Sustainability is a crucial topic these days. With the effects of climate change ever-present, we want to make sure the products we use and create are made with sustainability in mind. When considering how to opt-out of the chemical lifestyle, we knew we wanted to make soaps that were good for our bodies and better for the environment. That is why we chose tallow for our soaps and stopped using palm oil products. Palm oil is the most common tallow soap alternative because it is cheap; however, it is typically not harvested sustainably or ethically. Unfair labor practices, animal cruelty, and rapid deforestation are common in the palm oil industry, making it far less sustainable long term.
On the other hand, tallow soap utilizes an animal by-product that would typically go to waste. Pasture-based tallow is made by rendering suet. Beef suet is the fat found around the loins and kidneys of cows. To render the tallow, the suet is chopped up, melted over low heat, the liquid fat is strained to separate solid pieces, and the liquid fat is allowed to cool, resulting in rendered tallow. The suet used to make tallow is typically considered waste in the farming industry. After the meat that most people eat is harvested, the suet is leftover with other non-traditional parts.
Rendering tallow from suet when making soaps and balms helps reduce waste by using something otherwise discarded. As for the type of suet we use, we use grass-fed, pasture-raised suet to make our tallow. We want to ensure our soaps are made using humanely sourced ingredients that are high quality. While tallow may seem like an odd choice for soap, the added vitamins and nutrients and the sustainable benefits actually make tallow a better choice for soap than palm oil.
Ultimately, Tallow soaps help alleviate waste from the farming industry by utilizing suet (beef fat) and turning it into a vitamin-rich skincare product. Using suet from grass-finished and pasture-raised cattle can ensure humane treatment of the cattle. In addition to these great ethical and sustainable qualities of tallow soap, we also make sure to use recyclable packaging to limit delivery waste.
We believe that tallow soap is the perfect choice for sustainable soap. It is compatible with our skin and filled with the vitamins and nutrients our skin craves. Try out one of our soaps and balms and see for yourself how beneficial tallow soap is for you and the environment.
