap.” CleanLink, 19 Mar. 2015, www.cleanlink.com/cp/article/Consider-The-Environmental-Impact-Of-Soap--18045.
[1]Tyler, David. “Bar Soap vs. Liquid Soap.” Conservation, University of Washington, 25 July 2013, www.conservationmagazine.org/2013/05/bar-soap-vs-liquid-soap/.

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