Hey all,

I’ve been wanting to change my shopping habits to be more local and environmentally friendly, and in doing so, have been looking at changing up getting a product I get regularly: soap.

I decided to swap from liquid hand soap to bar soap, and am planning on doing the same with bath soap as well once I finish using the liquid soap I have left. However, the bar soap I got unfortunately came with the bars individually wrapped in plastic, which kinda defeats the purpose of why I made the swap to begin with, and since getting it I’ve also been thinking about what to get that’s made closer to home to reduce emissions in transportation.

Now I’ve been greeted with two options. The first one is a brand made within the province. There’s minimal packaging, with the only packaging being a cardboard wrap-around strip for labeling purposes, it’s vegan, which is important to me as I want to have a more plant-based lifestyle, and I’ve used some of their products before years ago and absolutely loved it.

The second option is really interesting, but leaves me with some questions. It’s called “carbon capture soap” and is apparently made by connecting a device that captures CO2 from natural gas-fueled heaters and water boilers, which converts the CO2 to pearl ash for use in soap. The packaging is paper, it’s also vegan, and it’s not just made in the province, but in the city I live in. It’s sounds like a viable option, but I have some concerns.

My worry is that, while the idea of reducing carbon emissions like this seems great at first by reducing the emissions of natural-gas appliances, is that it doesn’t address the root issue with fossil fuels, and that in using carbon-capture products like this, I’m signifying with my dollar that I’m content in not transitioning from fossil fuels.

Was hoping to maybe get some thoughts, as I’m currently heavily conflicted and unsure about which to go with. Appreciate all help in advance!