We recently posted a new bar for sale in our shop and online. As expected, we were called out for not marking RSPO palm oil on our ingredients list. We were asked if our palm oil was sustainably sourced and recommended that we choose sustainable palm oil and help save the orangutans. Little Dragon Soaps uses RSPO sustainable palm oil in its products; the label not having RSPO listed was an oversight – future titles will be noted correctly.
All products with Palm Oil at Little Dragon Soaps are made with RSPO Palm Oil. Little Dragon Soaps purchases palm oil from suppliers’ members of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, the RSPO.
What is the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil?
The RSPO, founded in 2005, “developed a set of environmental and social criteria which companies must comply with to produce Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO)” (RSPO, n.d). The principles to follow help to ensure that certified palm oil is produced legally, socially responsible as well as environmentally responsibly.
The World Wildlife Foundation recommends that “all companies that use palm products must ensure that their supply chain is free from deforestation and conversion of natural ecosystems” (WWF, n.d). They also do not suggest that palm oil is boycotted or substituted, as other oils may not provide long-term solutions to deforestation issues (WWF, n.d).
The World Wildlife Foundation recommends that companies buy only RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil.
Where is Palm Oil Used?
While you may not use palm oil, let alone RSPO palm oil, in your kitchen, palm oil is the primary cooking oil for many people in other countries. It is also used in commercial food production, biofuel, detergents, cosmetics, soap, pizza doughs, noodles, shampoos, ice creams, margarine, chocolate, cookies, bread, and many more! Palm oil and its derivatives can appear under many names, many of which you wouldn’t recognize.
- PKO – Palm Kernel Oil
- Palm Kernel Stearin (PKs)
- Palm Kernel Olein (PKOo)
- PHPKO – Partially hydrogenated Palm Oil
- OPKO – Organic Palm Kernel Oil
- Vegetable Oil
- Vegetable Fat
- Palm Kernel
- Palm Kernel Oil
- Palm Fruit Oil
- Palmate
- Palmitate – Vitamin A or Asorbyl Palmitate
- Palmolein
- Glyceryl
- Glyceryl Stearate
- Stearate
- Stearic Acid
- Elaeis Guineensis
- Palmitic Acid
- Palm Stearine
- Palmitoyl Oxostearamide
- Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3
- Sodium Laureth Sulfate (also comes from Coconut)
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (also comes from ricinus oils)
- Sodium Lauryl sulfoacetate (also comes from Coconut)
- Sodium dodecyl Sulphate (SDA or NaDS)
- Sodium Kernelate
- Sodium Palm Kernelate
- Sodium Lauryl Lactylate/Sulphate
- Steareth -2
- Steareth -20
- Hyrated Palm Glycerides
- Etyl Palmitate
- Cetyl Palmitate
- Octyl Palmitate
- Palmityl Alcohol
- Chemicals which contain palm oil
Do note that some of these ingredients can be derived from multiple sources of oil or combinations of such oils; they are not always derivatives of palm oil.
What can Little Dragon Soaps do to help?
Little Dragon Soaps is a small business, and at this time, our consumption use of palm oil is not very large; we try to do our part and purchase responsibly and purchase from RSPO sustainable palm oil from vendors and suppliers.
How can I help as a consumer?
Little Dragon Soaps recommends purchasing your soap from companies that purchase responsibly; regardless of whether you choose to use soap through us, or through another business (small or large); please buy RSPO sustainable palm oil and help save the orangutans.
Sources:
Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil. (n.d.). About. RSPO. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://www.rspo.org/about
World Wildlife Fund. (n.d.). Which everyday products contain palm oil? WWF. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/which-everyday-products-contain-palm-oil
WWF. (n.d.). Promoting certified sustainable palm oil. WWF. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/food_practice/sustainable_production/palm_oil/responsible_purchasing/