was > making soap without po now>earth topic

February 27, 2008

Ya know you bring up a very good subject that I have been wondering

about for quite some time. With the whole world now seeming to be all

about " ALL NATURAL " products how do we deal with that and assume we

are doing good for the planet. I mean think about. Everyone is all

about all natural this and that, pure plant extracts and such but

where are we getting these plant extracts and natural products and

how is it effecting the planet really???

When we take things from the planet because it is natural are we

doing it any good or are we doing it harm. How about all of the dead

sea salt that we are all using? If everyone is using it and we are

constantly harvesting it from the dead sea will we still have a dead

sea or will the salt content go down so that all it will be is just a

sea with just an average amount of salt like the rest of our oceans.

I often wondered about that. I wont even go in on plant extracts that

might come from rain forests or other areas of land that are suppose

to be protected.

Plus with the advances in science, why do we really need all natural.

The reason why i thought we had science and synthetic products was so

we can create a synthetic product that did the same exact thing as

the real product but so we didn't have to destroy what little of it

we have left on the planet. We are running out of time and earth in

order to see all this planet has to offer, I have a hard time

believing that so much of what we use has to be all natural and made

out of plant extracts. plant extracts that we don't know where they

come from. Us as small home makers of products can choose were we get

our products and what we want to use in order to save our planet but

the big companies they are only in it to MAKE money they could care

less if they are destroying the planet and the creatures and plants

that make up the planet.

Im just curious as to what others think on this subject and if they

ever happen to have conscious issues as to using our planets

resources vs a perfectly equal alternative that thereis plenty of

even if it is a synthetic but one that doesn't harm the plant in any

way but rather helps it.

>

> I know it will be more challenging to make soap without po, but

when I saw the pictures of the dead orangutans and the orphan babies

I decided I couldn't be a party to that. My soap doesn't lather too

great now anyway - it's more of a creamy lather (great for

shaving,though). I would think coconut plantations are being planted

on deforested land, too. Po and co is in so much of what we eat,

too, like cakes and stuff. I'm going to give it a try. OO is so

expensive here in central NY. I used to get it a LOT cheaper in the

grocery store in NJ - big ethnic population I guess.

>

February 27, 2008

Thanks for such an eloquent and sensitive post. I think what we do is very

spiritual, making soap by hand, and wish all natural or organic products carried

a spiritual element, too. By spiritual I mean a certain level of consciousness

as to where ingredients come from and what cost to the earth, as you spoke of.

I would add the element of suffering to the consideration, like what sensient

beings had to suffer to give us their gifts. I know we can get carried away

with this line of thinking...like did the workers who picked the olives receive

adequate compensation, etc. We can drive ourselves crazy and I'm not in favor

of that. I just want us to think carefully and be more socially and

environmentally responsible.

Koalas Boutique <Koalas_boutique@...> wrote: Ya know you bring up

a very good subject that I have been wondering