Soapbox #3

Packaging—through the lens of soil health.

Last time I was on my soapbox, I noted that regenerative farmers view everything through the lens of soil health.  To a lesser extent, I do, too.

Before I purchase an item (or even accept a freebie), I think, “What happens when this item (including its packaging!) reaches the end of its useful life?”

It’s easy to think that the things that go down our drains or into our trash cans “disappear,” but in reality, it all comes back to us in our soil, water, and air. 

What goes down our drains ends up in rivers and oceans.  There is a filtration step in between, of course, but not everything gets filtered out, and the stuff that does get filtered out has to go somewhere. 

What goes in our trashcans ends up in landfills.  And as we touched on last time, landfill conditions produce undesirable byproducts that can contaminate our soil and water.

This end-of-life thinking need not be depressing—it can be quite beautiful.

Everything returns to the earth eventually, and when our Start with Soap products and packaging make their return, I want it to be a seamless reunion. 

That doesn’t mean our products and packaging are perfect (yet), but that is the lens through which we make all of our decisions at Start with Soap.  That is why our packing is almost entirely compostable (other than staples and wire ties).  And why, if you are local to Kansas City, you might have those odd little holes in your brown paper bags—we are experimenting with a “staple-less stapler,” because staples do not make good dirt!

Now are you convinced that soap and soil really do go hand in hand and that “Soap & Soil” would have been an awesome, albeit admittedly less intuitive, name?

Peace,
Jen