The world's overreliance on palm oil for use in everything from beauty product ingredients to packaged baked goods and biofuel is having a devastating environmental impact.Fires set to clear carbon-rich forested areas to free up land for palm plantations cause both animal habitat loss and massive emissions of greenhouse gasses in Malaysia and Indonesia,which are responsible for around 85% of palm production globally.For beauty brands,palm oil represents a versatile and cost-effective source of foaming agents and more-indeed,palm oil derivatives are used in more than 70% of personal care items.Naturally,given the ecological toll,both manufacturers and consumers are asking themselves whether they should be replacing palm derivatives with alternative options.
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