The Shampoo Bar Story

Certainly not a fairy tale, but the story behind these tiny bubbly pieces called Shampoo Bars traces back to some grand, old times. It started during the time when everything was handmade and they produce soaps through a process called "saponification". Those were the days where patience is still a virtue and "instant" and "ready-made" items are still unknown.

Fast forward to the recent years when everything comes handy-dandy, and everything that we need can now be bought easily from any 24/7 convenience store, or even from vending machines. It is usually a grab-and-go mentality and we forget that sometimes, this attitude and perception leads to ill consequences. The results shows the number of diseases plaguing the world today (a thing which didn’t even happen in the past), and the havoc being made to our environment and its innocent inhabitants. Videos are now being shown to prove this. Will you not be moved by such clips? I think that only the stone-heart and insensitive beings won't care about it.

This brings us to the big question. What are we doing to our planet?
Isn't it time for us to start asking ourselves what can we do, even in our own little way,  to help save what was left for us and for the next generation to come?

This is a challenge to all of us. The responsibility does not only lie on the shoulder of those with advocacy. They are not super heroes who can save the earth. They  need our help. It does not take a hefty amount of knowledge to understand the concept. It’s plain and simple. Consciousness and awareness are the key. The next step is to take action. How? By evaluating everything that we do, including the things that we use. Are we contributing to the trash that goes down the drain, and overflows to our rivers and oceans, each day?

Take a look at these points that I encountered from a blog called Unwrapped Life:

• A million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and the number is projected to jump another 20% by 2021.
• This equates to about 20,000 bottles being bought every second
• More than 480 billion plastic drinking bottles were sold in 2016 across the world, up from about 300 billion a decade ago. If placed end to end, these bottles would extend more than halfway to the sun.
• By 2021, annual plastic bottles sold are projected to increase to 583.3 billion.
• Fewer than half of the bottles bought in 2016 were collected for recycling and just 7% of those collected were turned into new bottles. That means, approximately 93% of the 480 billion plastic water bottles sold in 2016 ended up in landfill or in the ocean.

You don’t need to be a genius nor a math wizard to understand the numbers above. These are just plastic bottles alone (what about the sachets, the other plastics used as packaging, and a lot more?)! There’s even a lot more and all of them are being dumped into our waterways, wreaking havoc to our dear mother earth.

These sentiments gave an anchor to the story behind the resurfacing of shampoo bars. Small as it may seem to some but, we are rallying behind its purpose. Consider the multiplying effect of saving one plastic bottle per consumer per day, and take it into consideration. We believe that this will matter a lot. Now, more than ever, is the time to make the switch. Go organic. Support those small, local entrepreneurs who are striving to make the change. Their vision is clear. By using locally sourced raw materials, using natural ingredients, veering away from chemical components, wrapping up their products in biodegradable, recyclable packaging only means one thing. They care for you and for the environment, more than the profits that they can generate from sales.

Let’s throw off the IDC attitude out of the window once and for all. Think! It’s not just for some people. It’s for all of us and for those who will come after us.

For natural shampoo bars sans the plastic bottles, you may visit: https://www.facebook.com/aunaturelphil/

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