We’re often singing the praises of Seventh Generation products here on the Greenzer blog and that’s because they seem to be authentic in their desire to produce sustainable goods that won’t harm our planet (an authenticity that is lacking in the greening of some cleaning products), and now there’s another reason to applaud their efforts. Seventh Generation has become the first North American company in its industry to purchase sustainable palm kernel oil certification credits. What does that mean? Palm oil (and its sister product, palm kernel oil) is one of the world’s most widely used vegetable oils–partially because of its usefulness in both food and non-food products–and can be found in more than 50% of the products you see on the shelves at your local grocery store. That high demand has resulted in deforestation to make room for palm oil crops, and as one of the key ingredients in Seventh Generation cleaners, palm kernel oil must be sustainable for Seventh Generation cleaners to be truly sustainable. The credits represent the higher price Seventh Generation is paying to palm oil producers for more environmentally-friendly palm oil.

While the credits themselves seem to be more for the sake of gathering attention to the issue (the only necessity is paying for better palm oil, not theoretical credits), Seventh Generation’s acknowledgment of the environmental risks of our rapid consumption of palm oil is crucial. With one fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation and palm oil one of the major causes of deforestation, palm oil is actually somewhat of a slippery eco-evil. Endangered species are also put at risk because of the demand for the golden oil. The credits Seventh Generation has purchased (or, in essence, the higher buying price they’ve committed to) will cover 100% of the palm oil they use in the products, but is only one step in the company’s plan to green their palm oil use.

The plan includes taking part in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, work with Greenpeace on stopping deforestation and research into environmentally-certified palm oil, for not only the Seventh Generation brand but all palm oil buyers.

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