Sustainability and resource efficiency are a growing environmental concern across the world. Many organizations are striving to reduce their environmental impact and in the process save money by using less energy and natural resources. While there are numerous ways to save water, one simple solution could be the choice of soap in the washroom.

Dr. John Hines, R&D Director at Deb Group, announced how independent research has shown that when using foam soap for handwashing people use 16 percent less water than when using liquid soap. Dr. Hines goes on to state that "water consumption can in fact be reduced by up to a staggering 45 percent by adopting a foam soap handwashing technique of dispense, lather, rinse and dry."
 
For every 100 people employed, the use of foam soap for handwashing can equate to an annual water reduction of up to 56,000 liters. As warm water is usually used there are also savings to be made in energy use and CO2 emissions. 

Dr. Hines also explains that an experiment conducted by Deb shows foam soap is eight times more spreadable than lotion soap and reduces the quantity of product required for an effective hand wash. Interestingly, using less product does not equate to less efficacy as a further scientific study shows that there is no significant difference in the cleaning ability between a 0.7ml shot size of foam soap compared to a standard 1.1ml shot size of lotion soap, confirming that the same efficacy is delivered from foam using less product.
 
Further benefits are that foam soap is more biodegradable than lotion soap as it does not require chemicals to thicken the soap — the lather is created by adding air. In addition, as foam soap delivers more hand washes from the same packaging compared to lotion soaps, it means that products have to be replaced less often, ultimately saving time and money and reducing packaging waste.