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Homemade soap from used cooking oil 0809 (redirected from Homemade)

Page history last edited by ecop 14 years, 10 months ago

 

 

Homemade Soap from Used Cooking Oil

 

 

  By: Gloria Park 

 

 

 


 

Description and Rationale

 

Most dishes that are favored by Filipinos are fried. To fry food, a lot of cooking oil needs to be used. Cooking oils are made out of oils extracted from vegetables or pressed from seeds such as sunflower or peanut seeds. After frying food, many Filipinos dump their used cooking oil in the sewer or the rivers in the Philippines. Oil is not only non-beneficiary to the human body, but when dumped in the sewages or rivers, is very hazardous to the environment as well

(NaturalHealthInformaitonCentre).

 

How hazardous are the dumped cooking oils on the local ecology and life in the ecosystem? Does the oil dumped in the river kill fish living in the waters which eat it thinking it as food? Does the used oil kill the growing plants or stop them from growing? Are there chemicals in oil that react in a dangerous way when dumped onto something? Can oil be combined with something else to make it less hazardous to the environment? Are there any other possible uses of used cooking oil?

 

Many Filipinos do not know what to do with their used cooking oil. Luckily, there is a possible way to reuse the dumped cooking oil and recycle it. Used cooking oil can be made into soap. Unlike normal soap, this recycled soap is more effective in removing dirt and is also not hazardous to the environment. The ingredients needed to put in the soap are easy to find in the local shops of the Philippines and the procedures for making the soap is simple as well.

 

The initial purpose of this project will be to research a way to make natural homemade soap out of unwanted and used cooking oil, in order to create a cleaner environment in the Philippines for the people to live in. Also, by further researching more information about the plants used to make oil, it will be useful in the process of this project.

 

It is hoped that uses of this soap made out of recycled cooking oil would make a cleaner environment in the Philippines and would stop Filipinos from polluting their environment with wastes such as used cooking oil.

 

 

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Biology

 

Common Names and Synonyms

 

Canola Oil is the most commonly used oil in the Philippines. It is extracted from seeds of a plant called Rapeseed. Rapeseed is also known as Brassica napus, which is a bright yellow flower and part of the mustard family. Other names for Rapeseed are Rape, Oilseed Rape, Rapa, and in some places, Canola.

 

Classification

 

Kingdom:          Plantae

Phylum:             Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class:                Eudicots (dicotyledons)

Order:                Brassicales (mustard oil)

Family:              Brassicaceae (mustard and cabbage)

Genus:              Brassica (four-petaled flowers)

Species:           B. napus (turnip)

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Morphology and Physical Description

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

External Anatomy

 

Brassica napus is an annual herb that grows up to 0.8 m tall. The stem of the plant is upright and is bluish green, with a waxy coating called glaucous. The lower leaves alternate and are pinnately divided. The leaves are stalkless and grow up to 15 cm long. They are toothed with lobed bases covered with a coating of glaucous. Sometimes the leaves are sparsely hairy.

 

The upper leaves of the plant alternate and are stalkless. They clasp around the stem and grow up to 9 cm long. The leaves are 3 cm wide and are lance-shaped or linear. Their bases are lobed and most are non-toothed. The upper leaves also have a coating of glaucous and are sometimes sparsely hairy.

 

The flowers of the plant are in branched clusters. They are pale yellow or cream-colored and grow up to 1.8 cm long. The flowers have four petals and six stamens. The fruits are in a narrow pod. They ascend up the plant and are 3 to 5 cm long. The fruits are round in cross-sections and have a beak.

 

Internal Anatomy

 

The flower parts of the rapeseed plant are from the receptacle of the stem. These floral appendages are divided into four different series. The first series are the outermost of the flower which is composed of small, green, leaf-like sepals. Several sepals form a calyx which protects the floral parts during the bud stage of the flower.

 

The second series are the petals which form a corolla. The next two series of appendages are consisted of fertile leaves called sporophylls. The stamen has a slender stalk called a filament which has a two-lobed anther that contains four miscrosporangia.

