We wanted to add a brief note regarding the BBC's Panorama 'Dying for a biscuit' programme which was screened in the UK earlier this evening. It gave a good insight into the issues surrounding the palm oil industry, and the effect palm oil plantations are having on the habitat of the wild orangutan and other animal species. Further information on the palm oil trade can be found in this article on the BBC's website.
We'd like to re-emphasise to our customers, that we have already taken steps to only source palm oil from a sustainable source (in Colombia) for use in our handmade soaps. We have also undertaken extensive product development, to successfully develop a luxury palm-free soap formulation which is the basis for our new range of contemporary soap slices. As the programme highlighted, it isn't always easy to care for the environment when the supply chain for botanical oils is so difficult to regulate. But we hope that in some small way, our efforts will highlight that companies can take steps to ensure they do not contribute to the demise of the wild orangutan.
If you have been troubled by what you have seen and would like to help BOS UK (Borneo Orangutan Survival), remember that we continue to sell our charity soap. Or you can visit the BOS website for information on how you can directly contribute towards their work to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned orangutans in Borneo.
Showing posts with label Borneo Orangutan Survival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Borneo Orangutan Survival. Show all posts
Monday, 22 February 2010
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Natural Soapworks New Years Resolutions
Happy New Year to all Natural Soapworks customers!
It's been lovely to hear back from so many people, regarding their Christmas orders - it sounds like your gift recipients loved our packaging and have had an enjoyable time trying out our skincare products too. Our thanks for the lovely feedback!
It's now that time of year, when we all make some resolutions. So as a responsible skin care business, we thought we'd share some of our resolutions for 2010 with our readers.
We resolve to:
We resolve to:
1. Continue to only make skincare products containing natural fragrances from essential oils and natural colours.
2. Continue to source only the finest ingredients for our skincare products, taking care in selecting responsible, eco-friendly suppliers who are opposed to any form of animal testing.
3. Continue to only use sustainable palm oil in our goat's milk soaps - so our soap production never contributes to the destruction of the orangutan's habitat in Borneo.
4. Introduce a new range of soaps in 2010, which will not contain any palm oil within their formulation. Watch this space!
5. Continue to publicise and support the work of Borneo Orangutan Survival UK, and their wonderful work to save and rehabiliate orphaned orangutans.
6. Continue to only use paper, glass and plastic product packaging which can be recycled. Our gift packaging will also be recyclable (or be manufactured from recycled materials).
7. Continue to re-cycle boxes and packaging materials and ensure that used printer toners etc are donated to charitable causes.
8. Maintain our stance of refusing to use cosmetic ingredients containing parabens, SLS detergents, pthalates, PEG's, petroleum derived ingredients (including mineral oil) and other nasty ingredients in our products.
9. Continue to be perfectionists - whether it be taking extra care when we manufacture our handmade skincare products, or packaging them with care so they reach our mail order customers in perfect condition. This also means that we'll value and continue to listen to customer feedback, so we keep on improving The Natural Soapworks and Natroma product ranges.
10. Continue to offer our customers great value for money by selling concentrated natural products which last and genuinely work in harmony with the skin. We'll also increase the selection of items available to mail order from The Natural Soapworks website.
We'll review these at the end of 2010 to see how we've done!
So to start things off this year, we've made a few changes to The Natural Soapworks website. Sadly part of this is due to changes in our prices, due to the increase in VAT and raw material costs etc. But this is our first price rise since 2008, and we've done everything we can to keep our products as affordable as possible. We'll also be updating the special offers page regularly so website customers can benefit from extra savings throughout 2010. So remember to visit: http://www.naturalsoapworks.co.uk/Special.aspx
To end on a positive, we've also reviewed our website postage charges for 2010 - these used to be on a sliding scale which was dependent on the value of the order. But from today we're pleased to announce a flat rate approach for The Natural Soapworks website. Orders under £50 will now cost just £2.95 on postage, and if you spend over £50 then postage will be FREE!
Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Orang 2 palm-free goat's milk soap
This is a quick note to mention that Orang 2, our new palm-free orangutan friendly soap, is now ready for sale!
A couple of weeks ago we told you about how the very first batch of Orang 2 soap had been donated to Borneo Orangutan Survival UK. We're very pleased to say that it seems to be selling well at the BOS UK events.
