According to an article on the product, they could technically be sold without any packaging at all, since the protective covering is completely washable. Unfortunately, most markets aren’t set up to sell non-produce items without packaging, so they had to make do with the paper box.

There was also a recent news story about a waste-free supermarket set to open in Germany. Original Unverpacket aims to carry local groceries to cut down on transportation costs and their carbon footprint, as well. You can check out more on them on their NextStart, which raised over 100,000 Euro.

Here at Sirona Springs, we have made the decision to wrap our products to keep them as fresh as possible for our customers. Shipping and sitting on a shelf can be hard on a bar of soap that is prone to dents, finger marks, and chips! But we’ve taken steps to make sure our packaging is as earth-friendly as possible. The “plastic” wrap you see is biodegradable, a product called Biolefin. Instead of turning into smaller pieces of plastic over time, it will actually turn into its building blocks.

We also decided to go with a folded paper label inside the wrap instead of a sticky label on top. This makes it easier than ever to drop that slip of paper into your recycle bin. Finally, shipping materials are recycled, made of recycled material, or re-used from previous shipments as often as possible!

Have you ever been to a zero-packaging grocery store? What was your experience?

We’re not just giving soap; We’re Raising the Bar

We are committed to raising the bar in every aspect of our business. Not only are we raising bars of soap to give to those in need, but we are also raising the bar on how business is run. We responsibly source our ingredients and create, market and sell our soap with integrity.

We’re not just giving soap; We’re providing education

Washing hands with soap can reduce the risk of diarrheal diseases by up to 47% (unicef.org). That is why Pacha and its giving partners are not only giving bars of soap but also teaching proper hand washing techniques in order to promote health and hygiene on a global scale.

We’re not just giving soap; We’re creating sustainabilty

We establish sustainable soap-making shops in developing nations that employ local people and use local ingredients to make soap. Soap has the potential to save lives, as well as to provide jobs in areas where extreme poverty exists. Learn about our first soap-making shop in Burundi, Africa!

Pacha Soap Co. is the “Toms Shoes” of the soap world. They have a 1:1 business model – every bar sold is matched with a bar given away. To support Pacha Soap Co. in their mission, check out their website.

Honeycomb

At Sirona Springs, we mostly keep our soap ingredients pretty basic – oils (olive, castor, sustainably grown palm, and coconut), water, sodium hydroxide, rosemary oleoresin extract, fragrance, color & additives. One exception would be Honeycomb, which includes a special ingredient – goats’ milk. But never has Sirona Springs gone quite as special as soap company Liquid Gold Soaps has – by including their customers’ own expressed breast milk in the soap recipe!

Yes, it’s true. For just $15 plus the price of shipping your milk to the company (plus a cooler & dry ice) you can have 5 ounces of your breast milk turned into 3 bars of all-natural soap for use on you & your baby! While reputable scientific studies on using breast milk topically are few and far between, anecdotal evidence on the healing properties of breast milk pile sky-high. But whether those properties could survive the soap making process is unknown. One thing is certain: including milk in soap creates a creamy bar of soap with lots of fluffy lather that most people love to use!

If you are interested, learn how to pack & ship your storage bags to Liquid Gold Soaps on their website and read about their scenting options. I certainly can’t promise that your soap will help with any skin issues you have, but I absolutely believe you’ll be happy using handmade soap over the detergent bar you can buy on the grocery store shelf!

And if you just want to try a bar of soap made with milk to see if you like the feel, check out Honeycomb – at $6 a bar with $7.95 flat rate shipping (and no styrofoam cooler or dry ice needed!) you’re bound to save a couple bucks before you invest in shipping your breast milk to Liquid Gold Soaps!

Melt & Pour Soap Colorants, Embeds & Scent – the type of soap Donovan makes

You already know I like soap and at this point maybe (probably) think I’m going a little overboard with my claims of it having superpowers.

But I speak the truth.

A young boy named Donovan & his mother Casey struggled with homelessness four years ago. Thanks to the Supportive Housing Coalition of New Mexico, Casey was able to get back on her feet with an apartment, new job & hobby to share with her young son – melt & pour soap crafting. Her son Donovan loved making soap and at only 11 years of age launched a soap business.

Not only has he now had the opportunity to be in the press numerous times, he also keeps up an Etsy shop with his creations, and his soap business had led to lots of other amazing opportunities. He is currently away from his shop while he acts in an upcoming TV show! Donovan still has a heart for those still stuck in the cycle of homelessness, and donates a percentage of his profits to groups like the Supportive Housing Coalition of New Mexico. Love for your fellow human beings? Now that’s a super power.

Keep up with Donovan on Facebook, where he posts about adventures like volunteering, acting, and more. Or check out his Instagram account, where he’s been sharing images from the set where he’s acting!

Maybe real life superheros don’t turn invisible or fly, but maybe they do take an unfortunate situation and make the very best out of it. Great work Donovan – may you continue to show off your superpowers for a long, long time.

And that’s how you end up with people in the industry like Kevin Dunn, scientist and big name, primarily a chemistry professor, who aids our understanding of the science side of making soap. Check out his website on his book Scientific Soapmaking to learn more.

