Greenpeace, Dove, Palm Oil, and the Destruction of the Rainforest

Unilever, makers of Dove, has recently released a video aimed at promoting children’s self-esteem by illuminating how the beauty industry targets girl’s body images. The goal of the Dove Self Esteem Fund is to change “the current, narrow definition of beauty.”  As much as I agree with this goal, there is a downside. Unilever imports palm oil from Indonesia, where rainforests and tropical peatlands are destroyed. 

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According to It’s the Only One We Have:

• Indonesia is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, in large part due to the destruction of its forests at the hands of the palm oil industry.

• Unilever is buying palm oil from suppliers who destroy Indonesia’s rainforests. Unilever is the biggest user of palm oil in the world and chair of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), so it has huge clout in how palm oil is made.

Here is Greenpeace’s video response:

Certainly beauty, self-esteem, and environmental preservation can go hand in hand!

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