Why We Don’t Boycott Palm Oil and How We’re Helping to Rebuild It Together
- Michael Douglas-Smith
- 5 hours ago
- 7 min read
Palm oil has become one of the most controversial ingredients in the world.
Search it online and you will find headlines about deforestation, endangered wildlife, and environmental destruction. For many consumers, the simplest solution feels obvious:
Boycott palm oil!
We have chosen a different path.
Not because we ignore the problem, but because we believe real change comes from rebuilding broken systems, not abandoning them.
The story of palm oil is more complex than headlines suggest. To understand why we stay at the table, we have to look deeper into agriculture, global supply chains, unintended consequences, and what meaningful regeneration actually requires.
In this blog, we explain why palm oil is so complex, why boycotts do not always create the impact we hope for, and what rebuilding the system can look like in practice.
Our Roots in the Land
Long before we formulated our first bar of soap, we were shaped by the land. We didn't learn sustainability from headlines. We learned it with dirt under our and our parents’ fingernails.
Kevin grew up in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, where living close to nature was not a lifestyle trend. It was survival. Seasons mattered. Soil mattered. Stewardship mattered.
Michael was raised by parents who built vegetable gardens wherever they lived. Even in the suburbs, growing your own food and caring for the earth was not optional. It was instinctive.
Those early experiences shaped our understanding that the land gives generously when it is treated well. The earth is not a resource to be used up. It is a relationship to be stewarded.
That upbringing guides how we formulate our soaps and how we source every ingredient. Sustainability for us is not marketing. It is memory, responsibility, and gratitude.
The Truth About Palm Oil
Palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil in the world. It appears in food, cosmetics, cleaning products, and biofuels. It is also the most land-efficient oil crop available, producing more oil per acre than soy, canola, coconut, sunflower, or rapeseed.
The issue is not the crop itself so labeling one “good” and another “bad” doesn’t help. The issue is in how they’re grown, harvested, and sourced.
Unfortunately, large-scale industrial expansion has contributed to deforestation and habitat loss in certain regions. Organizations like Greenpeace have played an important role in exposing these harms and pushing companies toward accountability.
That pressure led to certification systems such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which established guidelines for more responsible production. These steps matter, but they are only the beginning.
Does Boycotting Palm Oil Actually Help?
Boycotting feels decisive. It says, “I refuse to participate.” In some cases, targeted boycotts have driven meaningful change. In complex agricultural systems, however, the outcomes are not always so simple (Greenpeace, 2018; Jonas, 1984).
Palm oil is not a single company or product. It is a global agricultural system that supports millions of smallholder farmers across Indonesia, Malaysia, Colombia, Ghana, and beyond.
When brands abandon palm oil entirely, several unintended consequences can follow:
Replacement oils often require significantly more land per ton of oil, potentially increasing pressure on forests elsewhere.
Responsible smallholder farmers can lose access to stable markets and income.
Demand does not disappear — it often shifts into less transparent supply chains (Lambin, & Thorlakson, 2018).
Demand isn’t the only thing that shifts. Land use and production patterns shift as well. Alternatives such as tallow, soy, shea, cocoa, coconut, and mango butter carry their own environmental and social impacts, from land-use pressures and emissions to deforestation risks and labor concerns.
Like palm, these ingredients rely on farmland, global supply chains, and the people who work within them.
No agricultural ingredient is impact-free. Every crop requires land, water, and responsible stewardship.
When grown responsibly, palm oil has the unique potential to meet global demand using significantly less land than most other vegetable oil crops.
When industries cause harm, two ethical responses often emerge:
Withdrawal ethics:If something causes harm, I will not participate.
Regenerative ethics:If something causes harm, I will work to improve and transform it.
Withdrawal can feel safe. Transformation requires engagement.
Lasting environmental change happens when capital flows toward responsible producers, when farmers are rewarded for protecting forests, and when brands support better practices rather than abandoning entire communities.
Boycotts can raise awareness. Rebuilding supply chains creates lasting change.
Palm Oil in Soap
Palm oil can play a foundational role in creating not only a balanced bar of soap, but a beautiful and accessible handcrafted, artisan soap.
Rich in palmitic acid, it hardens the bar so it lasts longer and produces a dense, creamy lather that feels cushioning rather than stripping. When thoughtfully formulated, palm oil supports a gentle cleanse that respects the skin’s natural moisture barrier.
In the handmade soap community, palm oil is often boycotted in favor of tallow, shea, mango, cocoa, or babassu butter due to deforestation concerns; yet these alternatives require far more land to yield the same amount of soap, worsening the very environmental impact they hope to avoid.
So instead of stepping away, we asked a harder question: What if the solution is not exit, but transformation?
