Kao Corporation, which promotes a sustainable lifestyle, has a task of raising awareness to consumers of CO2 emissions when using water at home. For the children to easily understand and experience how daily water use effects the environment, we produced “Antarctic soap”. The designed soap referred the relations of soap and hand wash, to the Antarctic ice caps melt by global warming. Every time children use water and Antarctic soap to wash their hands, they are reminded of the CO2 emissions and the environmental issues. Through this project, we aimed to change children’s daily habits of wasting water.

In order to ensure that children understand why we must be mindful when using water, it was important to clearly communicate the link between the CO2 emitted when water comes from our taps and global warming. To do this, we produced a small soap in the shape of the Antarctic. Every time the soap is used to wash hands, it evokes the image of the Antarctic ice caps melting. We used handwashing as a way to show children that careless water use accumulates and that this could be connected to major problems such as global warming.

It is hard even for the adults to relate that water waste causes CO2 emissions and global warming. To simply express the issue, we produced “Antarctic soap” which the white hand wash soap was designed in the shape of the Antarctic sheet. The direct experience of the Antarctic shaped soap dissolving and shrinking in the little palms of children, the whole act of using water gave realization of the impact their behaviors reflect on the environment.

We want to encourage everyday actions that contribute to the reduction in environmental impact. With that in mind, we focused on hand-washing, a familiar activity for many people, particularly children. Through this program, we thought that if we could find a way to remind people to ‘reduce water waste’ every time they used water, this could ultimately accumulate into a huge action that would have a significant impact on the environment.

The soap, modeled after the Antarctic and the animals that inhabit it, was designed to be just the right size of a child’s hand. The box was made to fit the exact shape of the soap before use, so that when it dissolved and shrunk, it would no longer fit perfectly in its original box. This made it easier to visualise the melting Antarctic ice caps. In order to deepen the children’s understanding, the activity of using the soap to wash hands was, then, followed by a lecture on global warming.

In a survey taken at the end of the program asking “what are you going to consider from now on when using water?”, answers included “don’t let the water run”, “be careful to turn the water off” and so on. 90% of the participating children answered that they want to be more mindful when using water.

As a company that handles many household products, Kao corporation is focused on CO2 emissions from water use. From the manufacturing of a product until its disposal, most CO2 is actually emitted during use, yet few people are aware of this. To reduce CO2 emissions, it was essential that Kao corporation create water-saving products but also, report the facts to the users and ask them to contribute to water-saving. We executed the project as one of the enlightenment activities, and targeted children, creating an opportunity for them to make saving water a habit.