Quick Fix: Bar Hand Soap
Bar Hand Soap: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is the first of my quick fix reviews. These are all
5-star alternatives that are easy to incorporate into everyday life.
Why is this swap necessary?
This product that removes much unnecessary packaging. Bar soap makes bottles used for liquid soap redundant, as pointless as plastic bags for bananas. It was estimated that 577 million soap containers entered the environment last year.[1] This is all avoidable plastic packaging which is easily replaced by the cardboard boxes or paper wraps that bar soap comes in. The liquid hand soap that I used before was roughly 55g of mostly unrecyclable plastic. That is about 2.5kg of plastic my house saves a year by switching to bars. This multiplied across the whole population makes a massive difference.
While some environmentally friendly alternatives require sacrificing on convenience, cost, etc, switching to bar hand soap doesn’t sacrifice anything. It has many positives and very few, if any, downsides. In fact, the negatives are mostly specific companies, not the product itself.
A bit of history behind soap…
Soap
has been around for thousands of years, in fact the first written recipe for
soap is nearly 5,000 years old. However, it wasn’t until the early 20th century
that a synthetic alternative to the animal fats in soap was discovered. This
synthetic means that these days most ‘soaps’ aren’t actually soap, but
detergents.[2]
Liquid soap was first patented in 1865,[3] but wasn’t mass produced for domestic use until 1980. However,
more recently consumers have been moving back to bar soap. A study found that
sales in bar soap have been increasing 3% faster than liquid soaps and shower
gel products.[4]
Like myself, this has been driven mostly by the
environmental impact. 49% of soap users say they ‘avoid products harmful to the
environment’.[4]
Positives
Apart from removing the unnecessary plastic, there are additional benefits to both consumers and the environment.- Less energy is used.
Studies have found that bar soap is an ‘energy winning’ alternative.[5] This study took into account production, delivery and consumption, including water usage. The study found that for each wash, bar soap used less energy than liquid soap.
- Use less per wash.
It has also been found that less soap is used per wash when you use a bar compared to liquid soap. Even in my basic home experiment I used less bar soap. This means that it will last longer per purchase.
- Cheaper
Even just comparing the brand that I often buy from which offers both liquid and bar
soap. The bar soap if £1 for 100g, and the liquid equivalent is £2.90 for
250ml. This makes the bar soap better value for money and that’s before
accounting into the equation using less of it per wash.
Negatives
- Plastic wraps
The only watch out with bar soap is that although not in a plastic bottle, some come wrapped in plastic, undermining the whole point. However, this is the minority of brands, so easy to avoid.
- Residue
Potentially one downside is that you may need to buy a dish,
as they can leave more residue.
These negatives are negligible, and the plastic wrap is the suppliers, not a downfall of the product itself. Soap dishes can be found for as little as
99p and aren’t essential for use.
Conclusion
Hand soap bars are a very easy and cheap alternative.
Offered in small boutique stores through to supermarket own brand. If you are looking
for an environmental quick fix, bar soap is a great alternative.
[1] https://flyinghighsolo.com/2012/05/going-back-to-the-bar-soap-that-is/
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/history-of-soap/
[3] https://botaniesoap.com/blog/2015/09/14/from-the-history-of-liquid-soap/
[4] https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/bars-soap-comeback-plastic-pollution-environment-chanel-jo-malone-a8833996.html
[5] https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/the-benefits-of-a-bar-of-soap-that-is/
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