Kusala

Kusala’s soaps are handmade at the circular hub BlueCity in Rotterdam, Netherlands. At BlueCity, Rotterzwam helps the brand source a residual stream of coffee for the coffee soap and brewery Vet & Lazy helps the brand source a residual stream of beer for the beer soap. Kusala is proud to be part of a network of artisanal and sustainable entrepreneurs in Rotterdam and the surrounding area. An important beginning for Kusala was its participation in the Rotterdam Harvest Market, where many great collaborations were created. Like those with The Rotterdam Maasstroompjes Koekje, Loofwerk and StripeCity beekeepers for whom they developed special soaps. They buy the aloe vera juice from the Dutch Cranberry Group.

In addition, the brand works with Cathy van den Berg of Friscat for their branding, website & packaging design, and social media. She works with several local sustainable businesses and understands the motivations, ambitions and challenges. Kusala also chose a local printer for their packaging; Printvision, Rotterdam’s greenest printer. 

The ingredients come from all parts of the world. To name some examples of producers: Kusala buys residual olive oil from traders in the Netherlands and from producers in Spain and Italy. And the oil from coffee grounds comes from Denmark. Because these countries are covered by European labor laws, we assume good working conditions at the factories and suppliers. Unfortunately, the brand also sources material from other parts of the world, where we can be less sure of good working conditions. But because Kusala uses residual streams, the ingredients do not have to be specially harvested and processed for them. 

All of Kusala’s personal care products are packed with natural ingredients, from vegetable oils to organic herbs and wonderfully fragrant blends of essential oils. The brand’s soaps contain (except for the synthetic caustic soda required for the saponification process) only natural ingredients and as much as possible from circular waste streams and organic and/​or sustainable cultivation. However, the shampoo bar consists largely of synthetic ingredients and is a so-called ​“syndet bar,” or based on synthetic detergents or cleaners. 

When you see a soap called all-natural, this is actually rarely really true. Soap, without exception, is made using lye: sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for hard soap and potassium hydroxide (KOH) for liquid soap. This lye is mixed well with a liquid, such as water or coconut milk, and then combined with oils and butters, causing the saponification process to take place. The vast majority of soap makers use synthetically produced sodium hydroxide. Even though the lye disappears as such in the saponification process, it is still a synthetic ingredient and such soaps cannot be called 100% natural. This also applies to Kusala soaps, although all other ingredients are natural and no synthetic perfumes, dyes, or hardeners are added. Kusala also does not use palm oil, as its production leads to massive deforestation. 

The brand tries to source as much organic as possible, but this is not always feasible. Certified organic ingredients are sometimes 2x as expensive as non-organic ingredients. For all ingredients, Kusala remains a constant search for the best balance between sustainability, social responsibility, and affordability. For example, currently most of the residual olive oil they buy is produced without pesticides by small farmers in Italy and Spain, although they do not have the capabilities to go through the expensive certification process for organic production. In any case, the following ingredients the brand uses in its soaps will always be certified organic: all herbs, honey, coconut milk, aloe vera juice, white wine, hemp seeds, goat’s milk, yogurt, cream, eggs, rice, cocoa powder, almond flour, and poppy seeds.

On average, the brand uses 46% circular ingredients in its products. These are ingredients from residual streams that would otherwise be discarded or undergo significant loss of value. For the soaps, for example, the brand uses residual streams of olive oil, oil from coffee grounds, oil from rejected avocados, rainwater, and residual streams of coffee, beer & beer brew, tomatoes, and avocados. In doing so, they have already saved 2679 kilos of residual food streams by 2022. 

At COSH! we are big fans of working circularly! By working with circular ingredients, they reduce waste processing, save valuable products from destruction, and save a lot of energy and CO2 emissions for production, transport and packaging of new ingredients. As a result, Kusala itself produces less new waste. 

Leftover pieces from soap production, the soap bar, are sold as a sample set, the perfect way to get acquainted with the soap. 

The soaps and shampoo bar contain no plastic and are packaged plastic-free. All orders are packaged with as little packaging material as possible. Often Kusala is able to reuse packaging materials from its own suppliers. Furthermore, no plastic bottles are needed to package hard bars of soap and shampoo, and in the brand’s workshop, they also try to avoid plastic packaging and waste as much as possible. For example, they have replaced the demineralized water in plastic jerry cans for the soaps with rainwater that they can tap locally. This also saves them a lot of plastic waste. 

The soap and shampoo boxes are made by Printvision, the greenest printing company in Rotterdam. The paper is from PaperWise, made from agricultural waste. The environmental impact of PaperWise is 47% lower than paper from trees and 29% lower than recycled paper. Top!

The brand says its ingredients come from all parts of the world. At the same time, they buy as locally as possible whenever possible. By working in a circular way, for example, they can buy residual olive oil from traders in the Netherlands that would otherwise go to waste; thus, Kusala saves the production, transportation, and packaging of new olive oil from southern Europe. Furthermore, the oil from coffee grounds produced in Denmark is a substitute for shea butter from Africa, which still saves a lot of miles. In addition, they like to work with the products of other small producers in Rotterdam and the rest of the Netherlands, such as herbs, honey, milk products, etc. The fabrics of the brand’s lavender eye pillows come from a small weaving mill in India, but the covers and pillows are sewn in Rotterdam and filled with organic linseed and lavender from Dutch producers. 

So the brand strives to reduce transportation miles and support small entrepreneurs, but at the same time just wants to make a beautiful soap. ​“If you were to use only the most local ingredients for soap, you become quite limited in your options. For example, the most local fats would be animal fats like lard and beef tallow. And not many essential oils are extracted on a serious scale from local plants and trees,” the brand says.

No animal testing was conducted to test Kusala personal care products. Most Kusala soaps and the shampoo bar are vegan, except for four soaps that are made with organic animal milk products and/​or organic honey (Marigold with goat’s milk, Chamomile scrub with honey, Echinacea with yogurt and honey, and the Rotterdam Maasstroompjes Soap with cream and egg yolks). The brand always mentions in the webshop and on the packaging whether a product is suitable for vegetarians or also for vegans.

Kusala’s soaps are divided into several series, such as the Flower Power series, in which, you guessed it, flowers play the main role. There is also the Herbal Healing series, with soaps made with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory herbs. Because of the different series, there is something for everyone. And good to know: bars often last longer than bottles of liquid shampoo!

Kusala does reasonably well in terms of transparency. For example, they are open about the ingredients, the place of production and about a number of suppliers. However, not all suppliers can be found, so there is still room for improvement in this area.