Soap It Up

Some Jamaicans are making a living from waste products in a very unusual and different way. One of the most fascinating ways I've seen so far is a family who are in the business of making soap from waste cooking oil.

Waste cooking oil is not collected by our national waste collection agency. Restaurants and commercial kitchens in places such as hotels and other businesses therefore have to make other arrangements for its proper collection and disposal. For years, some have struggled with finding the right way of treating this waste material.

It was, therefore, very intriguing to see the ingenuous way in which a Jamaican family was using this waste material to make a living. Sharon and members of her family were given the recipe for making soap from waste cooking oil by a friend. They learnt more about the process by experimenting until they got it just right. According to Sharon, she lost a lot of money in the early days as she learnt to make the soap from the waste oil. She persevered, however, until she became an expert soap maker.

Sharon says she the business is not as profitable as it used to be in the past, as she now has more competition from other soap producers. She does have loyal customers, however, who realise the value of purchasing one bar of her soap which lasts as long as three bars of the regular cake soaps. She says her soap is very goods at removing stubborn stains such as red dirt and is also sweet smelling, as she adds fabric softeners and other material to make it effective and pleasant to use.

Although her profit margin is small, Sharon says it's still a meaningful way to make a living, as she is able to purchase food and meet limited expenses. Like any other business person, she has to purchase her raw material and factor in the cost in the price of the goods she sells. She also has to be careful about keeping her costs low so that she can continue to sell her product at a competitive price.

Small businesses such as Sharon's do not consume a significant amount of the waste cooking oil produced by commercial kitchens and restaurants. In her own way, however, she is demonstrating the possibilities for turning waste into something of value. This is a lesson we can all learn from one very resourceful Jamaican family.

Ann Marie Rodriques

PeaceWater Services

Send questions or comments to peacewater-servies@yahoo.com