Regenerative Sourcing: A Different Model
Regenerative frameworks move beyond harm reduction toward ecosystem repair (Wahl, 2016; Kimmerer, 2013; Hawken, 1993). This way, sustainability becomes less about boycotting ingredients; and more about choosing partners and practices that protect both people and the planet.
We partner with Palm Done Right because their model goes beyond baseline sustainability standards. By sourcing palm oil through regenerative, traceable systems, we can harness its performance benefits while supporting responsible farming practices and protecting forests.
It is not about removing palm oil. It is about growing and using it responsibly.
Palm Done Right prioritizes:
No deforestation
Organic farming practices
Inclusion of smallholder farmers
Full traceability
Fair compensation
This approach focuses on improving soil health, protecting biodiversity, and strengthening rural economies without clearing forests. It aims to rebuild the system from within.
Regenerative Palm: Impact That Counts
The progress made through regenerative palm sourcing is measurable.
Recall that boycotting palm oil doesn’t eliminate demand for vegetable oil; it simply shifts production to crops that may require 10× more land or more, increasing pressure on forests.
By sourcing palm through Palm Done Right, our supply chain supports thousands of smallholder farmers, protects tropical forests, and creates real economic incentives for organic, regenerative agriculture.
Palm Done Right’s palm oil is grown using 100 percent organic methods that build soil health through compost and cover crops, supporting local ecosystems and biodiversity (Palm Done Right, 2024a).
Their supply chain is fully traceable, allowing verification that no forests were cleared and that environmental and social standards are upheld from farm to production (Palm Done Right, 2024b).
Transparency also supports fair compensation and long-term collaboration with independent farmers, strengthening rural economies and reinforcing stewardship of the land (Palm Done Right, 2024b).
These outcomes demonstrate that palm oil production can protect ecosystems, support communities, and meet global demand more responsibly when grown under regenerative principles.
Choosing products made with responsibly sourced palm oil does not mean ignoring environmental concerns. It means supporting regenerative agriculture, smallholder farmers, transparent supply chains, and long-term ecosystem protection.
It means participating in shaping a better future rather than stepping away from a complicated one.
Our Commitment
We do not see the earth as a resource to be consumed, but as a partner to be stewarded. That philosophy shapes every decision we make, from how we craft our soaps to how we source each ingredient.
We do not use palm oil because it is convenient. We use responsibly sourced palm oil because we believe systems can be improved through intentional partnership.
That means staying engaged. Asking hard questions. Supporting better practices with real dollars.
We do not boycott palm oil. We choose to align ourselves with those working to rebuild it.
This way, the question isn’t whether we use certain agricultural ingredients; it's whether we help improve the systems that produce them.
Every purchase is a vote for the kind of supply chain you want to see. When you choose products made with responsibly sourced palm oil, you support regenerative agriculture, forest protection, and smallholder farmers caring for their land.
If you believe change happens through action, not avoidance, we invite you to explore our collection and learn more about the partners behind our sourcing.
Together, we rebuild.
See our partnership and commitment with Palm Done Right on display with other companies here:
A Thank You
If you have read this far, thank you. Sustainability is rarely simple. It requires nuance, curiosity, and a willingness to look beyond headlines.
As a small thank you, enjoy 10% off your next order with code REBUILD10.
Real change does not happen in isolation. It happens when thoughtful people choose to participate.
Thank you for supporting regeneration. Thank you for supporting responsible sourcing. And thank you for helping us build something better.
Michael and Kevin Douglas-Smith
References & Additional Reading (another topic we've thought a LOT about).
Palm Done Right. (2024a). Palm Done Right’s five promises: Celebrate our mission. Retrieved from https://palmdoneright.com/palm-done-rights-5-promises-celebrate-our-mission/
Palm Done Right. (2024b). Fully-traceable: Palm Done Right’s transparent supply chains. Retrieved from https://palmdoneright.com/fully-traceable-palm-done-rights-transparent-supply-chains/
Greenpeace International. (2018). Moment of truth: Time for brands to come clean about their links to forest destruction for palm oil. Greenpeace.
Hawken, P. (1993). The ecology of commerce: A declaration of sustainability. HarperBusiness.
Jackson, T. (2009). Prosperity without growth: Economics for a finite planet. Earthscan.
Jonas, H. (1984). The imperative of responsibility: In search of an ethics for the technological age (H. Jonas, Trans.). University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1979)
Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Editions.
Lambin, E. F., & Thorlakson, T. (2018). Sustainability standards: Interactions between private actors, civil society, and governments. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 43, 369–393. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-102017-025931
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. (2023). Impact report 2023. RSPO.
Wahl, D. C. (2016). Designing regenerative cultures. Triarchy Press.
World Wildlife Fund. (2022). Palm oil buyers scorecard 2022. WWF.
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