It's Raise the Bar Week on Petite Planet! First Up: Pangea Organics

This week, I'll be writing about my top choices of delectable bar soaps, in the hopes of converting readers from using shower gels, which come in plastic bottles... to using bar soaps, which contain earth-friendly packaging, and equate to little or no waste, making them a far greener option for lathering up.

I don't know when exactly the boom in popularity came about for shower gels, but their foamy suds and squishy loofah application have won them a place in many a shower stall. But since so many green thinkers are up for taking shorter showers in the quest to live a more eco-conscious lifestyle, why not do something even simpler and raise the bar? Here's my first pick of the week:

5 Reasons Why You Should Choose Pangea Organics bar soap.

1) Ditch the plastic bottles that house shower gels, and the loofah or sponge you use to apply them. The vast majority of shower gels contain toxic ingredients and foaming agents... and just think of the waste of plastic we could eliminate by switching from plastic bottles to bars of soap!

2) See the unassuming little box that contains a bar of Pangea Organics bar soap in the picture above? If you plant it, it grows into a Spruce Tree! Ingenious! Plant one now and decorate it next Christmas! (I'm pretty sure your shower gel's plastic bottle turns into nothing but landfill waste) Pangea suggests that if consumers buying the 90,000 bar soaps they sell this year, and plant the boxes their soaps come in, 90,000 trees will be planted.

3) Pangea as a company offsets 100% or their carbon emissions by planting trees on different continents. Their company philosophy is "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative." They practice what they preach.

4) All organic, natural, beneficial ingredients are good for your skin, your psyche, and the earth... don't forget the suds do go down the drain, so we must keep the planet in mind! Pangea's bodycare products start breaking down in 48 hours, while most conventional products take close to 200 years to break down!

5) With an array of divine scents meant to evoke good emotions, uplift the spirit, and cleanse the body as well as the mind, Pangea bar soaps turn every shower into a mini-spa vacation. And coming from someone whose only alone time is in the shower, I'll take all the serenity I can get!

*My favorite bar soap in the line is Oatmeal with Italian Bergamot. Runner up: Indian Green Tea with Mint and Rose Petals. Each make your entire bathroom smell divine... and you smell amazing after lathering up with them too.