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Don't Throw the Baby Out with the Bath Water
The Palm Oil Debate
The aim of this article is to provide the facts about palm oil so you can make an educated decision about it. There's nothing worse than people hearing or seeing a generalised comment about something and then thinking that opinion is the Truth with a capital T. Do yourself a big favour and get the facts first - nothing is ever black or white. There's nothing wrong with palm oil in itself.
SOME OF OUR OWN CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN WORRIED - THEY HAVE BEEN CONCERNED THAT THE SOAPS THEY ARE USING THAT CONTAIN PALM OIL ARE GOING TO HURT THEM! PLEASE DO NOT BE AFRAID OR CONCERNED. PALM OIL IS COMPLETELY SAFE. THE CONCERN AND WORRY OF SUCH PEOPLE COMES FROM BEING MISINFORMED BY THE SELF-APPOINTED OPINION LEADERS LIKE LUSH AND ANYONE ELSE WHO MAKES STATEMENTS WITHOUT KNOWING or GIVING YOU ALL THE FACTS.
WHAT IS PALM OIL & WHAT'S IT USED FOR?
Palm oil (Elaeis guineensis) is the fruit of a palm tree grown in temperate climates. It is used in many foods and cooking, and many soap manufacturers use it in their soap recipes because it is a hard oil producing a harder, longer lasting bar of soap. Ever used those soaps that turn into sludge and fall apart within a few days? It's likely there aren't enough 'hard' oils like palm oil in the recipe. Not good value for money.
There's a huge debate going on about the sustainability of palm oil production, due to the past /current practices of destroying native habitats to plant palm plantations. Destroying the homes of native animals such as the Orangutan and countless other species. The same practices have been used all over the world to produce huge quantities of meats, fruits & vegetables to satisfy our human desires and needs for food. Many people depend solely on their jobs in these industries to survive as well, so suddenly stopping them from their work would be catastrophic too. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water - other measures need to be taken that value the lives of all. It's a lot like the Tasmanian rainforest protests and coal mining debates - destruction of natural resources Vs. destruction of people's lives and income. Deforestation is not new and is not unique only to palm oil production.
WHAT'S BEING DONE TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE?
The RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) is addressing these destructive practices through accreditation of palm farms worldwide. Accreditation/certification means those farmers work within the standards of practice set out by the round table committee to ensure eco-friendly farming practices. Planet Yum's palm oil supplier is one of the first companies ever certified by the RSPO. These farmers, particularly the larger, more established ones are then responsible for assisting change for the smaller local farms. Over time the intention is that all small and large producers honour the biodiversity of the land and produce their crops within a framework that saves forests and animals habitats. This will not happen over night. Banning palm oil is not the answer.
You may be familiar with the campaign that LUSH Cosmetics is using regarding the use of palm oil. They have decided not to use it anymore, and that is their right, their choice. They support the RSPO and have also been involved in it. LUSH seems to be using a certain style of advertising and marketing strategy that is not necessarily valuing of other businesses. The language that has been used is interesting. Words like "ban", "anti" make out that palm oil in itself is like posion or something that we need to eradicate - it sounds like contraban. We all need to keep things in perspective here. If you don't get very clear about this distinction you are going to miss the picture and fall hook, line and sinker for what anyone says. You're smarter than that. Palm oil is ok, palm production practices are the problem - that's the distinction - don't collapse it all onto the palm oil itself. The general public is starting to make comments about palm oil in ways such as "that horrible stuff". Powerful self-appointed opinion-leaders like LUSH don't necessarily make that distinction for you very clearly - especially when they say things like they are removing all "traces" of palm oil from their products - 'traces' ? Sounds like poison again doesn't it.
The truth about their products - as stated by LUSH - is that currently "Traces of palm oil still remain, however, because the ingredient is also used to make common soap additives like sodium stearate and sodium lauryl sulfate, which LUSH obtains from third-party suppliers. The company says it's working with its vendors to find out how much palm oil is in these ingredients and what surrogates exist.". Source: Treehugger.com (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/lush-palm-oil.php)
According to their webiste and media people LUSH Cosmetics is now using a new soap recipe without palm oil, and in its place they are using soft oils like sunflower & canola. I wonder how long these soaps will last for, and how soft they may be. I wonder what other ingredients will need to be used to synthesise a harder soap. I wonder how people like you and me - the consumers - will feel about the value for money that will result from this radical change. Time will tell.
While we're on the subject of what goes into soap - sodium lauryl sulfate is not necessary at all. SLS is a coconut by-product (nothing harmful or wrong in itself - it's from a natural source - not a synthetic), and some manufacturers of soaps - like LUSH apparantly - use it to make their soaps froth up and bubble. SLS is often associated with dry and sensitive skin, in that it can be very drying. Once again it's their choice, but we wonder why it is used when a truly natural soap requires no such additive to make it foam, bubble and cleanse. Natural soap (using coconut, olive & palm oils) has a beautiful thick creamy lather.
According to Mongabay.com "Lush aims to use anti-palm oil sentiments as a marketing strategy for increasing sales of its own products and extending its brand. Instead of palm oil, the company is using oils from sunflower, rapeseed [canola], and coconut — crops with substantially lower oil yields than palm, and in the case of rapeseed, a similarly questionable environmental performance.". "Lush, a leading cosmetics-maker, said last week it would not only ban all palm oil from its products, but launch a campaign to get other companies to follow suit." SOURCE: http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0817-cadbury_nz.html.
People, companies or anyone else can say whatever they like. However, when people start to believe in their own righteous - evangelical - judgments that come from their idea that other people are the bad guys... well, how do all the wars on this planet get started..the same way. I believe that any company, LUSH included, who wants to promote a more sustainable planet is a wonderful thing. However, I disagree with their idea to try and force other people into anything. LUSH doesn't have that authority. Our Governments are entrusted with that kind of authority and the real people in power need to come to the party on this matter - and they are.
Palm oil is not bad, wrong, dangerous or harmful - it is completely safe to use. Choosing not to buy products because there is palm oil in them will not necessarily change poor palm oil production practices, but it would put a lot of people's lives into jeopardy without re-educating them about how to farm more sustainably. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.
Planet Yum's supplier of palm oil is (Wilmar) and they are accredited in eco-friendly and sustainable practices with the RSPO.
Written by Andrew Dyer
Managing Director
Planet Yum
For more information about these issues you can visit the following links"
http://www.mongbay.com
www.rspo.org on this website you can discover who is an accredited supplier of eco-friendly palm oil.
In conclusion. Our soaps are quality, using palm oil from ever-sustainable practices. We make long-lasting bars so you get value for money. We won't be using lesser quality ingredients than we currently do, even though it would be cheaper for us. We would make more money using cheaper oils like sunflower and canola and leaving out the palm oil, but we won't be using lesser quality ingredients than we currently do.
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