http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38894-from-grease-to-soap-how-one-woman-is-repurposing-used-oil
From Grease to Soap: How One Woman Is Repurposing Used Oil
Saturday, December 31, 2016
By Seraine Page, Earth Island Journal | Report
Bremerton, Washington resident Laura Kneib is what one might call a
"soap scientist." After all, since 2012, Kneib has been creating
scrumptious-smelling soaps using reclaimed vegetable oil -- the very
same oil that gives French fries that good, greasy flavor.
Once the oil is filtered and mixed with lye, rainwater, essential oils
and other natural ingredients, Kneib's soaps smell more like lavender,
blackberry, mimosas, cucumber, and more. The ingredients come from a
variety of sources -- Kneib kayaks Ostrich Bay to find seaweed to dry
out and plucks dandelions from her yard -- to add beauty and scent to
her soap. "It comes from Mother Nature," she says of her ingredients.
"The closer you stick to that lady, the better it is."
As owner and founder of F.R.O.G. Soap in Bremerton, Kneib caters to
those who love natural, chemical-free bath products.
"Every time I make a batch, it's fascinating," admits 61-year-old Kneib,
who has been making soap since she was a preteen. "It's incredible using
all that oil and a few other things -- it's amazing it creates this soap."
F.R.O.G. (Soap) isn't just a cute name; it actually stands for "From
Reclaimed Oil and Glycerin." Kneib's curiosity got the best of her in a
restaurant years ago; she wanted to know just where used cooking oil
went. After discovering it ended up in landfills, she felt the urge to
do something about it. So she figured out how to turn used vegetable oil
into soap. And lip balm. And shampoo. The list goes on.
Her experiments started in her small kitchen and expanded from there.
Now Kneib has a brick-and-mortar storefront, a thriving online store,
and a need for more soap curing racks. "It's going out the door faster
than I can make it," says Kneib, who handcrafts the soap in small
batches. "People just love it. I love that people love it."
Even more impressive, perhaps, is the fact that her one-woman shop has
recycled nearly five tons of materials like waste vegetable oil,
cardboard, and biodiesel glycerin in four years.
In Kitsap County, where Kneib lives and works, local restaurant owners
know her well. Even the nonprofit theater up the street has stopped
paying to have oil from its restaurant lugged off. The staff just takes
it down to Kneib's shop.
Often, she comes home to piles of cardboard and cedar dropped off by
locals who know she recycles endlessly. The cardboard is used in
packaging; the cedar is crafted into soap dishes and curing racks by Kneib.
Other than being able to entice customers with the smell of soap from
down the road, the recycling aspect really excites patrons.
Self-declared soap snob Jane Buchanan calls Kneib's soap
"beyond-compare." While she loves the smell of the soap, it is really
the company philosophy that impresses Buchanan the most. "What could
possibly be more uplifting and admirable than a soap company dedicated
to the principles of recycling and protection of the environment?" says
Buchanan. "Knowing that the soap is made with recycled ingredients is
both impressive and exciting to me… a company is a reflection of its
owner, and this is definitely true of F.R.O.G. Soap and Laura."
While Kneib does get orders online, many of her customers are willing to
drive across the state to see her in person at her store, like Mary J.
Gauntz of Burley, Washington.
Gauntz says she buys Kneib's soap because she wants to support local
businesses, especially ones that are environmentally conscious. "I am
amazed at her skills and ingenuity," says Gauntz. "I am impressed with
her creativity in recycling items and amazed at how much she, as only
one business person, is able to recycle five tons of materials."
Gauntz met Kneib at a bazaar some time ago, and she hasn't forgotten her
since, which is why she loves stopping into F.R.O.G. Soap from time to
time. "Only by a visit can one truly see all the options," says Gauntz.
"Laura is quite impressive; I would call her a Renaissance woman, as she
is gifted and talented in so many facets of life."
Each year, restaurants create three billion gallons of waste cooking
oil, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Kneib shakes her head at the thought -- it's why she isn't afraid to
share her soap recipes. She wants others to distribute her knowledge in
hopes of keeping even a little bit of oil out of the landfills. Kneib
even offers soap-making classes in her tiny 400-square-foot shop. She
jokes that one day she will "croak" but before that happens, she wants
as many people as possible to learn the craft of reclaiming oil.
Her ultimate dream would be to have a larger shop where she could create
even more batches, teach classes, and hire employees to continue her
work. It's also part of the reason she brought on an intern to help out;
it exposes her to one more person who can learn her tricks of the trade.
"They love the whole bit of reclaimed oil; they're tickled," says Kneib
of her customers. "They like the fact that it's chemical-free and
earth-friendly. It's neat."
Last summer, Keara Walsh, a Boston College student interning in
Cochabamba, Bolivia, reached out to Kneib to learn more about natural
soap making. Walsh, now 21, was interning with CECAM, a nonprofit
focused on teaching low-income families to implement sustainable and
efficient technologies.
While there, Walsh took part in the Cochabamba Pedal Project, an effort
that involved the use of a machine known as a bicimaquina (bike machine)
to help propel forward the idea of social enterprise.
Soap, a much-needed necessity in the area, was something the project
workers hoped to easily create with the bike -- the bicimaquina was to
be used as the power source for stirring soap. Problem was, Walsh, nor
her fellow interns knew anything about soap chemistry.
"Our team was developing our own recipe for soap, so I reached out to
Laura for ideas and help in our process," she says. "Most of my
questions to Laura were about the soap process, specifically the best
measurements to use of each ingredient…we relied heavily on what
information we could find or individuals we could learn from."
The bicimaquinas were good for stirring the soap, but the team's recipes
had failed. Because pollution is such an issue in Cochabamba, Walsh
sought ways to limit trash while using local resources like soybean oil,
lard, lye, and water to make soap.
That's when she discovered Kneib's story on the Internet. She reached
out, and quickly got an answer on just how to get the right soap
formula. Kneib delighted in the request, offering details of how to best
filter the oil and where to find a soap calculator online. She also
explained how different clays could add color to the soap, depending on
local sources.
After trial-and-error and using Kneib's advice, Walsh worked with local
teachers and showed them the process to in turn be taught to students.
The project also made clear the importance of sanitation and reducing
waste, Walsh says.
"The soap was used initially in the schools for the children to learn
about the effects of water contamination, but eventually will be sold
locally as hand soap," she says, adding that the soap is still made in
the area today.
"I have so much respect for Laura and the role that she has taken to
create great products and move toward a cleaner environment," says
Walsh. "She was so kind and helpful in sharing her expertise for our
organization, and I certainly learned a lot from her about perfecting
the soap-making process."
Kneib has also received requests for her soap recipes from others across
the country and world, including Chicago, Quebec, and Tunisia. It's no
surprise, since her soap is shipped all over, and her business has been
featured on television, but it excites her nonetheless, she says. "It
really needs to live on," she says simply. "To make it go on would be cool."