Jen McCoy/Daily Register
Tom Lind, 17, steadies a bottle to catch amber-colored soap on Thursday at Westfield Area High School.

WESTFIELD - A new soap product wasn't tested on animals, but on a school district's director of transportation.

And so the hands of Scott Petersen have variously smelled like cucumber-melon, pomegranate, mint and citrus.

Students at Westfield Area High School are creating antibacterial liquid hand soap from the byproduct of their district's biodiesel program. This creates near zero-waste production.

The district started making biodiesel this summer, thanks to a grant and help from seven area businesses that provide most of the oil used to make 40 gallons of biodiesel a day. The project has been lauded by the state school superintendent. The district can produce biodiesel for about $1.15 per gallon, officials said this summer.

Eric Rau hand-cranked raw lye-glycerol Thursday as part of his independent study.

"When biodiesel and glycerin separate, it (glycerin) drops to the bottom because it's heavier. We drain the glycerin out and Scott adds hydrogen peroxide to make the soap base," Rau, 18, said.

Petersen took $1,500 out of his transportation budget of $269,000 for fuel this year to invest in the soap project. But through the biodiesel program, Petersen has saved the district $50,000 this fiscal year.

"The only cost is the bottles and the hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide is used to kill bacteria, so the soap is naturally antibacterial," Petersen said.

For every 40 gallons of biodiesel, created by Petersen and used in the school buses, there are eight gallons of glycerol byproduct, according to Paul Zuelke, agricultural instructor for Westfield Area High School. Petersen began to make the liquid hand soap in December, and Zuelke now supervises the production during independent study of biodiesel. Four students mix and measure in a workspace behind his classroom.

"It's a really good de-greaser, and this stuff takes out stains. Scott has used it as laundry soap," Zuelke said.

During the last period of the day, the students in the independent study sang the praises of the amber-colored soap.

"It's really soft on your hands, and I love the citrus," said Ashley Marotz, 17. "There's a lot of chemistry involved in it, and I love science and math."

The yearlong class earns students one credit, but also enables them to take ownership of the program.

"I think it's helping out the environment, and making people more aware of what people can do in Westfield," Ashley said.

Tom Lind, 17, said that he was interested in the production of the biodiesel and manufacturing of the soap.

"We're the only ones in the state making this soap," Tom said. ‘I use it quite a bit, the cucumber-melon, to take the grease off my hands when I come in from the garage."

The students measure the amount of fragrance based on the grams of soap base, use a rubber beater attached to the end of a drill, and mix the concoction for five minutes until its frothy in a pail.

A rubber tube in the pail is connected to a dispenser controlled by a student's foot on a pedal, and a four-ounce sample or eight-ounce pump bottle catches the soap. One student caps the product, one presses on the original "Alternative Energies, School District of Westfield" logo, and another boxes the bottles and brings over the needed fragrance for the next batch.

The bottle is recyclable, the soap is Earth-friendly, and the process used by the district is on the label.

"This is a great program, it's great for students, and if it wasn't for the district saying, ‘Go ahead with this,' we wouldn't have it," Zuelke said.

The prices, final fragrances and places of purchase are not set, but Zuelke encouraged the public to take part in an online survey about the soap. Feedback from the surveys help to steer the project, he said. The survey is on the home page of the district at www.westfield.k12.wi.us. The article is titled "Biodiesel Program is Going Clean!" and the 10-question survey is listed there.

Chris Langenfeld, of the Marquette County Powerful Assets Initiative for the School District of Westfield, said the public should be prepared to see more ingenuity from the students.

"Once it (the sale of the soap) goes online, it's worldwide," Langenfeld said. "Most people want to save money, and we're going green to save green."

The teachers and students in the program will present the biodiesel and soap processes at the Wisconsin State Education Convention on Jan. 21-23 in Milwaukee. Representatives from various districts will receive a sample of the soap, and State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster had her gift box of soaps hand-delivered by students a few weeks ago. No word yet on which fragrance she prefers.

jmccoy@capitalnewspapers.com

745-3519