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Packaging is critical to our mission here at Nordic Soap. It’s a detail that may seem insignificant, but actually it speaks to everything we’re trying to do.

There are two main concerns we focus on when designing — and redesigning —  the way we wrap and ship your soap. First, the “messaging impact”: how do we make this soap look great and clearly convey information. Second, and really the most important, the “environment impact”: how do we use as little material as possible and make sure the materials we do use are friendly to the environment.

We are always trying to improve how we get this right. Currently, each bar of soap is wrapped by hand; no extra electricity or machinery or resources are needed or used. We use as little packaging as possible, in order to keep costs down and lessen the burden on the environment.

The packaging we do use is recyclable, biodegradable, and much of it is even compostable. We strive to keep everything ecologically friendly, including  protecting each soap with individual glassine bags instead of plastic; sealing with sisal or cotton twine instead of staples or glue; and using 100% recycled paper labels and cards. Soap is placed directly in the shipping box without additional packaging; we will fill the box, if needed, with shredded, recycled kraft-paper cushioning. Even the shipping boxes we use are re-used USPS boxes, and we use plain paper tape to seal every box.

There are no paper invoices, sales materials, or unnecessary documents in your box — just soap.

It would contradict everything we’re trying to accomplish if we were to be reckless and harmful with our packaging. We take great care in reducing the environmental impact of our products as much as we can; we hope that you take care in reusing or recycling the packaging as best you can.

If you have any questions or comments about our packaging, or any suggestions on how we can lessen our environmental impact even more, please use the form on the Contact page to lets us know about it.

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Interesting story on NPR today: that which smells good might not actually be good.

The use of synthetically scented soaps, shampoos, air fresheners, and candles does much more harm than many people realize. Over this past weekend, allergist Dr. Stanley Fineman gave a talk at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology highlighting the problems synthetically scented products cause people.

According to Fineman, patients complain about congestion, sniffles, runny noes, headaches, sinus pressure, and other allergy and flu like symptoms which can be attributed to the synthetically scented products they use in their home and work. “I’ve been seeing more and more people coming in to my office who have allergy-type symptoms that are triggered by these air freshener-type products,” Fineman said.

Many people have no idea that these products are causing their bodies to react so violently, and attribute their symptoms to anything but their candles, soaps, and air fresheners. But the use of volatile organic compounds (VOC), known to cause health problems for people, are a key component of synthetically scented products. Fact is, many of the “aromatherapy” products mass produced and sold and big box stores do more harm than good.

Products that utilize natural extracts, like essential oils, produce scents that come directly from the plant. These naturally-sourced scents don’t assault your respiratory system like VOC can, and many people believe they can do a lot of good for you as well. Also, the extraction of the essential oils is done through ecologically friendly processes, not the earth-scarring, chemical-rich mass manufacturing processes US and foreign companies use to create synthetic scents.

The difference is huge, to your nose, your health, and our world.

(image via Bloomberg Natural Health)

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The blog site Natural Living, along with Anne Marie Fine, M.D., a Scottsdale, Arizona-based naturopathic skin specialist, put together a quick list of things to look out for on the back of a shampoo bottle.

“We don’t know how things work together,” says Fine, “or what the total effect from all the products we use every day will be.”

Here is the list, directly from the report:

1. Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate (DLS)

What It Is: 
A chemical salt.
What it Does
: Lowers water’s surface tension, which lets products spread out and penetrate more easily; boosts foaming action.
Why Avoid
: It can produce harmful byproducts such as 1,4- dioxane and ethylene oxide, two chemicals linked to cancer.

2. Triethanolamine (TEA)

What It Is: 
A chemical compound derived from ammonia.
What It Does: 
Acts as a cleansing agent and foam booster; prevents products from separating.
Why Avoid: Research has linked TEA to certain cancers. Additionally, it’s sometimes contaminated with nitrosamines, a class of suspected carcinogens. TEA also may irritate skin and mucous membranes.

3. Parabens (i.e., butyl-, methyl-, and propylparabens)

What They Are: 
Chemical preservatives used in up to 90 percent of cosmetics
What They Do
: Keep products from going bad
Why Avoid: 
Ongoing studies suggest parabens may act like estrogen in the body, and estrogen exposure has been linked to breast cancer and hormone disruptions.

4. Propylene Glycol

What It Is: 
A thick, clear alcohol.
What It Does: 
Helps the skin soak up moisture, thins out liquids, and enhances skin’s absorption of other ingredients in the product.
Why Avoid: It may interfere with reproductive health. Additionally, because it helps other substances sink into skin, it becomes detrimental if the product contains irritants or toxins.