Our own batch of this brand new soap has completed it's curing period, so it has been added to the charity page of The Natural Soapworks website. So if you'd like to one of the first to try out this lovely sweet but citrussy natural goat's milk soap, please visit: http://www.naturalsoapworks.co.uk/CharitySkincare.aspx and £1 from the sale of each Orang 2 bar will be donated to BOS UK!
A couple of weeks ago we told you about how the very first batch of Orang 2 soap had been donated to Borneo Orangutan Survival UK. We're very pleased to say that it seems to be selling well at the BOS UK events.
Our own batch of this brand new soap has completed it's curing period, so it has been added to the charity page of The Natural Soapworks website. So if you'd like to one of the first to try out this lovely sweet but citrussy natural goat's milk soap, please visit: http://www.naturalsoapworks.co.uk/CharitySkincare.aspx and £1 from the sale of each Orang 2 bar will be donated to BOS UK!
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Our first palm-free soap is donated to BOS!
We're delighted to announce that we've finally cracked it! We've successfully re-formulated our luxurious goat's milk soap so it's now palm-free. You cannot imagine how excited we are about this, since it's taken over 12 months of testing to finally achieve the perfect formulation.
'Orang 2' is a lovely sweet but citrussy bar, containing a blend of citrus and ho leaf essential oils. Ho leaf has lovely floral but woody notes, but is the ecological substitute for rosewood. 'Orang 2' also features a pretty swirled pattern of natural clay, and as usual each bar is decorated with our hairy string and a BOS label. Every penny raised from the sale of this first batch will go to BOS UK, so Grainne and the team will be selling these bars at forthcoming BOS UK events. We'd just ask that anyone who gets the chance to buy one of these bars - please give generously, so as much money as possible can be raised for this wonderful charity.
As you know, we're perfectionists when it comes to soap so we had a pretty long list of demands from this new soap...and we love the result! It's still a hard bar, still has a luxurious creamy lather, still looks beautiful, still smells gorgeous, and it's still packed with natural ingredients and goat's milk so it still feels like our soap!! (draws breath) BUT most importantly it lacks palm oil in it's formulation! Can you tell that we're over the moon with this soap?
It seemed only right that Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) UK should receive the first palm-free batch, since they have been our inspiration for removing palm oil from our soaps. Therefore we've donated the first 50 bars to BOS UK, and created a brand new ‘Orang 2’ palm-free goat’s milk soap to celebrate this important landmark for The Natural Soapworks. Just look at that lovely pile of soap.....
'Orang 2' is a lovely sweet but citrussy bar, containing a blend of citrus and ho leaf essential oils. Ho leaf has lovely floral but woody notes, but is the ecological substitute for rosewood. 'Orang 2' also features a pretty swirled pattern of natural clay, and as usual each bar is decorated with our hairy string and a BOS label. Every penny raised from the sale of this first batch will go to BOS UK, so Grainne and the team will be selling these bars at forthcoming BOS UK events. We'd just ask that anyone who gets the chance to buy one of these bars - please give generously, so as much money as possible can be raised for this wonderful charity.
Our own batch of 'Orang 2' is still maturing, and will be available in the studio and on our websites in a couple of weeks. As before, we guarantee that £1 from the sale of each bar will be sent to BOS UK in support of Lone, and everyone in the Nyaru Menteng team. For a while we'll still be using up the last of our supplies of organic sustainable palm oil, but then soap production will be switched over to this very 'orangutan friendly' new formulation. Our BOS soap page is: http://www.naturalsoapworks.co.uk/CharitySkincare.aspx
Friday, 24 April 2009
BOS Update - The Final Stage of Rehabilitation
Today we heard from BOS UK, giving us an update on the orangutans who are living on the Islands. We thought you'd like to hear how they are getting on:
Four orangutans from Nyaru Menteng - Borneo Orangutan Survival’s rescue and rehabilitation centre - have just started the final phase of their rehabilitation - relocation to a nearby island, Hampapak Matei. They’re only one step away now from release back into the wild, but it’ll be another 18 months to 2 years before they’re able to enjoy complete freedom. Life on Hampapak Matei will, however, be quite an experience for these for orangutans. They’ll be living in a state of near-freedom, in their natural habitat, with the ability to explore their new terrain at will, forage for food if they wish, and generally learn to acclimatise to life outside the confines of Nyaru Menteng and Forest School, where they’ve led a sheltered existence for something approaching 8 years.
