Good Morning People,

Today, we want to share with you a brief overview of palm oil, its effects on us and the environment and also about the brands that use palm oil for their soaps.

Often people might think: What's the fuzz about palm oil?! We hope to answer this in a brief way right here.

If you have more questions concerning this? Contact us :-) We are happy to hear from you.

What is Palm Oil?

According to http://www.saynotopalmoil.com, palm oil is an "a type of edible vegetable oil that is derived from the palm fruit, grown on the African oil palm tree. Today, palm oil is grown throughout Africa, Asia, North America, and South America, with 85% of all palm oil globally produced and exported from Indonesia and Malaysia; but most of the time not using sustainable measures" www.saynotopalmoil.com

To enable palmoil production, producers clear natural rain forest and set up the plantations there.

A powerful fact here: Every HOUR, a surface of 300 football fields of natural rainforest, is cleared for palmoil production.

Palmoil is found in 40-50% of household products such as baked goods, toothpaste, shampoo, icecream, cosmetics and SOAP.

What are the effects of palm oil production?

The palm oil industry is linked to major issues such as:

1. destructive deforestation

2. habitat degradation

3. climate change

4. animal cruelty, and even

5. indigenous rights abuse

Coming back to the fact, that every hour, a surface of 300 football fields of natural rainforest, is cleared for palmoil production, we can convert this into: Every hour, natural rainforest is burnt, many animal species die and lose their "home" and even  indigenous tribes have to leave their homes without being consulted. And all of this, with a huge impact on the environment.

Through palmoil production, Indonesia has become the 3rd highest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.

Among the many dying species are: the orangutan, the pygmy elephant, the sumatran tiger and the sumatran rhinoceros. 

The natural habitats of indigenous Indonesian tribes are sold by the government to big corporations and the people that lose their land, often are forced into badly or unpaid plantation labor, especially child labor.

So why do big corporations still use palmoil if the production of it has multiple horrendous effects? Because it's cheap! 

 

Which brands use palmoil for their soaps?

Companies often make it hard for us consumers to know, whether they use palmoil. Here is a list of the many terms, that brands use for palmoil, so if you see one of these terms on a product, it most definitely contains palmoil:

Key Terms for Palmoil on Ingredients List:

"Vegetable Oil, Vegetable Fat, Palm Kernel, Palm Kernel Oil, Palm Fruit Oil, Palmate, Palmitate, Palmolein, Glyceryl, Stearate, Stearic Acid, Elaeis Guineensis, Palmitic Acid, Palm Stearine, Palmitoyl Oxostearamide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Lauryl Lactylate/Sulphate, Hyrated Palm Glycerides, Etyl Palmitate, Octyl Palmitate, Palmityl Alcohol" 

Now comes the interesting part: Which brands/soaps use and contain palmoil? 

I just picked out some surprising products, list will be extended.

The Body Shop: All natural looking but certainly not eco-friendly

 

 

RITUALS: The Ritual of Ayurveda Hand Wash: Containing Palmoil

LUSH: containing Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, which can be translated into palm oil

Nivea: Advertising with smooth skin care, but containing palm oil and thus contributing to desastrous palm oil production

 

 

Dove: Also contains palmoil- also contributes to the killing of animal lives and indigenous tribes losing their homes

 

Please comment below, if you have questions or other ideas! We would love to hear them!

 

Happy Sunday!