This S’porean biz isn’t just making bar soaps, it’s saving the environment while at it too

A mum of two, Li Ting graduated from NTU in Business Studies with a specialisation in marketing. She later received her MBA from Rice University Houston.

Professionally, she has a wealth of experience in travel retail, regional logistics sales, and digital marketing in the healthcare industry.

In short, Li Ting is a multi-hyphenate with a plethora of achievements. So, how did she add being the solo entrepreneur behind the vegan soap brand My Naked Bar to the list, too?

It started as a gift

At the end of 2018, Li Ting was searching for a Teachers’ Day gift for her children’s educators. She wanted a gift that showed her appreciation and could be put to good use.

“My biggest fear is that they would look at my gift, have too many of the same item or have no use for it, and be in a dilemma about what to do with it,” she explained.

That was when she had a lightbulb moment—handmade soap bars. Thoughtful, essential, and consumable, these would make ideal gifts.

With that idea, Li Ting took up a course to learn the skills and found a shared studio to craft the soaps for the teachers. From there, she continued experimenting and crafting batch after batch of soaps.

“I ended up with so many bars that my immediate family couldn’t use them up, and I started giving them to family and friends,” she confessed. “Many of them came back to tell me how much they loved my soaps, some even sharing that the soaps helped with their sensitive skin conditions.”

But that feedback alone wasn’t enough motivation for her to start a business.

Rather than the actual efficacy of the products, it was the environmental implications that triggered My Naked Bar.

Finding her why

Reading that plastic takes 500 years to break down, Li Ting was awakened to the issues around global warming and the 2030 Paris Agreement. She followed Greta Thunberg’s weekly strikes and kept up with climate matters overseas since there wasn’t much talk about the issue locally.

“That fact disturbed me because while the issue seems so urgent and critical, nobody around me seems to be concerned or even aware,” she said.

With handcrafted bar soaps, Li Ting could encourage more people to transition to a zero-waste swap and reduce the number of single-use disposable shower gel bottles.

Yet, making bar soap alone wasn’t strong enough for her to start something serious. That’s when the packaging comes into play.

The packaging needed to have a lower carbon footprint than plastic bottles. That’s not as easy as it sounds, because plastic’s carbon footprint isn’t necessarily lower than that of paper or other substitutes.  

“I was really afraid I’d end up incurring bigger waste for the planet despite my good intentions,” she said.

That’s when she had her second light bulb moment—milk cartons.

Got milk?

A household item, milk cartons are waterproof inside and can withstand thorough cleaning and reuse.

The milk cartons come entirely from the community. It started with Li Ting’s neighbour, then she began to call for contributions via Package Pals, Facebook groups, and the Upcircle app. 

Many have asked why she doesn’t go directly to cafes or suppliers to collect cartons in bulk.  

Her answer? “With every contributor, the ripple tribe grows, and our voices get louder. It’s not the end that we are chasing, but rather the process and the momentum we can build.”

Each carton is rinsed and dried thoroughly immediately after consumption before being passed to Li Ting. All parts of the carton are utilised.

The regular bars use the bottom of the cartons, while the FAB erasers (a fabric stain remover soap bar) use the middle portion as a sleeve. The top of the carton is inverted and used as a dish for the kitchen dish soap, allowing water to drain out from the spout.

Aside from their website, My Naked Bar can be found in consignment stores such as The Green Collective or Unpackt.  

At The Green Collective, due to insufficient cartons, Li Ting had to pack her bars in sleeves. “We are hoping that with more contributions, we can one day revert the packaging at The Green Collective back to our regular milk carton boxes.”

My Naked Bar also uses low-waste packaging like Kraft boxes, paper wraps, sleeves, and mailer boxes, typically for festive gifting and in department stores.

“I decided to provide these options as I remind myself that our upcycled packaging is really not the norm, and I never want to refuse any potential bar soap users just because of my insistence,” she said.

“I believe that as long as we welcome new bar soap users, one day they will be able to accept our upcycled packaging and be open to embarking on their own sustainable lifestyle.”

Scaling up for a greener future

At full capacity, My Naked Bar can craft upward of a thousand soap bars per week. With solopreneur Li Ting handling everything, she often finds insufficient time to craft soaps.

Along with the packaging constraints, scaling My Naked Bar has been one of the biggest challenges.

That’s why, going forward, Li Ting hopes to hire a team.

“One of my biggest motivations to scale is to be able to benefit communities such as the retirees, as well as caregivers of disabilities or PWID themselves,” she said. “We hope to provide tasks that can meaningfully engage them so they feel more fulfilled and contribute to the cause at the same time.”

In the meantime, she aims to reach out to more consumers via online and pop-up events.

On that note, My Naked Bar’s products will be in Tangs at Tang Plaza from mid-October to the end of December.

“Our #SoapsinMilkcartons were specifically being requested, so it’ll be the first time they make their public appearance in a major department store,” Li Ting said.

Tackling eco-anxiety

The problem is, do people care?

“I believe that people generally do care, but most of us are just so bogged down with the demands from our work, family, etc. that we have no bandwidth to digest the heavy topic,” Li Ting reasoned.

My Naked Bar’s milk carton packaging plays into that. As something out of the norm, people may stop in their tracks, do a double-take, and start a conversation.

In any case, much has changed since My Naked Bar’s inception. Compared to five years ago, there’s now widespread awareness around the climate crisis.

Yet, there is still a big gap in the real attitudes and habits of the majority of Singaporeans. They may be aware of the issue but have not made real changes to their lifestyles.

“There is also a need for both corporations and individuals to avoid chasing the sustainability trends and to go a level deeper to ensure true impact in their actions,” Li Ting said.

But many still might experience eco-anxiety. To that, the soapmaker’s advice would be to turn that anxiety into action, no matter how small.

“If we can’t be the solution, then let’s be less of the problem,” she said. “Every little effort counts because you never know who you might be inspiring, and soon we have a bigger community.”

Featured Image Credit: My Naked Bar