 

The innermost series of the appendages is the pistil. The pistil forms a carpel which is ovules that produce megasporophylls. The pistil has two parts, the lower part is the ovary which encloses ovules, and the upper part is the stigma, which receives the pollen. The stigma and the ovary are connected by the style, which is the thin, neck-like portion of the carpel of the flower.

 

The oil of rapeseed contains 38 to 57% of crucie acid, and 4.7 to 13.0% of linolenic acid, which has nutritive value. The rapeseed contains about 24 to 30% of protein. However, the protein found in rapeseed, are unsuitable for humans due to the presence of toxic glucosinolate.

 

Canola oil, made from pressed rapeseed, contains the lowest level of saturated fatty acids among any vegetable oils. It has high monounsaturated fatty acids which help reduce blood cholesterol. It is also rich in Vitamin E and is cholesterol-free. 

 

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Cultivation Practices

 

Rapeseeds grow in a good firm seedbed because the seeds are small. Seeds grow well when moisture and temperature are suitable. The seed should be planted 2.5 cm below ground or less, but if the soil does not crust on top, the seedlings will grow when planted down to 5cm. Rapeseeds grow slowly and are easily destroyed by drifting soil. The temperature must be over -4°C in order not to kill the plant. Seeds grow best when sowed in late April or early May in northern areas. However, plants sowed as late as June or early July give good results as well.

 

Rapeseed requires fertile and well-drained soils. They favor nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers but can be harmed when contacted with fertilizer. Sunny days and cool nights are good for growing of rapeseed and dry weather during harvest time is important. Rapeseed can grow in tropical as well as temperate zones and require cool temperatures for satisfactory growth. Rapeseed grows well in areas that have 25 to 40cm of rainfall. They can tolerate annual precipitation of 3 to 28 dm, annual temperature of 5 to 27°C, and pH of 4.2 to 8.2. 

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Reproduction

 

Rapeseed is 70% self-pollinating and 30% cross-pollinated. Rapeseed can produce seeds even if there is no wind or insects for pollination because the plant has both male and female reproductive organs in its flower which allows it to self-pollinate.

During cross-pollination of the plant, pollen dissemination occurs by insects, mainly bees, and by wind. Pollen of rapeseed travel only short distances. Rapeseed competes with plants like alfalfa and clover for insect pollination. Rapeseed can also be crossed with other rapeseed plants or close relatives such as Turnip rape (Brassica rapa) and Indian mustard (Brassica juncea). 

 

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Environmental Factors

 

There are many types of pests that distract the growth of rapeseed. Some of the animal pests ar the Harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica), Flea beetles (Phyllotreta sp.), Diamondback moths (Plutella xylostella), Bertah armyworms (Mamestra configurata), Root maggots (Delia sp.), Lygus bugs (Lygus), grasshoppers, bronzed field bettle larvae, snails, slugs, and cutworms. Some of the more serious kinds of pests are bugs such as mustard aphid (Liphaphis erysinbi) and mustard sawfly (Athalia proximo). These pests can be controlled by spraying Methyl Demeton 0.02% or Phosphomidon. Other kinds of pests are competitors, such as weeds, alfalfa, clover, which compete with rapeseed for growth.

 

Alternaria blight, White mold, and Rust (Cystopus candidus) are the most widespred and serious diseases of rapeseed. Other diseases caused by rapeseed are Beet wester yellow virus. Blackleg, Clubroot, Scleroinia white stem rot, and White rust disease. Spraying the plants with Dithane M-45 or Difolation is recommended for controlling these diseases.

 

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Origin and Distribution

 

B. napus one of the oldest cultivated plants recorded and known to humans. Rapeseed is believed to have been developed around the Mediterranean area. Later on, it was distributed amongst the northern European countries to China and Korea. Productions of rapeseed started during the middle ages in Europe where it was used as a lamp oil. Nowadays, rapeseeds are distributed across the world and are used in many ways. Rapeseed is imported to many different countries that do not have huge rapeseed industries, such as the Philippines.

