So today at the farmer's market a woman asked if I used palm oil in all my soap. I stated yes. She then said that palm oil is not good for the enviornment. That in itself is true and untrue. Palm oil plantations in themselves do not harm the enviornment, but the people who harvest the palm oil do. They rape the land, kill orangatanges etc. Deforestation is a big problem and contributes to global warming.That being said, there are companies dedicated to the use of "sustainable" palm oil. The ethical debate is if all the companies stop using palm oil, many people who depend on that industry will be out of work with no other means to feed their families. Then what for them?What is a small soap maker to do?I purchase my palm oil from New Directions Aromatics It is my understanding that New Directions uses Palm oil that is a member of the round table on Sustainable Palm oil. They list this on their web site "In keeping with our desire to promote ethical and sustainable harvests, our palm oil is produced by a company that is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. "As soul scentsibility is commited to the enviornment and would be deeply disturbed to know that our actions have caused any adverse effects on the enviornment. We are looking into vegetarian substitues for many of our formulations