Pollution Facts About Body Wash Bottles Vs. Soap Bars
Soap is a necessity. A clean body is the first step to good physical health. But what about the planet’s health? There are many things to take into account when comparing body wash and bar soap with an eye toward their impact on the environment. Does this Spark an idea?
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History
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Soap or detergents may have been around since as early as 2800 BC. But it isn’t until the second century that a physician named Galen mentions using soap to wash the human body. Early soaps were simple mixtures of fat and alkali, usually derived from plant ashes. For centuries, soaps were made in small batches for home use. Scented, professionally made soaps were a luxury few could afford. Like so many things, the industrial revolution changed that, and soap became a commercial staple. To garner a larger share of the market, companies started finding new ways of presenting the same old product. They added scents and colors and finally offered soap in liquid form as body wash.
Manufacturing
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Body wash and bar soap have similar environmental concerns when it comes to manufacture. According to the EPA, the primary air pollutants in both forms are the smells emitted during production. Both soap and body wash companies handle large amounts of fats, acids, sulfides and other raw materials to produce their product. These products emit some very noxious odors when stored, melted and mixed. It isn't until all of the ingredients are combined that soap starts to smell "clean." But there are some differences in manufacture. Bar soap requires space and time to cure, or dry out, while body wash can be bottled in its liquid form.
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Packaging
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Bar soap is generally wrapped in paper or sealed inside a small cardboard box. These materials are recyclable. Even if they are discarded in the trash, they take up little room in landfills and are primarily biodegradable. According to the Clean Air Council, 2.5 million plastic bottles are thrown away every hour, including those from body wash. Many of these bottles are difficult to recycle. If discarded, these bottle take up room in landfills.
Transportation
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Looking at product weight, CVS and Bath and Body Works show that body wash weighs 10 to 16 oz. per bottle while bar soap weighs 2 to 4 oz per bar. Because it’s a liquid, transporting body wash means transporting water. The additional weight of shipping body wash means more fuel used as well as more air pollution.
Usage
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Usage is a personal issue. Some bathers use lots of body wash where they would use less soap from a bar. Others use body wash more sparingly where a bar of soap just dissolves away in the shower stream.
Conclusion
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If usage were the same, and an individual got the same number of washes from a bottle of body wash and a bar of soap, then soap is the more environmentally responsible choice.
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References
- Photo Credit red shampoo articles image by Julia Britvich from Fotolia.com
