The Green Screen Rating

This score is a ranking based on how natural, eco-friendly, and non-toxic a product is, and is rated out of a possible total 5 stars.

STARS: 5 out of 5 stars for naturalness
COMMENTS: The use of this dried fruit dates back nearly 2,500 years in written history. In ancient India, they were used for soap and hair wash powders, used by jewelers for shining ornaments of gold and silver and used in the laundering of fine silks and wools. Soap "nuts" are also believed to cleanse and purify spiritually, and are used in many medicinal preparations.

These amazing soap nuts also have many other possible and safe uses. They are gentle and safe enough to use as a toothpaste, can be used as a kitchen and counter top cleaner, and make an excellent fruit and veggie wash. You can read more about their many uses on the Maggie's website:
Maggie's Soap Nuts

These soap nuts are so gentle and safe, have been used for centuries, and yet when modern chemistry created synthetic detergents, that cost merely ten cents a pound or so to manufacture, modern culture fell in love with "cleaning through chemistry". And now we have discovered that many of these synthetic chemicals are harsh irritants at best, toxic carcinogens at worst, and are slowly destroying not only our bodies, but our environment as well.

Soap nuts have been resurrected in Europe now for decades, and are just starting to gain popularity in the US as we begin to open our eyes to safer, more natural alternatives (which, ironically, have often been used elsewhere for hundreds or thousands of years).

Additionally, these soap nuts are harvested sustainably, preserving soapberry trees that are all-too-quickly being cut down to clear land for development and agriculture. These trees are often over 100 years old, and by creating a profitable harvest from them, their legacy will continue. Maggie's soap nuts come primarily from Indonesia, but also from India.

Finally, Maggie's Soap Nuts are wonderful for babies, for people with allergies and sensitivities, and for anyone concerned about the toxins inherent in synthetic detergents and cleaners.