In a recent post I suggested that the EU needs a better palm oil policy, based on scientific evidence that the RSPO certification is not effective at mitigating deforestation. Palm oil is commonly used as a fat in processed food products and to make detergents and personal care products. I’ve previously covered some good options for vegan butters that don’t contain palm oil. In this post, I want to address another product that’s often made from palm oil: soap. But beyond palm oil, I also want to look at soap more broadly, in the light of consumer trends in Europe.

I’ve noticed* that the supermarkets in European countries tend to have poor options for soap, ethically speaking. Shelves are most often dominated by liquid soaps in plastic dispensers and a much smaller selection of solid soap bars, usually manufactured by the largest companies in that space (Unilever, Colgate Palmolive). It’s actually quite hard to find soap that rates well for social and environmental impact in EU supermarkets. Let’s take a look at some of the factors involved.

*Thanks also to reportage from others!

Liquid versus solid soap

The packaging footprint of liquid soap was estimated to be 20 times higher than that of solid soap. This shouldn’t come as a big shock – liquid soap usually comes in a plastic bottle with a pump dispenser that’s not practical for recycling. Solid soap, on the other hand, requires little or no packaging. I’m realizing as I write this that I’m more or less updating an earlier post on soap (from 2016!), which is perhaps something I should do for other topics too…

Liquid soap has a significantly larger carbon footprint, requiring five times more energy for raw material production and nearly 20 times more energy for packaging production than bar soaps do. Liquid soaps also don’t last as long: on a per-wash basis consumers use more than six times more liquid soap than bar soap. – Daily Footprint, #4 – Soap.

Why are we buying so much liquid soap then, especially in Europe? The trend seems pretty clear that Europeans prefer to buy liquid soap for hand washing and showers. Broadly speaking, I think there are two reasons for this:

1. Perceptions that liquid soap may be more hygienic, effective, or sophisticated
2. A lack of attractive solid soap bar alternatives

Solid soap is as effective as liquid soap, if not more so. Unlike solid soap bars, liquid soap actually requires preservatives to prevent microbes from growing in the soap! These preservatives could actually be bad news for the beneficial bacteria on your skin – the natural microflora that we’re just beginning to understand. Liquid soaps also often contain antibacterial agents, added as another selling point. Demand for soaps with these antibacterial agents, such as  triclosan (TCS) and trichlorocarbon (TCC) has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. However the FDA has found, in multiple studies, that antibacterial soap is no more effective than regular soap. Worse, these antimicrobials are not eliminated sufficiently during wastewater treatment and scientists have expressed concern over antimicrobial resistance and the disruption of natural nutrient cycles in aquatic habitats. Also, the TCS found in hand and body wash products such as Dial and Softsoap can convert into chloroform, a probable human carcinogen.

Traditional, solid soap is made very simply from a few ingredients (e.g., olive oil, sodium hydroxide, water, and sea salt) and breaks down naturally in the environment. Liquid soaps, on the other hand, usually contain around 15-30 ingredients, such as synthetic detergents, preservatives, antimicrobial agents, emulsifiers, fragrances, and colors. Unlike the saponified olive oil in a soap bar, the synthetic detergents in liquid soap don’t break down so readily in the environment.

It’s one thing to have a container of liquid soap in a bathroom for guests, or for other specific needs, but many of us have completely replaced solid soap with liquid soaps at home. It’s unfortunate that we’ve been duped into believing that liquid soap is more sophisticated than old fashioned bars of soap. In the face of climate change, plastic pollution, and persistent chemicals in our waterways, we need to start seeing sustainable products as the only sophisticated choices.

Solid soap bars – some things to watch out for

Generally speaking, solid soap bars are a more sustainable choice than liquid soaps, but there are a few factors to be aware of here too. I’ll go through a few of them now.

Synthetic versus natural soap

Even for solid soap bars, some are “natural” and some are made with synthetic detergents. I know that “natural” is a notoriously vague term on product packaging that often doesn’t mean a lot or guarantee much. In this case, it’s a specific term to describe soap that’s made by saponification of fat – a simple chemical reaction that takes place when fat such as vegetable oil is treated with sodium hydroxide (lye). Soap has been made that way for millennia.

Soaps made with synthetic detergents can usually be identified by a long ingredient list (like liquid soaps) and a product name that doesn’t include the word soap – for example, Dove Beauty Bar.  If you look at Dove’s ingredients below, there’s a mix of synthetic detergents (Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Sodium Isethionate) and soaps made from palm oil (Sodium Palmate) and palm kernel oil (Palm Kernelate).

Dove Beauty Bar ingredients: Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Lauric Acid, Sodium Palmate, Aqua, Sodium Isethionate, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Parfum, Sodium Chloride, Zinc Oxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Citronellol, Coumarin, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool, CI 77891.

