Sustainable Soap
History
History
URI ESW planned to create soap using organic materials during the spring semester of 2021. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic being at a high the project was postponed to the Fall 2021 semester. The project was submitted for a P3-grant proposal, which we unfortunately did not receive. Though we did not earn the funds to start making the soap itself, the committee that reviewed our proposal provided us with valuable feedback and we are excited to get back to work on this project in the future!
Description
Description
To create our sustainable soap, we want to breakdown seashells to obtain the calcium carbonate needed to make the calcium oxide, which can be mixed with water to form calcium hydroxide. This final compound will then be mixed with sodium carbonate obtained from kelp or seaweed to form sodium hydroxide, or lye, which is a key component of soap and it typically obtained through mining. We will then mix this lye and a sustainably-sourced oil to form the soap. Our hope is to find a renewable source of lye and cut out unethically-sourced and chemical-based fragrances. We also plan to provide make this soap more available to developing communities at a lower cost and with less environmental damage.
2022 _P3_ESW_v3.pdf