Sometimes, developing a more eco-conscious lifestyle is as simple as a sustainable swap—and this goes double when it comes to your self-care routine. Biodegradable soap, for example, is an easy and affordable way to help protect the environment without sacrificing in skincare or cleansing.

Many big brand soaps are packaged in plastic and contain chemicals that are harmful to your skin throughout use, and the planet once the suds wash down the drain. If you’re not in the mood for a handmade soap DIY, consider trading your soap for a biodegradable bar.

What Is Biodegradable Soap?

Biodegradable soap is a cleanser comprised of natural ingredients that can be easily decomposed or broken down by the environment, all without polluting it.

Regular soap often contains surfactants, phosphate, triclosan, and other antibacterial ingredients that can harm soil biomes and threaten marine life.

Though studies have shown that even chemical-laden soap degrades rapidly, opting for a more sustainable solution is your best bet when looking to leave no trace. Whether you’re planning a camping trip into the backcountry or are trying to develop more mindful habits, the switch to biodegradable soap is a natural step forward.

Why You Should Use Biodegradable Soap

1. Limit Your Plastic Waste

Most regular soaps come in plastic bottles or plastic wrapping, which is harmful to the environment and takes up to 1,000 years to degrade. Almost 60% of the 8.3 billion tons of plastic we’ve made are still on the planet today. Biodegradable soap is plastic-free and comes in compostable packaging that’s free of potentially harmful materials.

2. Protect Your Skin

If you use regular soaps, you could be exposing your skin to ingredients and chemicals that’ll do more harm than good. Formaldehyde, a preservative found in many soaps can cause allergic reactions and skin rashes, while triclosan, an anti-bacterial chemical found in soaps can also cause skin irritation. Biodegradable soap, on the other hand, relies on natural additives to nourish and protect your largest organ.

3. Help Protect Marine Life

When soap is washed down the drain, it ends up in our oceans, lakes, and rivers. The synthetic chemicals in regular soaps pollute our waters and can be damaging to marine life. The chemicals in soap work to erode the mucus membranes and waxy layers that protect fish and other aquatics while lowering the surface tension of water and making it more difficult for insects to move about.

4. Support Sustainability 

Large soap brands usually contain palm oil, which accounts for 36 percent of the world’s oil and is responsible for a significant percentage of global deforestation. Palm oil is often grown illegally, destroying forests and their inhabitants including rhinos, elephants, orangutans, and tigers—not to mention the amount of carbon released when a forest is cleared.

Convinced? Here, five biodegradable soaps to help you make the switch.

5 Sustainable Biodegradable Soaps to Shop