Synthetic detergents have come under more scrutiny as their use in both liquid and solid soaps has escalated in recent years.

Synthetic soap is mainly petroleum-based (e.g., sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)), hardly biodegradable, and has a high aquatic toxicity potential. – Environmental impact of increased soap consumption during COVID-19 pandemic (2021)

The use of synthetic detergents in situations where there are good alternatives (i.e., soap made by the traditonal method) poses an unnecessary burden on aquatic systems. Their synthesis can also be problematic, with isethionate usually made from ethylene oxide  and the lauroyl (or lauryl) component often derived from palm oil.

Palm oil as an ingredient

I’ve been through this before so I’ll refer you to this post on palm oil certifications and this quote from my post on the EU policy of accepting RSPO certification as an assuarance of sustanability:  

I suggest avoiding most products made from palm oil even if RSPO-certified. An exception would be products made from organic palm oil, sourced through a program such as Palm Done Right – The EU Needs a Better Palm Oil Policy.

Palm oil is a high yielding crop but one of the reasons for this high yield is that it grows warm, wet regions that are normally occupied by tropical rainforest. A higher yield can reduce the need for agricultural land, but this crop directly displaces rainforests that are massively rich in biodiversity. This is not a good tradeoff and, in my view, palm oil should generally be avoided with a few exceptions.

The exceptions – predominantly small companies that use truly sustainable palm oil – are worth supporting because the industry to change. There are now several soap companies working with Palm Done Right, including Dr. Bronner’s and The Oregon Soap Company.  

Finding ethical soap in Europe

As a general rule the best kind of soap for social and environmental impact is old-fashioned solid soap, made from vegetable oil. Unfortunately, the majority of solid soap bars sold in European supermarkets all fall into the one exception to this general rule – they are made from palm oil by large corporations with mediocre Green Stars ratings (e.g., Dove, Palmolive, Imperial Leather, etc.). It’s frustrating to me that it takes some effort to find ethical soap in Europe, both in terms of identifying them and then finding a convenient (and affordable) way to buy them.

Here are a couple of UK-based guides to ethical soap that feature brands that you can find in Europe:

Ethical Consumer

The Good Shopping Guide

I checked out soaps from a few of companies that were recommended on both lists – Lucy Bee, Neal’s Yard, and Odylique. Lucy Bee, which got the highest score from Ethical Consumer, sells organic soaps for around £5 (GBP) per 150 g bar, so that’s around £3.30 per 100 g of soap. Soaps from Neal’s Yard, and Odylique were more expensive at around £7 (GBP) per 100 g bar.

Friendly Soap, which scored well in Ethical Consumer’s guide, is available from the Ethical Superstore in the UK – they cost £2.45 (GBP) per 95 g bar.

As mentioned above, soap bars made from palm oil should be avoided with exception of brands such as Dr. Bronner’s that source deforestation-free palm oil. Dr. Bronner’s has a UK-based online store, with 20% off promotion for plastic-free products at the moment – it costs around £5 per 140 g bar (£3.65 per 100 g).

On Ethical Bargains, I’ve reviewed Kiss My Face soap, rating it 4.5 out of 5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact. Their soap bars are made from olive oil and not much else (saponified olive oil, sea salt and water) and then packaged in paper that’s 80% recycled. It’s easy to find Kiss My Face in the US, but not as convenient in Europe. Perhaps the best way is to order from Vitacost, which ships to 150 countries, including most of Europe. I’ve ordered from Vitacost a few times and appreciate that they ship in cardboard boxes with only brown paper used for padding, if needed. Their large bars (230 grams) cost around $4 (USD) on Vitacost – that’s around $1.75 per 100 grams.

Yes, most of these soaps appear to cost quite a lot more than liquid soaps but a bar of soap lasts for a long time – especially the good quality brands discussed above. A bottle of 250 mL Dove liquid handwash may seem cheap at €2, but that may only be enough for 100 hand washes, or less, depending on the amount we use (0.4 to 9 mL per wash). And, again, that bottle with the pump dispenser is not likely to be recycled, in reality.

Actually, here’s one last soap, which I found while making one of the images above – Oliva soap, made in Greece from olive oil is only £4 (GBP) for two 125 g bars from ethical superstore. Or you can go all out and buy a huge 600 g block from Taste from the Med for only £3.75 – that’s a mere £0.62 per 100 g bar, which you can cut any way you like from the block. I’ve bought this soap before, from a health food shop in Ireland, and liked it.

Our overuse of plastic and unsustainable palm oil are serious issues. It unfortunately takes some effort to find ethical soap in Europe but it’s worth the effort. Other than the online options discussed above, the best places to start are by supporting your local health food store or zero-waste store.

Also, please share your tips for finding ethical soap in Europe!