Bobo, Marwan, Tim and Dani were victims of the illegal pet trade on Java, where they had been kept as pets in an urban environment. They were confiscated by government authorities between 7 and 8 years ago, and sent to Nyaru Menteng to be cared for and nurtured by Lone Droscher-Neilsen and her staff. There they were given the chance to learn how to be wild again, climbing trees and playing with the other orangutans in Forest School. One can only imagine what joy they must have felt at being able to move freely again, and to breathe the clean forest air. During their years at Nyaru Menteng, Bobo, Marwan, Tim and Dani developed all the skills which they’ll need to survive in the rainforest - learning how to build a nest, which fruits and leaves are edible, how to collect insects and how to avoid danger.
Progressing from one class to the next, they became more and more independent of their human charges, and developed the social skills necessary to interact with other orangutans. Now, on Hampapak Matei, the four orangutans will have an opportunity to put into practice what they’ve learned at Nyaru Menteng. They’ll be out in the forest night and day, and meet the other orangutans who are sharing the 20 ha island with them. They’ll have as little contact with humans as possible, although food will be provided daily, and they’ll be monitored to make sure that they come to no harm and that they’re adjusting to their new lifestyle.
Hampapak Matei is one of five orangutan islands belonging to Nyaru Menteng which, in total, cover an area of 245 ha. There are 87 orangutans living on these islands, in preparation for their final release. Nyaru Menteng is presently working on acquiring other islands to be able to accommodate not only those orangutans who are ready for pre-release, but those who can’t be released into the wild, due to either disease or disability.
If you would like to help, please visit BOS UK: http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/
or make a donation:
BOS continually needs to find funding to cover the costs of leasing these islands, as well as surveying future sites for the safe release of the wild rescued orangutans.
Four orangutans from Nyaru Menteng - Borneo Orangutan Survival’s rescue and rehabilitation centre - have just started the final phase of their rehabilitation - relocation to a nearby island, Hampapak Matei. They’re only one step away now from release back into the wild, but it’ll be another 18 months to 2 years before they’re able to enjoy complete freedom. Life on Hampapak Matei will, however, be quite an experience for these for orangutans. They’ll be living in a state of near-freedom, in their natural habitat, with the ability to explore their new terrain at will, forage for food if they wish, and generally learn to acclimatise to life outside the confines of Nyaru Menteng and Forest School, where they’ve led a sheltered existence for something approaching 8 years.
Bobo, Marwan, Tim and Dani were victims of the illegal pet trade on Java, where they had been kept as pets in an urban environment. They were confiscated by government authorities between 7 and 8 years ago, and sent to Nyaru Menteng to be cared for and nurtured by Lone Droscher-Neilsen and her staff. There they were given the chance to learn how to be wild again, climbing trees and playing with the other orangutans in Forest School. One can only imagine what joy they must have felt at being able to move freely again, and to breathe the clean forest air. During their years at Nyaru Menteng, Bobo, Marwan, Tim and Dani developed all the skills which they’ll need to survive in the rainforest - learning how to build a nest, which fruits and leaves are edible, how to collect insects and how to avoid danger.
Progressing from one class to the next, they became more and more independent of their human charges, and developed the social skills necessary to interact with other orangutans. Now, on Hampapak Matei, the four orangutans will have an opportunity to put into practice what they’ve learned at Nyaru Menteng. They’ll be out in the forest night and day, and meet the other orangutans who are sharing the 20 ha island with them. They’ll have as little contact with humans as possible, although food will be provided daily, and they’ll be monitored to make sure that they come to no harm and that they’re adjusting to their new lifestyle.
Hampapak Matei is one of five orangutan islands belonging to Nyaru Menteng which, in total, cover an area of 245 ha. There are 87 orangutans living on these islands, in preparation for their final release. Nyaru Menteng is presently working on acquiring other islands to be able to accommodate not only those orangutans who are ready for pre-release, but those who can’t be released into the wild, due to either disease or disability.
If you would like to help, please visit BOS UK: http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/
or make a donation:
BOS continually needs to find funding to cover the costs of leasing these islands, as well as surveying future sites for the safe release of the wild rescued orangutans.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
