Lush Cosmetics has spent the past few years looking into the environmental and social problems with palm oil, and is gravely concerned with the impacts that oil palm plantations are having on communities, animals, ecosystems and the climate. The global demand for palm oil is causing a staggering amount of deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia, resulting in massive greenhouse gas emissions. Indigenous and traditional people are being forced from their forest homes, orangutans slaughtered, and the recently logged land is being planted with oil palm trees.

Faced with these massive problems, the best solution for Lush was to remove palm oil from their products. In partnership with a top UK soap-base manufacturer, Lush has developed the world’s first commercially available palm-free base, has switched all of its soap production to this new palm-free base, and is now working hard to remove palm oil from all of its products worldwide.

Today marked the launch of Lush’s North American campaign, and 85 stores around the country (about half of all Lush stores in the U.S) voluntarily set up their storefront windows with an interactive display to engage and educate consumers about the problems with palm oil. The display included a new soap in the shape of a tree with proceeds going to Rainforest Foundation, and a ‘wash your hands of palm’ window where customers added their green hand prints to make the canopy of a forest and then washed their hands with the new palm-free soap.

Dressed in orangutan costumes which lured many a curious passerby, we worked with the Lush staff to gather signatures for our Cargill petition and pass out educational leaflets that direct people to the RAN website where they can get involved in the Rainforest Agribusiness Campaign and write to Cargill – the biggest palm oil importer into the US and one of the largest producers in the world. Meanwhile, our fantastic organizer in Chicago recruited a group of activists to support their local Lush store – keep your eyes peeled for upcoming photos from Chicago. Check out the great photos from today’s activity here!

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The Whole Foods Market statement on palm oil:

Whole Foods Market is concerned with the social and environmental impacts of palm oil production in tropical rainforest ecosystems around the world. Whole Foods is committed to protecting rainforests, communities and our global climate, and therefore Whole Foods has partnered with the Institute for Marketecology (IMO), a highly regarded international certification agency whose social responsibility and fair trade certification program requires successful implementation of environmental, social responsibility, and sustainability practices on the land and within the company’s organization.

Whole Foods Market pledges to use IMO’s reliable certification program, along with independent supply chain verification, in the sourcing of palm oil in our private label products. Whole Foods Market pledges to support the development of more sources of sustainable, fairly traded palm oil, to ensure that palm oil in our private label brand products are not sourced from the conversion of rainforest ecosystems or from companies engaged in the conversion of natural forests and/or peatlands; respect the free, prior and informed consent of interested communities and meet or exceed RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) principles and criteria.

Whole Foods Market pledges that it will only use sources of palm oil independently verified and certified to these criteria in our private label brand products by 2012. Whole Foods Market calls on our peers in the food industry to join with us in this pledge.

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Whole Foods Market is ready to move forward as a company that wants to do the right thing by oil palm. It is committed to working with RAN in partnership toward creative solutions, and has agreed to investigate its supply chain, writing personal letters to each of its suppliers. With this statement, Whole Foods Market is joining the growing group of businesses sending a clear marketplace signal that they want to see these issues addressed and that companies do not want to be associated with the environmentally destructive and socially devastating practices associated with the expansion of oil palm plantations.

Here’s to taking a stand for the protection of rainforests and for the indigenous and forest-based communities impacted by palm oil expansion.