Filthy Farmgirl Cleans Up Dirty Hippies
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA 
on 04. 5.07
We received some exquisitely aromatic soap samples from Filthy Farmgirl recently and can personally attest to their all-natural sudsing goodness. With flavors like Cheeky Ginger Citrus, Sassy Honey Oatmeal, and Coffee Vanilla Vixen, it's hard to misfire, but the California- and Hawaii-based company ups the green ante further with its earth-loving operations.
The herbs and spices found in the vegan-friendly soaps are mostly sourced from local organic farmers—that is, when they're not grown and harvested on site. Filthy Farmgirl's headquarters and farm are completely solar-powered and off the grid, with a similar setup in the works for its California office.
Packaging-wise, you'll find that the soap wrappers are made using 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper by Greenline Paper, albeit with conventional inks. (Gretchen of Filthy Farmgirl assures me they're working on it.)
Pooch-owners might appreciate the company's Muddy Puppy dog soap, which contains tea tree oil, cedar, and lemongrass as natural flea and tea repellents.
And here's a thought: Could soap be good for our tree-hugging souls? Gretchen's own clean and fresh philosophy:
First of all, being good to the earth starts with being good to ourselves, and our friends. Healthy happy (and yes, clean) people are intrinsically good for the earth! We believe our soap puts people in touch with the earth though their senses, and enlivens the otherwise mundane ritual of washing.
Bars start at $5 a pop; shipping is free on all orders within the United States. Another plus: Nothing is tested on animals. The only way we could love Filthy Farmgirl more is if it started using fair-trade-certified coffee and vanilla. Ay, there's the rub. :: Filthy Farmgirl
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Re: filthy farmgirls. I think 'filthy farmgirls' is a great brand name, it brings back special memories of when I was a young fellow working on the village farm during the school holidays. Some of the girls on the farm were very dirty indeed, but you would'nt hear me complaining ;-)
hey hey filthy farmgirl!!!!I LIKE IT!!!!ROGER I AGREE WITH U!!!I REMEMBER THE GOOD OLE DAYS ON THE FARM IN THE BARN ;)
hey hippies!!!!
I just discovered this, on ELLEgirl actually, (Lord their website is sooooo slow) but they do have a cute little eco-products section left over from last Earth Day where this popped out at me... It's so flip... Plus I know this girl, looks just like the girl in the picture, and she is a filthy farm girl... so it just blew my mind! This looks like a really swell company, earthy, a lot like Round Belly... This is going up on my site for sure!
Thank you for your compost article. I did not know that you could create pathogens in your compost by not doing it properly, we have pet rats and have been adding alfalfa bedding and rat poop. Until recently, our compost heap has become anarobic because we have not stirred it for the last year! I will stir it every other day now, because I need it to be more useful. When will I be able to use the soil? Thanks again for your web sight.
A gardener on San Juan Island, Washington state
RE: FILTHY FARMGIRL & Fairtrade coffee, vanilla
As it happens, there are small business owners in Hawaii that grow coffee and vanilla. I believe the vanilla business is organic, or nearly there. Also eco minded folks growing coffee there. I would think if the Hawaii operation sources their coffee and vanilla locally, that would be good rather than shipping in fair trade but far away produced vanilla and coffee.
CookingCajun former Hawaii resident and Filthy Farmgirl fan