BOS UK and Orangutan Diary

It seems only right that our first post should be about Borneo Orangutan Survival UK. We've proudly supported this wonderful charity since the begining of 2008, when The Natural Soapworks took the decision to only use organic palm oil from a sustainable source in Columbia to make our soaps.

So what's the problem with palm oil and the significance of it being from a sustainable source, you may wonder? Well soapmakers use palm oil because it adds hardness to a bar of soap, and it's used as a botanical alternative to tallow (rendered animal fats, which we certainly wouldn't use). But the problem with palm oil sourced from the Far East, is that it tends to be grown on palm plantations which have been planted after the rain forest has been cut down and burnt. This is causing catastrophic damage to the environment, and as the forests are destroyed it means that the local animals die too.

You'll find palm oil in all manner of products on our supermarket shelves (e.g. crisps, cakes, chocolate, biscuits, cosmetics, detergents, soaps etc), and there's even more problems on the horizon due to the interest in bio fuels. Unless action is taken soon, more and more habitat will be destroyed and ultimately this could lead to the extinction of many animal species.

When we discovered that even in a small way we were contributing to such destruction, we decided to act quickly to find some palm oil that is grown in a responsible and sustainable way, that doesn't endanger the environment. Organic sustainable palm oil is more expensive but we think it’s the right thing to include in our soaps. This is because one of the worst things that we discovered about palm oil, was the impact it's having on the orangutan populations in Sumatra and Borneo. There's a serious risk that one of our closest cousins will be wiped out within 10 years.

We were so concerned about this, that we contacted Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS UK) and they confirmed that our soap is "orangutan friendly". This very worthwhile charity works to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned orangutans in Borneo, whose mother's are killed as the rainforest is cleared. BOS's work, led by Lone Droscher Nielsen, is featured in the Orangutan Diary screened by the BBC in 2007, and now back for a second series on BBC2. We wanted to help this fabulous charity so we have adopted 2 orphaned orangutans, and fund raise to support BOS by attending events and selling our ‘Orang’ soap. We guarantee that £1.00 from the sale of each bar of 'Orang' goes straight to BOS UK. http://www.naturalsoapworks.co.uk/CharitySkincare.aspx

So how we all help? It's all about the purchasing power of the consumer, and we'd encourage everyone to try to find products that have sustainably sourced palm ingredients within them. To find out more about helping to save the orangutan visit the BOS UK website: http//www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/index.php