Hello, friend! 

We’re writing to you from Northern California, where the air is choked by smoke from 28 simultaneous, major wildfires, which have devoured more than 3 million acres of land — a grim record. It’s never felt more urgent to do something, however small, to fight climate change — this urgency is what drives our company.

In happier news: We got our trademark! We are officially sustainabar®!

To celebrate, we’re offering our lovely customers 15% off of orders over $30. Use the code: “TRADEMARK” at checkout. :) 

* * NEW PRODUCTS * *

The “Cyndi”

Our newest product! Similar to Lush® shampoo bars, this pH-balanced bar is great for long and/or thick hair. (One bar will last you up to 80 washes — so you can SAVE $$ and be sustainable!) Smells terrific, too!

Autumn Leaves Soap

To get you in the fall spirit we created this limited-edition hand soap. Using this bubbly beauty will remind you of strolling beneath a blazing autumn canopy, crunching leaves underfoot, while sipping a pumpkin latte. Yes, it’s that good.

Shea Butter Shaving Puck

all of the foam, none of the can! Fits perfectly into a ramekin or shaving mug — or simply rub on your hairy skin — for a creamy, nick- and irritation-free shave. Ahhhhh…..

One more step toward total world domination: We are in our second brick-and-mortar store! In addition to Morning Tide gift shop in Albany, Re-Up Refill Shop in Oakland now carries our bars. We feel so legit, now!

And TA-DA! Here’s our official TRADEMARK notice! Which word also happens to be the code to get 15% off on a purchase over $30 on our website. 

Our trademark notice!

Stay in touch - on Facebook, Instagram, or by old-fashioned e-mail. Thank you for doing your part to protect our precious planet.

xoxo, Sustainabar® 

We’re thrilled to be included in this list of women-owned businesses to support from a distance.

76+ Women-Owned Small Businesses To Support From A Distance

Kristen PhilipkoskiContributorLifestyleI cover the new luxury in fashion, design and lifestyle.

“Sustainabar

These 100% natural lotion and soap bars were created by two young sisters ages 10 and 13 in California—just bars, no bottles! Soap is something we can all use more of right now—and lotion to replenish our scrubbed skin. And while stores may be out of dish and other types of soap, they have plenty of inventory.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristenphilipkoski/2020/03/22/76-women-owned-small-businesses-to-support-from-a-distance/#5168260f2241

Opinion by Tessa Rose-Scheeres

 The future looks pretty scary these days if you’re a kid. Every day there’s more bad news about the environment.  Climate change seems unstoppable. Plastic can be found from the top of Mount Everest to the bottom of the ocean. My generation will be forced to deal with the fallout from the carelessness of past generations. I’m 13 now and worry about what the world will look like when I’m 50 -- and what kind of mess my kids will inherit. 

We are all part of the problem. I know my family is. Recently, I was taking out the recycling when I noticed all of the plastic bottles my family uses. They overflowed the bin. I did some research online and learned that Americans throw away about 34 million tons of plastic each year, but only 9.5% of it is recycled, according to Columbia University; most of it ends up in landfill, where it takes up to 500 years to decompose. More than 552 million shampoo bottles alone end up in landfills each year because only 1 in 5 people bother to recycle the empty containers. Meanwhile plastic has been linked everything from cancer to infertility. 

Around this same time, my mom bought me a shampoo bar at the mall. It was $12 and fit in the palm of my hand -- because 80% of bottled shampoo is just water. Before the rise of the plastics industry in the 40s and 50s, I learned, people used concentrated bars to clean just about everything, including their bodies and hair, dishes and laundry. I wondered why this changed. As a teenager it pains me to say it, but maybe in this case the old ways were better. 

But $12 seemed like a lot of money for a 1.9 oz shampoo bar. I wondered if we could make our own – for cheaper, and with more natural ingredients. After a lot of research and experimentation, we came up with a shampoo bar made from oils and butters derived from plants such as avocado, coconut, apricot and olive oils. They are free of sulfates, silicones and parabens.  They smell amazing, are fun to use and most importantly, they are zero-waste. You use the bar until it’s gone!

When we made some for my middle school craft fair, they quickly sold out. I wondered what other household items could be concentrated into bars. We found recipes to make conditioner bars, dish soap bars and lotion bars and started to make them in our kitchen with our mom’s help. They were so popular with our friends that my 10-year-old sister and I founded a company called “sustainabar” and started selling them online. As Greta Thunberg said, “you are never too small to make a difference.” 

Our mission is simple: to convince people to replace BOTTLES with BARS. So do the earth a favor: once that bottle of shampoo or conditioner or dish soap or lotion runs out, get a bar to replace it. 

It’s a small step, but collectively, all of our small steps will form a movement.

Tessa Rose-Scheeres is an 8th grader at Albany Middle School in California and the co-CEO of Sustainabar.

Our zero-waste bar business, Sustainabar, has sold over 150 bars in its first month, replacing 150 plastic bottles! 🌿💐 I know our slogan -- "saving the earth, one bar at a time" -- is a bit hyperbolic. But it makes my kids feel like they're doing something, even the littlest something, to help reduce pollution and slow down climate change. 

Our newest promotion is for Valentine's Day. Forget unsustainable flowers; send a unique gift that will show your loved ones how deeply you care for them -- and for Mother earth, too.  💚💜💛❤️🧡

We were so excited to be interviewed by the Sustainable Millennial Blog! Wow….word keeps spreading. https://www.sustainablemillennial.com/home/2019/12/24/sustainability-spotlight-sustainabar

Sold out of our shampoo and conditioner bars within AN HOUR at my middle school craft fair!!! A good test of our product. Will be making more over winter break.

Wrapping bars for fair. They were a hit! My former grade school principal was one of my first customers!

Like most kids, we’re worried about the future of our planet. Every day, it seems there’s more bad news about the environment. Climate change has lead to record-busting droughts, wildfires and hurricanes. Our oceans are filling with plastic. Our earth is saturated with chemicals.

But we don’t feel completely helpless. By taking small steps, together, we believe we can change the direction we’re heading in. We’re trying to eliminate as much plastic from our lives as possible by using cloth shopping bags, avoid straws and plastic containers.

By switching from shampoo and conditioner bottles to bars, we’re doing something simple and concrete to help the earth.

According to Johnson & Johnson:

• more than 552 million shampoo bottles end up in landfills each year.

• The number of shampoo bottles thrown out yearly in the United States every year could fill 1,164 football fields

• only 1 in 5 people consistently recycle items from the bathroom

Let’s change the way we think about our planet. Together.