Artigianati.com

by Mary Landers

These are the bestselling Panhandle Girl soaps. (Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News)

Sometimes you learn something you almost wish you hadn't. Such was the case for Savannah soapmaker Saja Aures.

She'd been making her Panhandle Girl soaps from her home for years, selling her "fiercely fabulous products" mainly through her website,www.panhandlegirl.com, and feeling good about how environmentally friendly her efforts were.

Aures, an administrator for the city of Savannah, is the kind of committed greenie who raises worms to compost her garbage and whose porch is covered with container vegetables.

So when she learned the main ingredient in her handmade soaps - palm oil - was leading to the clearcutting of rainforests, she got a sinking feeling.

"I thought 'Oh crap, I've been using that for eight years.'"

The problem with palm oil is that it's too popular. It's used in 50 percent of all consumer goods, from lipstick and packaged food to body lotion and biofuels, according to the nonprofit Rainforest Action Network......

Read more at  -  http://savannahnow.com/green-living/2010-06-08/savannah-soapmaker-gets-eco-friendlier