Over the last few decades, we have seen a dramatic impact on our environment due to the development of new palm oil plantations, the result which has caused significant deforestation and destruction to our global rainforests.  We wanted to take a moment to clear up a common misconception about our Palm Leaf dinnerware products vs. palm oil production so you know the facts!


Palm Leaf Products Production vs.  Palm Oil Production

Recently, we have been getting inquiries from customers asking if palm leaf dinnerware products and palm oil come from the same industry. They DO NOT come from the same industry. Palm leaf products are made from naturally fallen leaves of the Areca palm tree, which is found in India. You can rest assured that when you purchase palm leaf dinnerware products no trees are ever cut down in the process of producing palm leaf dinnerware.

Now, on the other hand, Palm oil is harvested from a completely different variety of palm trees, and these are mainly found in Malaysia and Indonesia. Palm oil production poses a massive threat to our rainforests and the wildlife within them, and is the cause mass deforestation. The removal of acres of rainforest due to Palm oil production threatens the rich biodiversity in these ecosystems, and one species directly impacted by the production of palm oil is the beautiful orangutan.  Just to put it into perspective, In 1990 there were around 315,000 orangutans. As of today, there are an estimated 50,000 existing in the wild. And of course, the orangutan is just one of a number of species facing extinction as a result of deforestation.


Where is Palm Oil Used and How Can I Avoid It?

Palm oil can be found in a very large percentage of packaged food products found on our supermarket shelves. Products such as cookies, bread, and potato chips, as well as in milk and chocolate. It’s also extensively used in the manufacturing of cosmetics and toiletries such as soaps, detergents, toothpaste, and shampoos. Recently, palm oil has been used as a biofuel.

As concerned consumers, many want to know how to avoid purchasing products that contain palm oil, so here are a few tips:

• Read the labels! Avoid anything that has an ingredient with the word 'Palm' in it. Palm oil is often disguised under the name Vegetable Oil, Vergetable Gycerine, and Lauryl Sulphate.
• If a product's saturated fat content makes up more than 40 percent of its total fat content, it will almost always contain palm oil
• Choose products that contain clearly labeled oils, such as 100 percent sunflower oil, corn oil, olive oil, coconut oil, or canola oil
• Avoid snack foods from corporate giants such as Nestle, Unilever. A whopping 50% of pre-packaged snack foods contain palm oil 

And while we are on the topic, we wanted to give a shoutout to Iceland, whose is making a HUGE statement by recently banning all products made with palm oil. Check out this amazing viral video they released below.  

We hope you find this post educational, and feel confident knowing that when you purchase palm leaf dinnerware from Naturally Chic you can be 100% sure that neither any orangutans, nor any flora and fauna are harmed in the manufacturing process.