In 2008, we washed our hands of palm oil!

Palm oil is a common ingredient used to make soap, but due to high global demand from both the food and cosmetic industries, the United Nations estimates that palm oil plantations are now the primary cause of permanent rainforest loss. We simply couldn’t continue to use palm oil in our soap base knowing the devastating effects it was having on the Indonesian rainforest and its ecosystem.

The Campaign

To reduce or consumption of palm oil, we developed a palm-free soap base, cutting our annual usage by 133,000 lbs (or 250,000 kg). In August 2009, to celebrate our new soap base and educate customers about palm oil, we covered our shop windows in green palm prints, and sold a limited edition Jungle Soap to raise funds for the Rainforest Action Network.

We even encouraged other cosmetic companies to follow in our palm-free footsteps, by offering our new formula with anyone who wished to go palm-free too.

Rainforest Action Network campaigns for the forests, their inhabitants and the natural systems that sustain life by transforming the global marketplace through education, grassroots organizing and non-violent direct action.

The Outcome

We raised over $34,000 for the Rainforest Foundation through the sales of our limited edition Jungle Soap. But we didn’t stop there; we've since changed every single one of our soaps to a palm-free base. We were also able to donate $12,500 through our Charity Pot program to the Borneo Orangutan Society, who are dedicated to protecting wild and rehabilitant orangutans and their native habitat.