5. Phenoxyethanol

What It Is: An oily liquid preservative made from phenol, a coal tar derivative.
What It Does: Prevents scents from rapidly evaporating; sometimes used as a fragrance.
Why Avoid: Japan restricts use of phenoxyethanol, which research has linked to both endocrine disruption and cancers. It may also cause skin and eye irritation.

6. Imidazolidinyl Urea

What It Is: The most commonly used preservative after paragons.
What It Does: Extends a product’s shelf life.
Why Avoid:
 A top cause of contact dermatitis, imidazolidinyl urea may also stress your immune system. Plus, when used with water, it can release formaldehyde, a toxic chemical.

7. PEGs
What They Are
: Polyethylene glycol or polyethylene, which are both chemicals derived from petroleum.
What They Do: 
Help prevent products from separating; also used as gelling and thickening agents.
Why Avoid: PEGs can be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, a known carcinogen created during the manufacturing process. Certain PEGs may also cause hives and eczema and have been linked to kidney toxicity.

8. Petrolatum

What It Is: 
Petroleum jelly.
What It Does: 
Helps skin retain moisture, softens skin, and gives products a shiny, smooth texture.
Why Avoid: Petrolatum forms a film on your skin to prevent moisture from escaping. Unfortunately, that film also traps toxins under the skin (your largest organ) and keeps it from breathing properly. This can clog pores and interfere with skin’s excretory function (i.e., sweating) and cell development.

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We only have one planet. The choices we make on a daily basis, no matter how seemingly insignificant, effect everyone. The cheap bar of soap on sale at the supermarket may seem like a simple purchase where the only thing that matters is price and smell, but it is so much more than that.

Ask yourself this: how many items in the world do you take and rub all over your body? In your hair? All over your children’s bodies?

Really, is there anything that you use on a daily (or semi-daily?) basis that you are more intimate with than soap?

Would you knowingly take something that is full of toxins and chemicals expose your naked skin to it over and over again? Why do you ignore what is in your soap?

And when all of that nastiness runs down the drain, it becomes part of the ecosystem where you live. It is a surprise to many, but one of the biggest pollutants to our waters is the very substance we use to purportedly keep ourselves clean at home: soap.

Green Life put together a nice article about the impact of cheap soap on your body and on our planet. Give it a read, and give it a thought the next time you are considering what to use in your own home.

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Peppermint is a powerful friend. Of all of the natural oils and herbs that claim to have medicinal and health benefits, peppermint actually has a lot of science behind it. Harvard Health Publications put together a very scholarly document detailing the many benefits of the herb.

My own mother –  a nurse – can remember when it was standard practice in the hospital to use peppermint with patients to ease many ailments, until big pharma realized there was some money to be made and the peppermint disappeared.

Organic Facts has a great list of everything peppermint can do for you, as does Home remedies.

When we use peppermint in our soaps, we only use pure essential oil of peppermint. It is a key reason our peppermint soaps are our most popular, year after year after year.

(Image by Elements4Health)

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Soap is just soap, right?

When you break it down, all soap is basically some sort of salt of alkali metal like sodium potassium, or lye, and some type of fat. When these two things get together in the right combination, under the right conditions, a specific reaction occurs called saponification. The resulting substance is what we call soap.

But clearly all soap is not the same. When you consider that soap is something you use everyday (hopefully), something that you rub all over your body, in your hair, over your dishes and drinking glasses, and into your clothes — well, do you know exactly what that something is?

Your skin is the largest organ in your body, and it absorbs most of what it comes in contact with. The stuff that is all mixed up in that bar of soap in your tub, it really does make a difference.

Natural soap is not about something fancy, or trendy, or it some cases, pretty. Natural soap is about realizing that what you put onto your skin can effect your health. Natural soap is about realizing that what you wash down the drain can effect the environment.

Ultimately, natural soap is about doing the right thing for your own body and for the world around you.

In this space, we are going to break down the elements that are often used in commercial soap, and what they can do to you and to the environment.

We are going to specifically look at the damaging impact of some of the stuff in commercial soap, including:

- detergents
- surfactants
- sulfates
- chemicals
- colors and dyes
- perfumes and artificial scents
- sugar solutions
- SLS or SLES

We are also going to look at the benefits and impact of some natural soaps that are:

- made from vegetable fats like olive oil, coconut oil, and cocoa butter instead of animal fats like beef tallow
- hypo-allergenic
- non-comedogenic
- biodegradable
- use essential oils
- use fine olive or coconut oils

You make a choice with every purchase you make in the world — a choice of what type of product you want to consume and a choice of what kind of company you want to support. A choice of what kind of footprint you want to leave on the environment, and what kind of impact you want to have on your own body.

Soap is never just soap.