Opting for biodegradable soap bars instead of chemical liquid soaps is such an easy little step towards a more responsible lifestyle. It also saves lots of space, which is great for tiny living – like we do.

Here are some reasons why you also should opt for (fair trade, vegan) biodegradable soap bars:

• At least 80% of a bottle of liquid soap (shampoo, body wash, conditioner, detergent, …) is water. Transporting all that water by truck/aeroplane/ship is a huge waste since we can also get water from our taps.
• Soap bars typically come with minimal or no plastic packaging, while liquid soap comes in thick plastic bottles. With plastic waste being a major environmental and health concern, we should really aim to reduce it as much as practically possible.
• If used and dried well after each use, soap bars tend to last much longer than liquid soap. In general, people use more liquid soap than necessary, leading to overconsumption. In contrast, soap bars allow users to control the amount they use more easily, leading to less waste and longer-lasting products.
• Choose biodegradable soap because it might not end up in a water treatment facility in the first place. Long story short: in most areas, rain, wastewater, and sewage are transported through the same combined sewage system. But when there is more rain than the system can handle, it overflows, and our waste ends up in nature. Note: while biodegradable is “better”, it is still harmful if it is directly released into nature – it breaks down, but it’s still soap.

Next to soap bars, we use soapberries (or soap nuts) for our laundry, eco toothpaste tabs for our teeth, and a mineral deodorant stick to stop our armpits from smelling – we can really recommend that one. We could have added white vinegar and baking soda as well, but it wasn’t pretty in the picture =)! This is basically the entire list of personal care and cleaning products we use. Vinegar is the only bottled liquid product, really. If you can recommend any dry or refill options, let us know!