A team of University of Prince Edward Island students has developed an innovative product – potato-based soap.
Samuel Harding and Maggie McNeil are co-presidents of the Enactus club, the group that came up with a way to make soap out of un-harvested potatoes.
“We had to go back to basics and look at it and say what are the problems in P.E.I. and then we saw food waste. Of course, one of the problems we found was around potatoes and eventually one of our team members went to a food bank and said, ‘Hey, what do you guys need?’ The surprising answer was hygiene products,” said Harding.
After experimenting on 500 pounds of less-than-perfect potatoes, Spuds2Suds was in bloom.
“We have a roster of farmers we stay in contact with to see if to see if they have food waste or potatoes they would otherwise not be selling,” said Harding.
“After we have it in like a liquid state, we add some other ingredients like soap bases and other hydrating oils… and then we put it in a mold and let it solidify,” said McNeil.
Harding says the Enactus Club is made up of 17 volunteer students with one goal in mind – supporting the community. With that in mind, they’re giving a bar of soap to the local food bank for every bar sold.
“(People we’ve spoken to) were like, ‘Wow, that’s a really great idea. It’s really cool. You know, it makes you feel good,” said Harding.
“P.E.I. citizens are very community strong. They love to see people that are giving back and that have a good cause, so we’re getting a lot of positive feedback,” said McNeil.
The soap itself is getting some good reviews too.
“Personally, I’ve gone through two bars of soap so far since we’ve got them,” said McNeil. “I had them at my house. I like them, my hands get dry in the wintertime a lot so they crack, but the hydrating oils we put in really helps.”
The soap has already cleaned-up an Atlantic Canadian award and secured the group a spot in a national competition in Calgary this May. However, the students are more focused on sales and club longevity.
“As fourth year students, we have to pass the club on to someone else and the club is Spuds2Suds. So it really is sort of a legacy for us, we really don’t want to see it die after especially putting so many hours into it,” said Harding.
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