What is wrong with a bar of soap?
Have you ever managed to use liquid soap economically?
Have you ever considered that each plastic bottle which you buy which contains your liquid soap will last?
No?
Well, in terms of your plastic bottle floating away into its distant voyage into the sea, it will be doing that for around 450 years. That is more than 4.5 of your lifetimes. That is for every plastic liquid soap bottle that you buy. Think of the population of your country and times that by how many bottles you will buy in your lifetime.
(UK millions) 60 x 2 (plastic liquid soap bottles a month) x 912 (average lifetime months 76 years x 12 months ) = 109440 million liquid soap bottles
So a generation of UK population could create 109440 million liquid soap bottles. Some maybe burnt, many will be set adrift in the oceans, and many in the earth. For around 450 years these things could be polluting the landscape for the matter of containing a liquid, that is not economically used, in your home for about two weeks before it becomes empty and thrown away. There is also the wasted energy and materials to create the bottle in the first place.
The liquid is also often wasted. It is impossible to understand how much is coming from the dispenser as you plunge down the pump. Knowing when enough is in your hand is also very difficult for each brand and soap type.
Why do we use liquid soap in general when a bar of soap is so much more in so many ways?
- You can rub the bar accurately until you have enough to wash what is required
- Packing is either not required or can be a simple paper wrapper
- Simple to maintain and doesn’t break like the pump device can
- When finished there is no waste
- Small bits can be recycled with other pieces to create you own unique bar of soap
Another option is to make your own bar soap and liquid soap with this nice guide
More info about bottle life-time here