BYE, BYE PALM OIL!
I am
breaking up with Palm Oil. It’s kind of a really big deal. I have used palm oil
in my soaps for more than 16 years now - to change my recipes is a big deal.
It’s been a decision that has been in the works for a couple of years now and I
am happy to go Palm Oil free. It’s the ethical thing to do for our planet, various
indigenous peoples, and countless plant and animal species.
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| Thumbs Up on Palm Oil Free! |
I want my
customers to know that I have not taken the matter of changing my recipe
lightly at all. As I have said it’s been a year in the making with careful and
thought out replacement recipes created and tested. I mention more testers
being needed at the bottom of this post.
I have
strict demands of my soap and if it doesn’t tick all the boxes it is simply not
a Wylde Rose product. I believe while my old recipe produced a wonderfully
supreme bar of soap – new recipes have proven to create bars that are equal
and/or possibly better.
WHY IS PALM OIL SO BAD?
Palm oil is used in so many items from industrial lubricants, to food and
of course to the soap and cosmetics industry. Global production and demand is at an all
time high. Soapmakers have been said to be about 5% of the market. It’s 5% too
much for Wylde Rose. It’s always been a hot topic on the soapmaking groups and
boards with many soapmakers having strong opinions on both sides of the issue. While
some care and are reformulating their own recipes, some simply do not care. I care, so deeply I have been very much affected by this and welcome the change with very much open arms.
I have been told repeatedly that my palm oil is sourced from a
sustainable plantation. However, the more I read, the more I question that as
there doesn’t seem to be any real proof that any of the palm oil that
supposedly is sustainably sourced actually is. Don’t even get me started on the
ethical side of production and the ethics of some plantations. The Roundtable
for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) doesn’t seem to have monitoring available for
individual plantations – just the some of the corporations buying from the
plantations… doesn’t make much sense to me as those many corporations do not
have procedures in place to check the individual plantations either. Promises
of policies, procedures and laws to be in place by 2020 is just way too late in
my opinion. Too much damage has been done already and too much will continue to
be devastated.
“A very important thing to remember is that the oil palm plantation will only
last for approximately 20 to 50 years before then the soil is completely drained of its vital nutrients and the palm
trees too matured to produce palm fruit, which is why palm oil is
very much a short-term commodity, and not a long-term sustainable solution.” (http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/)
Scary Stats
- Less than 400 Sumatran Tigers are left with their only habitat being destroyed rapidly for logging and palm oil plantations. (WWF)
- The Guinness Book of World Records lists Indonesia as the country with the fastest rate of deforestation in the world. Because of this, Indonesia is the worlds third largest carbon dioxide (CO2) emitter after the US and China. Palm oil forest conversion could wipe out all of Indonesia's forests by 2015. (Guinness Book)
- Due to the large international demand for palm oil, palm oil plantations are rapidly replacing the rainforest habitat of the critically endangered orangutan; with over 90% of their habitat already destroyed in the last 20 years. (http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/)
I could sit here and type in statistic after statistic but I want you to
google it for yourself instead of just taking my word for it. Palm oil
plantations are destroying the rainforests (our planets lungs) and also
displacing indigenous peoples. Palm Oil is threatening many species, many of
whom are now on the brink of extinction. I know a lot of my friends on social
media have seen the links to the horrors the orangutans are suffering. Please
google the words Palm oil & Orangutans or Sumatran Tiger. Here are a few
links to get you started…Some may very well make you weep...
Greenpeace on Dove
Ian Somerhalder Foundation
WWF
Palm oil, Elasesis Guineesis (palm) Oil, Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate
No matter how its worded, it’s still Palm Oil. Almost every soap you can
buy at the grocery store or drug store contains palm oil in it as do a lot of
the other bigger companies. It’s an inexpensive and cost effective oil for them
to use… but I have to ask at what cost to our planet?
Palm Oil is also a huge ingredient used in many prepared food over the
last 15 years in particular as it is a cheap oil to use. We watch our labels
here very carefully and will always continue to do so.
WHY DID I USE PALM OIL?
My recipes
were created 16 years ago. Simply put we didn’t know what we know now and it’s
really scary to change something that is a great product. Currently in each of my soaps I have been
using the following core oils & butters: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil, Vegetable
Oil, Sweet Almond Oil & Castor Oil.
Each of the
ingredients I use are NOT selected on a whim. They are carefully researched and
each recipe is tweaked to find the perfect balance to meet my standards. Palm
Oil makes a harder bar and is a great vegan alternative to tallow and or lard
(neither of which I use). There is no denying it- Palm oil is a fabulous
ingredient in soaps – however there are so many other wonderful alternatives to
palm oil that there is no reason to continue using it.
MOVING FORWARD WITHOUT PALM OIL
Wylde Rose’s
contribution to the NO palm oil movement may not be a large dent but I believe
that every bit counts and its approximately 200 kg a year we won’t be using in
any of our products.
I am staying
true to my completely vegan philosophy and have been experimenting for about a
year now with different ingredients to find the right replacement recipe. Yes…
a year… I demand perfection in my products and that tends to take some time. There
are alternatives to palm and there are lots of them! I have made 25 recipes over
this last year and have it narrowed down to a top 6 that we like and are
pleased with.
Requirements
for Wylde Rose products:
- Handmade via cold process methods (NOT melt & pour) (This is a topic for a whole new post!)
- Lathers well
- Long lasting
- Cleans well
- Moisturizing
- No chemicals added
- Cruelty free (no animal testing)
- All ingredients must be vegan
- No parabens
- No phthalates
- No propylene glycol
- No formaldehyde
- NO SLS or SLES (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or Sodium Laureth Sulfates)
- Affordable
- Ecologically safe
- Made with sustainable & ethical and non GMO ingredients
I want my
friends, family and fans to be my testers. Be the voice for the new main recipe.
I am inviting you to be a part of this wonderful and positive change for Wylde
Rose. I am looking for 100 testers who are willing to test each of the samples
I am going to send. I need honest answers rating the soaps. I will be asking
for testing volunteers in a separate post.
TRANSITIONING TO THE NEW RECIPES
As with any
project like the transition we are undertaking, we will be phasing in the Palm
Oil Free products by mid February. I will be making all new batches 100% PALM
FREE as of February 20th when I should have the results in from the
testers.
I love a
great bargain too but alas my bargain hunting fans, I will NOT be having a
massive clearance sale of old recipe products – they will be replaced as they
are sold out. The website as always will have all ingredients listed and you
will clearly see which stock is Palm Oil Free and which is not. It is also why
my soap inventory is at an all-time low currently.
As I have
stated this has not been a spontaneous decision – it has taken a great deal of
time a preparation. We are so excited to be able to offer our customers
products that are not only healthy for your skin, but are made with ethical
ingredients making them healthy for your soul too.
