I have been attempting to cut back more and more on my environmental impact. I have been making changes in my makeup routine by switching to cloth wipes (read the review here). I started making my own reusable cleaning wipes. I bring reusable bags to the grocery store. I switched to period underwear (read that here). I now try to only buy clothes made from natural fabrics. And I recently bought a Cora Ball after reading about it on another bloggers page (check it out here). All of these changes will reduce my personal carbon footprint somewhat, but my newest change really doesn’t seem as drastic.
I recently switched back to bar soap from liquid. I made this switch because a friend gifted me some beautiful bars of soap for my birthday. They were natural soaps she had gotten from a small shop. At first I made the switch because they smelled wonderful and I hadn’t made a Target run. But I remembered her saying bar soap is better for the environment, so I researched and it was! I know it seems silly at first that switching to bar soap has less of an environmental impact than liquid soap, but it does. Liquid soaps are made with more synthetic chemicals which take more water treatment steps to clean out. Liquid soaps chemicals are more harsh for the environment and even can have trace amounts of micro plastic in them. Liquid soap also comes in a plastic bottle. Bar soap on the other hand has usually less chemicals, takes up less space in warehouses, and is stored in cardboard boxes. I was astonished the more and more I read about how bad liquid soaps were compared to bar soap.
I started telling a few friends and they were shocked too, but kept telling me things they hated about bar soap. They thought it would get slimy and dirty sitting in the shower. It does, but it’s soap so you can rinse it off before you rub it all over you. They said it dried out their skin. Some brands can, but I started buying my soap at a local shop and haven’t noticed this. In fact I love that the local shop I buy soap from puts seeds in the soap to help exfoliate my skin. And the seeds don’t add to micro plastic pollution! The shop even has soap made with coconut oil which is super moisturizing. So I made the switch. I noticed that my bar soap is cheaper than liquid so I have saved money. It stores better in bulk and is cheaper to buy in bulk. I actually use the whole bar and don’t throw away what I can’t get out of the bottle. I am so happy I have made the switch to bar soap. I am planning on converting all of our hand soaps to bar soap once they are used up.
What are some of the ways you are trying to live a more sustainable life?
Life From A.N.Z 