Back in 2010, Dove released an ad making some claims that were mostly misleading and a little bit flat out false. You can read about it on the Musings From the Farm blog. Dove and other “beauty bars” include a percentage of detergents in their bar that change the way they function, but they still contain soap, work in basically the same way, and still have the capacity to leave what they call “soap scum.”

I’d like to say that I have no idea if Sirona Springs soap leaves “soap scum” on your skin. I do know that we create a bar that feels great on your skin, aids in the cleansing process, and may even help your skin feel better if you note that your skin is dried out after using a bar created mostly with detergents.

The reason why you might find that a bar of handmade soap leaves your skin feeling less dried out than a bar made up of a percentage of detergents is all because of the way it’s created. When we make a batch of Sirona Springs soap, we mix together pure, food-grade vegetable oils and a mixture of water and sodium hydroxide (lye).

The lye gets used up completely when it reacts with the vegetable oils to create two brand-new substances. The first is the star of the show – SOAP! But the second is what keeps your skin from drying out. It’s called glycerin & it’s a humectant, which means it helps things stay moisturized. It’s one of the major ingredients in lotion and most companies that make soap separate it out & sell it at a higher profit than they can get from it while it’s in soap.

So while Dove may be your beauty bar of choice (and it’s OK if it is) if you haven’t given handmade soap a chance yet, pick up a bar on the website. Or stop by your nearest Farmer’s Market – lots of soap makers get their start in the local scene and we ALL love to tell customers how much we love our soap

In case your memory fails you, here’s what it used to look like:

In fact, it used to be much more labor-intensive to product Provence, which meant we couldn’t restock it quite as often as we wanted.

Here are a few more fun behind-the-scenes images from our recent restock:

cutting a log of Yuzu into bars

4 batches of soap, ready to be wrapped!

that light center will eventually turn dark, like the border

Yuzu bars ready to be shrinkwrapped

the first step to shrinkwrapping soap is to give each little bar its own label & bag!

Keep an eye on our Instagram to see future restocking adventures – and buy these new lovely bars of Provence, Yuzu, Oakmoss and Morning Mojito on the website. Don’t forget – there are always a limited number of bars available!

Check out those calendula petals! They decorate the top of the Yuzu soap logs (the 2 to the on the left in the third photo). They need to be chopped a little before going into the soap to make for a nicer user experience. And that little herb shaker? Now you know the dirty (or clean…it is soap, after all!) secret – the mint flakes in Morning Mojito are really parsley! Mint flakes would eventually turn brown (ew!) while parsley keeps its color. Don’t worry – you won’t smell like dinner after your shower!

Provence, an old favorite, is getting a face lift this time around. The new look will be dreamy and peaceful – stay tuned for photos of this bar cut later on! The fourth and final type of soap making its big return is Oakmoss – isn’t that dark outline a cool look? Sadly, it won’t stick around – eventually the entire lighter brown section will turn that dark color.

Keep your eyes peeled – these pretty newcomers will be on the website soon!

Yes, it’s true – a research team is working on finding a way to use slabs of soap, mixed with straw & filled with air bubbles, to insulate houses! Since traditional insulation is a product of crude oil and soap can be made with recycled vegetable & animal fats, switching to something like soap has the potential to be a much more responsible solution.

Check out more details here!

1. Slide a bar of soap across a vintage metal zipper to help it glide easier. The rust that builds up on these old zippers can make it stick, and the soap acts as a lubricating agent that won’t harm the garment. You can also use this trick on drawer tracks, sliding screen doors, and more. Hey, I’ve even heard it works to keep your floors from squeaking! But that’s one I haven’t tried yet.

2. A white or light-colored bar of soap is a great item to keep in your sewing kit to mark hems and other measurements – and it washes right out

3. If you like the smell of those store-bought bars, drop one in a clothes drawer to keep your clothes smelling fresh. Obviously, this isn’t a great choice if those artificial scents give you headaches!

4. Soap on a screw or nail will help prevent the wood from splitting while working with it.

5. Scratch a bar of soap before heading outside to do gardening. This will prevent dirt from collecting under your nails.

These are just a few of my favorite tips, but there are LOTS of uses for a bar of soap out there! Share some of your favorites in the comments

A layered soap with a wavy top

Lately, there’s been a growing faction of society (a very small one, I’ll wager) that is foregoing soap & shampoo altogether. Have you heard of this? The idea is, as a society we over-cleanse, and are actually doing ourselves a disservice.

There are some points that simply can’t be argued. For example, even if you don’t use soap, rubbing your hands together under running water for 30 seconds will still remove any dangerous bacteria from your hands (though just TRY to get grease off your hands without soap – I dare you!).

It’s also been proven that a daily shower is not best for your skin or your hair. Dermatologists typically recommend cleansing every 3 days.

That said, this family is still soap-friendly. In fact, if you saw how many bars of soap were currently in my shower, you might be worried for me Where do you fall on the spectrum of soap lover to soap leaver?