Where’s the rainbow?
There is one simple reason we don’t have bright coloured soap in our range - we do not support child labour!
A lot of soap makers use Mica to colour their creations but do you know where mica comes from?
Mica is a natural mineral found underground. Mining the mineral involves dangerous digging of vertical shafts of one to two metres wide and around 15 metres deep, extracting and then sorting the mica. Once extracted and sorted, the commodity is exported primarily to China. From there it finds its way into Western products. Sure, that doesn’t sound too bad right? But unfortunately because the mica pits are so narrow they are difficult to work in, children sometimes as young as three are send down the pits and put to work.
Here’s just two examples -
Eight-year-old Frederic works morning or afternoon shifts, depending on his school schedule, sorting Mica alongside his elder brother. His hands are marked by traces, wounds and scars caused by the repetitive task of removing the calcite.
Thirteen-year-old Felicia, who has never attended school, works Monday to Sunday for a sorting company. The money she earns helps support her mother and eight siblings, but is having a negative impact on her health.
These are just two stories of child labour in the illegal mica mining sector of Madagascar.
Researchers from the organisations found that, despite ongoing initiatives, entire families are routinely working in the extraction and processing of the mica, which can be found in hundreds of Western products. Overall, they cautiously estimate that around 22,000 people work in the informal sector in Madagascar, of which at least half are minors. And it doesn’t just happen in Madagascar, Mica comes from several companies and is mined in the same way.
As an ethical brand Silktown Soap Company does not use any Mica in our products - purely because we cannot guarantee how the raw material was obtained. Beside, there are so many beautiful alternatives readily available in nature.