Soap Produced from Waste Oil

Teachers and students in Erdemli district of Mersin gathered waste vegetable oils through a project they developed, producing various types of soap and achieving recycling. The soaps made through recycling were then sent as gifts back to the students who brought the waste oils. At Erdemli Ertuğrul Gazi Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School (METEM), students launched the "I'm melting the world's oil" project under the guidance of biology and chemistry teachers. Within the scope of the project, students distributed brochures to schools in the district and collected waste chemical oils brought by them one by one.

500 kilograms of waste oil collected

The collected oils were brought to METEM where teachers and students produced various types of soap including lemon, cinnamon and aloe vera scents. It was noted that 500 kilograms of waste oil were collected in the first phase and 1,000 bars of soap were produced and began to be sent as gifts to students who brought the waste oils. District National Education Director Yusuf Açıkyörük examined the work carried out on site and received information from school principal Mustafa Tat and teachers. Providing information about the project, District National Education Director Yusuf Açıkyörük stated: "We are collecting waste oils through the project carried out by our colleagues to protect nature and create environmental awareness among students. With the 'I'm melting the world's oil' project, we made an announcement to students in schools in our district. The waste oils collected by students are being converted into soap by the biology and chemistry teachers at Ertuğrul Gazi Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School. We are returning the soaps we obtain from this back to our students who collected the oils. So far we have collected 500 liters of oil, and we have produced 1,000 bars of soap and delivered them to our students."

Preventing Waste Oil from Mixing into Soil

Şerafettin Özaydın, biology teacher at the school participating in the project, stated: "The aim of our project is to utilize waste oils generated from frying in the district and in homes, and more importantly to prevent them from mixing into the soil, contributing to environmental cleanliness, creating awareness. This was our initial goal. Later, we package the resulting soaps and send them to our students along with brochures, providing information about why oils should not be poured into drains and why frying oils harm nature. Our students become aware of this issue and we also produce soap as part of recycling." Dilara Çocuk, one of the students, expressed that their initial aim was to prevent waste oils from entering soil and water, and subsequently to raise awareness among younger and older people about protecting nature.