KINDNESS AT EVERY STEP
The Handmade Soap Company is known for its much-loved range of natural skin and body care products, but what you may not know is that the company is setting new standards of sustainability across the board.
While many companies boast of their sustainable credentials, looking into their practices can often reveal little more than minimal e orts to reduce their environmental impact. However, when you pick up a product from e Handmade Soap Company, you can rest assured that sustainability has been built into the fabric of everything they do.
e company has come a long way from when founder Donagh Quigley started the company in his kitchen over ten years ago, but as he explains: “Every day, we strive to take another step closer to our goal: evolving our company into the world’s kindest body care and home fragrance brand. at means being kind to our environment, to each other, and most importantly, to the skin of every person on the planet that we touch.”
is ethos starts on site in Slane, where all their products are made by hand. e company is situated in a repurposed linen mill and their electricity comes from a recommissioned hydroelectric turbine, meaning that it is powered by renewable energy from the River Boyne which runs alongside it.
When it comes to packaging, the company uses vegetable-based inks and FSC-approved recycled card, as well as 100 per cent recycled plastic material, which is in turn fully recyclable. It has also recently developed re ll pouches for its Anam range that are fully compostable in as little as 90 days. And e Handmade Soap Company hasn’t just thought about its own packaging: any inbound cardboard is shredded and used to package orders, putting something that would otherwise be wasted to good use, and eliminating the need for other packing material such as plastic bubble wrap or polystyrene chips.
Each product formulation also meets the Cosmos Ecocert accreditation standards, meaning that they are made to the highest sustainability practices, and each one is also vegan, and never tested on animals.
As a business leading the way in sustainable practices, e Handmade Soap Company not only provides an example for others of the impact that making these kinds of decisions can have, but allows customers to buy in con dence, knowing that they’re making a sound choice. thehandmadesoapcompany.ie
Donagh Quigley, founder of
The Handmade Soap Company, shares his top tips for businesses on taking steps to go green
1. The most important is education. When it comes to sustainability, it is about choices, and the more educated those choices are, the greater an impact they can have.
2. Take small steps first. Sometimes the scale of the issue can be overwhelming, but any action is better than no action, and action gives us empowerment and hope.
3. A simple, practical action is to be kind to insects at your workplace. Don’t cut the grass as often, and don’t spray weeds. If you are worried about the unkempt look, plant perennial flowers that don’t need much attention.
4. Keep the faith and nurture your hope. I subscribe to a great newsletter called “Reasons to be Cheerful” that delivers positive environmental stories and initiatives from around the world.