[kpwagner]

I make and sell handmade soap with palm oil, among other oils. Unfortunately, palm is a special oil, and palmitic acid is an important part of the oil comp to produce a good bar. The only substitute is lard. While I don't mind using soap made from lard, it has a stigma in the marketplace (i.e. non-vegan, gross).

[roadbeats]

You can make handmade soaps with olive oil, too. So you don't have to cut any trees. Olive trees are good for environment, too.

[plop_]

You can make soap with lot of different oils. But different oils make different soaps. for instance a soap made exclusively with sunflower oil will be very soft and not bubbly, a soap made from coconut oil will be the exact contrary.

[kpwagner]

Yes, exactly. Handmade soaps are rarely made from a single oil. I use a blend of palm, coconut, avocado, and castor. What oils you use and what percentage each oil represents in the composition, determines the base properties of the soap. I experimented with many compositions to get to my current recipe that I really like.

[ricardobeat]

Hope you’re not offended, but it sounds like you simply don’t care enough about this to make a change. There is a definitely a way to source from sustainable producers and/or change the recipe, but it will come at a cost. This is true in many businesses.

[tomp]

I think the unsustainable part is increasing consumerism. From this thread I gathered that palm oil is more edficient than e.g. coconut oil. So if people drop palm oil and switch to coconut oil, the sustainability problem will get worse.

[kpwagner]

For soapmaking the efficiency difference between palm oil and coconut oil is practically the same. If you are talking about oil production efficiency, I don't know.

[kpwagner]

Not offended. It's true. I don't care enough to make a change. This is partly because I use such a small amount of palm oil--maybe 200lbs annually--so my impact is minimal. Deforestation from palm oil production has been in the back of my mind for years. So far, my customers don't care as far as I can observe. I'm glad to see a big company taking a stand and informing consumers in the process. It's making me think about changing. Removing palm oil is not an option in my mind, but I might pay up for sustainable palm oil.

[WhompingWindows]

Is there any supply of non-deforested palm oil that you can tap into and charge your stigmatic customers extra?

[kpwagner]

You can get "sustainably produced" palm oil. https://www.soaperschoice.com/palm-oil

The cost is higher. I don't use the sustainably produced oil now. When all is said and done, it might increase my unit cost by ~15%--which is manageable really since unit margins are decent. The reason I don't use it is about 1 part Scrooge McDuck and 3 parts skepticism/cynicism. Without a relationship with the actual producers, I don't know what "sustainably produced" actually means.

[logfromblammo]

You paid a designer to come up with a fancy logo that makes you feel good when you see it.

[afandian]

Hope you don't take this the wrong way but... but you don't _have_ to sell handmade soap, or eat cookies or whatever. It's your choice to do it.

[oh_sigh]

Sure. You could also just pay a little more for raw ingredients and buy sustainably sourced, eco-friendly palm oil, which does exist.

[odiroot]

Isn't lard actually a much better fat for soap?

I remember my grandma telling me of her home-made soap production using pig fat and lye.

[kpwagner]

They are comparable in my experience. When selecting oils for soap, the type of acid is the major factor. I am only aware of two palmitic acids in oil form: palm and lard.