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Importance to People

 

Rapeseed is widely grown as food for livestock and as a seed for oil production. Canola oil, made from pressed rapeseed, are known by consumers throughout the world, including the Philippines, as a cooking oil which contains the lowest level of saturated fatty acids and is cholesterol-free, which makes it the healthiest kind of oil among any vegetable oils.

 

Leftovers from the rapeseed oil production, which are called “rapeseed cake,” are used as livestock feed. The “cake” can also be used as a fertilizer and may be used as ornamentals. The leftover oil can also act as a biodegradable and renewable fuel, reducing air pollutants and emissions such as: carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, smog producing particles, and acid rain forming sulfates. ‘

 

There are many other uses of Rapeseed. Rapeseed can be grown as a winter-cover crop because it provides good coverage of the soil in the winter. Rapeseed prevents the soil to freeze and limits nitrogen run-off. The leaves and stems of rapeseed are edible and are sold as greens in groceries. It is known as yao choy, bok choy, kale, or tender greens. Rapeseed also produces nectar, which the honeybees make a light-colored and peppery honey from it. 

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Survivability and Endangered Status

 

 

Rapeseeds are found abundantly across the world. Canola oil, made from pressed rapeseed, is the second most produced source of vegetable oil in the world, next to soybeans. In 2000-2001, the world production of rapeseed/canola oil totaled up to 33.86 million tons. Unfortunately, rapeseed is not a local industry in the Philippines. However, the Philippines import large amounts of Canola oil and it is the most abundantly found type of oil in the supermarkets. Although rapeseed is still considered a new type of crop, demands for canola oil are increasing rapidly around the world, including the Philippines. 

 

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Potential Solutions

 

Pressed rapeseed produces cooking oil that people can use and enjoy. The oil that the rapeseed produces is called Canola oil which is the most commonly found and used oil in the Philippines. But what can we do with all of the leftover oil after we cook our food? If we throw away the used cooking oil, who knows where it will end up in?Used oil is hazardous, toxic, carcinogenic, and harmful to the environment when irresponsibly discarded. Luckily, there is an answer to this problem. Not many people know this but soap can actually be made out of used cooking oil. This kind of soap can also be called a recycled soap because it has been made out of recycled cooking oil. This soap can effectively remove dirt when washing clothes and also be less irritating to the skin because it is made out of natural ingredients. Therefore, it is beneficial for the people in the Philippines since they can easily make this soap and it can be used for multiple purposes. Below are three possiblities with an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages for each.

 

 

Possibility 1 - Homemade Recycled Soap

 

   

 

Used cooking oils can be made into soap. Combining the used cooking oil with lye (sodium hydroxide) and water, soap can be made. The steps are simple and easy. It takes about 2 to 4 weeks to harden and has to be left a few more days for the chemicals to completely mix and cool. This homemade soap is said to remove dirt more effectively than some of the brand soaps. It is also said to be less irritating to the skin. Instead of having to spend money on some costly soap, the locals can make soap for themselves and use it without any financial worries.

 

Advantages:

 

1.       Mothers and cooks sometimes have to deep fry food, such as fried chicken, in order to make the dish taste its best. After the frying process is done, there is a pool of non-usesable oil left and it may seem to them like a waste of good oil. However, by recycling unwanted and used cooking oil, soap can be made. The mothers and cooks can feel better and not seem like they are wasting oil that they paid good money for.

 

2.       Used oil pollutes and damages the enviroment when thrown out. Without knowing this, many people just throw away their used cooking oil or pour it down the drain. By making soap out of these pollutants, we can contribute in helping the environment that God gave us a cleaner place to live in. Also, it is amazing to see how we can use “trash” and make it into something useful and needed.

 

3.       Instead of having to go out to the supermarket or mall just to buy soap, people can easily make it at home. Making soap can also cut down the cost of buying other brand soaps. Since this soap can be used for mulitple purposes, it is beneficial for people who are saving money. Instead of buying many kinds of cheap brand soaps, they can just make homemade soap with recycled cooking oil.

 

Disadvantages:

 

1.       The main ingredient in making soap, besides used cooking oil, is lye which is sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Lye can be found in the Philippines too. It is sold in drugstores and supermarkets but it is not very easily found. I found lye at the far back of the supermarket located at the ground floor of Sta. Lucia, but I am not sure if other stores nearby sell them as well. The locals who want to try and make soap may give up because they might not be able to find lye.

