Sustainable Harvest Oils

We use a few different oils to make our soap that are plant based. In fact all of the oils we use are plant based. As we educated ourselves on soapmaking techniques and learning the business a deep dark practice of the oil industry came to light in our discussion. One of the primary oils we use to make soap is Palm Oil. It helps to make a super hard bar of soap that lasts a long time. In the formula soap becomes silky, super sudsy, and naturally cleaning. But there was a dark side…

Apparently in Asia and South America whole jungle forests were being cut down to plant palms for harvest. This practice destabilized the natural rainforest, displaced people and wildlife, and has proved to be a destructive practice. Sure these palm farms offer fabulous palm oil, at a discount cost to the buyer, but unforgivable damage to the environment.

We were in a quandary over what to do with what we heard about palm oil because we buy large amounts of it for our soap production. We searched for a responsible source of palm oil that is obtained ethically, and responsibly. At the heart of the matter we care about the environment, and want to do no harm. Indeed there are companies that take great care to not damage the environment, as they harvest the palm oil in groves that have always been for palm oil. Sadly, the price for purchasing ethically and responsibly sourced oils is more costly. We think it is a cost we are willing to pay to be environmentally responsible.