No doubt about it, shampoo bars are better for the environment. They have less packaging, require a lower carbon footprint to ship and are biodegradable (although they need time to break down to be safe for small life forms.) Plus, old-fashioned shampoo bars are very economical. They tend to be less expensive AND they last longer because we use less of it. Using less is also good for the environment.
A recent study on the environmental impacts of soaps and their associated packaging found that bar soaps have a lower environmental impact than liquid soaps in many important categories including carbon footprint, ecotoxicity, ozone depletion potential, and eutrophication potential. (1) This is due largely to the higher energy requirements of producing the raw materials and packaging for liquid soaps. From cradle to gate, liquid soaps require five times more energy for raw material production and nearly 20 times more energy for packaging production than bar soaps do. What’s more, the authors note, on a per-wash basis consumers use more than six times the amount of liquid soap (by weight) than bar soap. University of Washington’s Conservation Magazine.Old-fashioned shampoo bars are better for the environment than any others. They are made by saponifying oils using lye. At the end of the process, no lye remains. Plus they make a great lather and are really great for people with short hair. It will leave it feeling thicker and give it more body. I make four different kinds of old-fashioned shampoo bars, an orange honey shampoo bar, a strawberry shampoo bar, a rosemary shampoo bar and a Pine Tar Shampoo Bar for people with dandruff. All of them are very popular.