I’ve written at length about single use plastics in the past – and it’s an issue that isn’t going anywhere. The beauty industry produces 120 billion units of packaging per year and by 2050, it’s estimated that there will be 12 billion tonnes of plastic in landfills generated by the cosmetics camp alone, according to research conducted for zero waste week last year. And that fact hasn’t gone unheeded by consumers. Indeed, we’ve been busy voting with our purses and...

Via CNN By AJ Willingham Let's fight about soap. What's there to discuss, you ask? Plenty, if new consumer research is to be believed. Apparently, there is a serious ideological divide when it comes to bar soap and the people who put it on their bodies. For one, bar soap sales are declining. What was once a staple of our daily ablutions is being eclipsed by fancy-pants body washes and other cleaning options. According to research from Mintel, a marketing...

Via Sierra Club By Bob Schildgen Hey Mr. Green, What are your thoughts about bathroom habits and being kind to Mother Earth? Is there a right amount of time to spend in the shower to save water? Temperature of the water? Straight razors versus disposable? —Chris in Peoria, Illinois I grew up with a minimum-flush policy, based on the well-known proverb “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.” I continue to follow this tradition and strongly...

Via BBC Soap is more popular in liquid form than in bars in the UK - but there are good reasons to stick with the old-fashioned way of keeping clean, says Gareth Rubin. How do you like to scrub up? If you prefer liquid soap to the solid stuff, you're in the ascendancy. According to market research firm Mintel 87% of Britons regularly buy liquid soap, against 71% who buy bars of it. And solid soap is slipping down the...

Via MagicValley.com By Tricia Goss In the 1970s, the Colgate-Palmolive company introduced Irish Spring soap. The green and white striped bars boasted double deodorants for long-lasting protection. Since then, people have found alternate uses for the soup outside of the shower. Some of these innovations are thanks to the soap’s ingredients, including sodium tallowate, which is derived from animal fat. Other uses lean on the unique fragrance of the suds. Glorious scent aside, many of these hacks will work just fine with any...