To Palm Oil or not to Palm Oil...

Weleda is using Certified Sustainable Palm Oil. Palm Oil, it is definitely been a contentious topic. Palm Oil is used in a lot of beauty products for a few reasons, one being it does not need to be chemically hardened, remains stable when heated and has a long shelf life. Secondly, it is a very efficient crop, needing much less land than soybean or sunflower plants to produce the same amount of oil. 

But how can we use such products when we know that large areas of rainforest are often cleared for oil palm plantations?  Resident species like elephants, orangutang, rhinos and tigers have lost their homes and some Indigenous peoples have fared little better, being forced off their land and robbed of their livelihoods (WWF.org.au). It’s confronting to think that our beauty regime is causing such devastating consequences. 

As individuals we can do something, there is a way forward in all this, there are organisations out there that are solving the problem! When considering products the WWF has some suggestions -

• Adopt an orangutan
• Help to raise awareness of the  Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
• Shop sustainably
• Tell the companies that make your favourite products that you want to see them use sustainable sources of Palm oil rather than conventional palm oil.

RSPO certification is an assurance to the customer that the standard of palm oil production is sustainable.  All organisations in the supply chain that use RSPO certified sustainable oil products are audited to prevent overselling and mixing palm oil with conventional (or non-sustainable) oil palm products. 

Another important body is the Forum for Sustainable Palm Oil. All members of FONAP acknowledge their responsibilities in the global supply chain and strive to improve social, economic and environmental conditions in the producer countries. Their commitment to using only certified palm oil sends out a clear message to consumers, policy-makers and above all the producer countries (https://www.forumpalmoel.org/the-fonap).

Weleda are members of both the RSPO and FONAP. Using Weleda you can feel good on the inside and out!