25 May 2019
On learning that a farm in Vietnam was producing excess milk, a group of students from Singapore Polytechnic has come up with a way to stop it going to waste.
Students from SP’s chemical and life sciences school developed a recipe to convert cows’ milk into soap during a two-week trip to Cu Chi village near Ho Chi Minh City in 2017.
Every soap bar is handmade in a home studio in Vietnam using natural ingredients, like bamboo charcoal, rose clay powder and pure essential oils. Villagers earn extra income by selling about 15 litres of milk a week.
The Singapore team members focus on sales and marketing, while their Vietnamese counterparts handle the procurement of raw materials and production.
The trip was part of SP’s learning express programme. More than 5,000 students have gone on these trips since the programme started in 2013. More than 15 projects over the years have been implemented in local communities.