May 03, 2025

Can Palm Oil Really Be Sustainable?

The Problem with Palm Oil

The Indonesian baby orangutan shown above and below is named Brenda. She has a cast on her broken arm because she was attacked by palm oil operators who also killed her mother.

Brenda now lives at the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme's Quarantine Center in Sumatra, Indonesia and you can read her story and see photos and videos here.

At S.M.O.C. Skincare, we don't use any palm oil (sodium palmate) in any of our products because palm oil plantations clear and burn rainforests, accelerating global warming and killing endangered animals like orangutans. Another example is the tragic story of Hope (below), a mother orangutan shot 74 times and blinded by palm oil growers because they wanted her off the rainforest land they were clearing. Hope survived but unfortunately, her baby was killed by the palm oil growers.

Every day, orangutans are shot and killed by palm oil growers chasing these peaceful creatures from their rainforest land in order to convert that pristine forest into palm oil plantations.

And it's not just orangutans that are killed. Birds, monkeys, frogs, all living creatures are decimated as the land is clear cut, burned, and converted into mono-culture palm. Moreover, PEOPLE are also impacted. Indigenous people who have lived in these rainforests for hundreds or thousands of years are regularly forced out by these powerful and corrupt palm oil operations.

What About Sustainable Palm Oil?

At S.M.O.C. Skincare, we don't use "sustainable" palm oil because "sustainable" palm oil is NOT actually sustainable. Companies (like Dr. Bronner's) using "sustainable" palm oil are trying to do the right thing and that is commendable, but the sustainability certification for palm oil has been described by environmental researchers as a "meaningless certification."

According to Greenpeace, "certified sustainable palm is a con." Independent scientists (who are not funded by the corporations that use palm oil) flatly state: There is no such thing as sustainable palm oil.

One 2020 published study analyzed Indonesian "certified sustainable" palm oil plantations and concluded that the certification was "meaningless". Source

Why Do So Many Companies Use Palm Oil?

Look at the label of any soap (Dr. Bronner's, Shea Moisture, Dove, Ivory, et al.) and you'll most likely see "palm oil" or the scientific name: "sodium palmate" or "sodium palm kernelate." Given how destructive it is, why do so many companies use it? Because palm oil is extremely cheap, allowing companies that use it to increase their profits. Palm oil is 1/3 the price of extra virgin olive oil. It's cheap because the palms are grown on cleared rainforest land in developing countries. This is essentially free land, so companies make a large profit, at the planet's expense. At S.M.O.C. Skincare, we use absolutely no palm oil.