 

2.       Sodium hydroxide, which is also known as lye and caustic soda, is dangerous and toxic. It can cause chemical burns, permanent injury, scarring, and blindness if contacted with skin that is unprotected. The acid is highly toxic if breathed in too much. While making soap, contact with sodium hydroxide can burn people if carelessly handled without gloves and masks.

 

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Possibility 2 - Experiment

 

An experiment can be done to observe if the soap made of recycled cooking oil can be more effective in removing dirt than other brand soaps. Several dirty fabrics with the same amount of dirt can be washed with several different brand soaps and the homemade recycled soap. Aftter they have been washed and dried, comparisons can be made. Also, a tester person can try bathing with the homemade soap and I could interview the person if the homemade soap is better than other kinds of brand soaps.

 

Advantages:

 

1.       If it can be shown by the experiment that the soap made of used cooking oil is more effective in removing dirt than other brand soaps, local Filipinos can stop buying brand soaps and use homemade soaps instead. If the results turn out favorably of the recycled soap, we can also tell other people to use that instead of buying other brand soaps. There would be no use of spending money when you can make soap at home for almost at no cost that works much better than the ones that you pay for.

 

2.       While experimenting and comparing the different kinds of brand soaps, I can find out which kind of brand soap works better than the others. I can also figure out which brand soap is good for which kind of use.

 

Disadavantages:

 

1.       After the experiment, the results may come out unfavorably than what was expected. It may show that brand soaps are more effective in removing dirt in fabrics or better for the skin while washing than the soap made out of used cooking oil.

 

2.       It takes up to more than two weeks for the soap to dry and harden and it has to be left several days more for the chemicals to settle down. Due to the short period of time to work on this project, the soap that I have made may not have had enough time to harden or settle in order to experiment with it.

 

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Possibility 3 - Teach

 

  

 

 

It seems like not many Filipinos know what to do with their left over cooking oil. Clearly, they do not know that they can recycle it and make soap. The newly found knowledge of making soap out of used cooking oil can be taught to the locals in the Philippines. This information can be shared by talking and interviewing the locals and even demonstrate to them how to make soap using left over cooking oil. Many of the Filipinos can benefit with this new information they learn. They can start making their own soap and use it to make money or cut down costs of buying soap.

 

When teaching them about recycled soap, this could be a great opportunity to spread the gospel. While explaining the steps of making soap, the biblical rationale can be included with scripture references to help the locals understand and know about the word of God. They can also accept the gospel well because they would be in a comortable environment while engaged in a fun activity together.

 

Advantages:

 

1.       By teaching the Filipinos of how cooking oil wastes can be harmful to the environment, the Filipinos can become aware of the damages that can be caused by oil. They can stop throwing out their oil and improve the environment they live in. It would be useful information for the locals to hear, especially the local restaurant owners, that used cooking oil can harm their own environment they live in. By telling them about this, many people can start to contribute in making the environment that God created a cleaner and better place to live in.

 

2.       The locals can start making homemade soaps and start a business with it. With an easily accessible substance like oil, the locals can make good quality soap and sell them. The process of making this recycled soap is very simple and easy. There are not much ingredients that go into this soap and there is no need of workers or laborers. Making soap could be a fun activity and a good bonding time within the families. The family members could all help in making soap to sell and contribute in earning money for the whole family to live on.

 

3.       While teaching them how to make recycled soap which is helpful for improving the environment, this could be a great opportunity to reach out to the local Filipinos and spread the gospel to those who do not know about God.  

 

Diadvantages:

 

1.       People in poverty may not have enough money to have fried food, or even eat three times a day. Although the lye is cheap, poor people may not have enough leasure money to spend it on lye.

 

2.       Just by this one time of sharing the gospel, the people may not be able to have a deep understanding of God and the good news. Some of the people that I talk to may not even care about anything I say, or they might sadly be a strong believer of another kind of religion.

 

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Bibliography

 

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