Launching Searl Soap Company has been quite a few years in the making.
Over 15 years ago, I watched a shocking documentary and was handed the first basic understanding of the trouble we were in with how we were treating planet earth. My heart sank. It seemed to me the human race was doomed - when have humans ever really worked together for the common good of mankind?
But a seed was planted.
A couple years later, after my husband and I began our family, I began really thinking about what we put in and on our bodies. Kids can be quite the inspiration! And so I started to dig, and once again felt very overwhelmed at not only what I was learning (GMO's! What in the world?!?), but also how complicated it was to find transparent information about the food we ate and products we used.
Now a passion was beginning to take root.
As I began to homeschool our growing kids, I felt an even greater responsibility to learn and teach them how to consume less, care for the planet, and be mindful that how each of us chooses to live our lives (in the big choices and small ones) has long-term effects on us and the world around us. And so, working with my daughter on her grade one Great Pacific Garbage Patch research project, it was heart wrenching to see her begin to understand HER future was at stake. We quickly added a second part to the project, echoing her natural response to this, called "What Can We Do About It?" Every parent has an instinctual drive to provide a bright future for their children.
These instincts were now intensifying this passion.
Not long after this, I stumbled on an article talking about the incredibly harmful chemicals which are in so many products we use EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. We breathe them, absorb them through our skin, eat them and often wash them down into the sewer systems and groundwater. And most of us don't even realize it. Like me, until then.
Now, I was on a mission.
My mission is not just fueled by glaciers melting, garbage patches floating in the ocean, sea creatures starving to death with a stomach full of plastic beads, genetically modified seeds growing food which seems to be creating a wide range of allergies and sensitivities, body wash and shampoos filled with chemicals that are messing with our hormones, top soil disappearing, ground water polluted by a melting pot of pesticides, or big box stores and online giants shutting down small independent stores. It's fueled by all of it, and more. Let's begin living sustainably in all aspects of our lives because they are all connected - our lives, our impact and our future.
I have A LOT left to learn. I'm not an expert. But, I'm making little choices and changes each day. And I am SO thrilled I'm not alone in this! One step at a time.
So, here I am, cutting, cutting, cutting labels while patiently (well, that's debatable!) waiting a couple more weeks for the first 9 batches of soap to cure. And I'm excited.
Comments