Cleaning Beaches Creating Masterpieces

Here's a great bit of ingenuity and talent. Kenyans cleaning up their beaches and creating beautiful toys,  sculptures, bowls, and accessories with the old flip-flops they find. Watch this...

  

You may also see their handiwork on their website : http://www.ocean-sole.com

Room Temperature Soapmaking

Corn Oil used in Kenyan Soapmaking Class

If you have made cold process soap before, you know that a lot of care is given to matching the temperature of the mixtures when the lye solution is added to the oils. I always thought that was an absolute, but found out, by necessity in Kenya, that soap can be made at room temperature. Meaning, the oils do not have to be heated, the lye solution does not need to be cooled, and the temperatures do not need to match.

This is a great way to go because it eliminates unnecessary steps and saves time. 

Here are the conditions :

• Most oils you will be using in a 3rd World country will be in a liquid state already, thus eliminating the need to melt. The most common being Palm, Coconut and Corn Oils that come in liquid form from the markets or are liquid in warmer climates. That is good because you may not always have ideal means to melt a pot of oils. 
• The Sodium Hydroxide (also known as lye or caustic soda) solution will only need to be mixed and left until it becomes clear and stops giving off fumes. As long as it is fully dissolved the solution can be mixed into the room temperature oils. Do not add a hot lye solution into heated oils or your mixture may harden too quickly leaving caustic, unmixed pockets of solution.

This worked for me and upon doing some research back at home I found some helpful links on making soap at room temperature.

http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/how-to-make-soap-roomtemp.html

http://www.soapmakingaustralia.com/room-temperature-soapmaking-method

I Am Only a Human Being

I love this so much. Featured on CNN Narayanan Krishnan saw a need and found a way to help. We cannot change the whole world ourselves, but we can make a difference in our own small way if we just do something. 

Learn more or get involved at http://www.akshayatrust.org.

Recycled Jewelry Projects - plastic soda bottles

In response to several requests for school project ideas for kids (and adults) to teach on a humanitarian trip, I am posting a series of jewelry items made from recyclable or foraged materials. This is the first in the series which will include items made with plastic, cloth, wood, etc. I would love to hear your experiences and ideas for jewelry projects also.

I made this bracelet and earrings from plastic soda bottles. The heart is made from suede and I used black elastic string to "tie" the ends of the bracelet in a way that would allow it to expand when pulling over the wrist.

The bracelet is my own design, but I got the inspiration for the earrings from this cute plastic feather garland on the State of Green blog. They even have instructions....

Here are a few more ideas with links :

Not jewelry, but I love how the plastic discs have been textured. See this and several other things to make with plastic bottles here and here.

Another look for earrings. Just heat the plastic a little to give the discs a warped look.

Getting fancy here with a little color variety and the cutest little plastic flowers and leaves. See more here.

How cute would this be made out of plastic discs punched or hand cut from a soda bottle! Here's a tutorial on how to make this one at mandipidy. 

Well, these are only a few ideas, but you can see that making jewelry from empty soda bottles can be simple and accessible with materials that should be available in any country, (though the clasps and chains will probably need to be sourced in a larger village or a city.)

The best thing is that you are recycling materials readily found and the cut shapes do not have to be perfect. A little imperfection adds a lot of character!

World Wide Soap Blog and Forum

Soapmaking in Kenya

Welcome to a blog and forum devoted to sharing ideas, solving problems and promoting sustainable soap making (and a variety of other things) in developing countries. I have been a soap maker for 15 years and had my first opportunity to teach soap making to a group of ladies in Kenya 1 1/2 years ago. They were part of a microfinance group called Yehu and planned to make soap together as a business. Since then I have been affiliated with Basa Body as a soap maker and consultant and with the Asante Foundation, promoting and developing opportunities for Kenyans.

Recently I have had several friends travel to Ethiopia and Cambodia to start soapmaking projects. While we all experienced varying degrees of success, all felt the lack of adequate information before the trip began. After doing one's best to prepare, there is always a fair amount of trial and error upon arriving in the country. There can be many unknown factors involving procuring materials, facilities and variations in ingredient qualities. As most humanitarian trips are not lengthy, time is extremely valuable and progress can be frustratingly slow. Information shared through projects already experiencing success can be most helpful.

In the spirit of helping and serving in developing nations, where hygiene and opportunity are both lacking, I am starting this blog to bring together a sharing of ideas, experiences and expertise. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to contribute information or to have your organization/project spotlighted here.