What Soy Wax Candle Makers Aren't Telling You |
Posted: July 13, 2013 |
This is the beginning of a paraffin wax candle. Would you rather have this by-product burning in your house or a candle made from palm wax? Palm wax is an environmentally friendly product as it comes from a sustainable and renewable source and it burns cleanly. Palm is, perhaps, the world's most environmentally friendly commercial crop. The palm wax used in the Mia Bella candle comes from Malaysia whose government has put a moratorium on forest clearing for the establishment of oil palm plantations. Only areas already used for agriculture will be allowed to convert to palm oil production. The oil palm has been grown as a commercial crop in well managed and regulated estates in Malaysia since 1917. The palm produces fruits in bunches which are harvested and sent to palm oil mills to undergo sterilization, bunch stripping, oil extraction, oil clarification and purification. This crude palm oil then becomes the raw material for palm oil refineries where it is further processed by neutralization, bleaching and deodorization. Palm waxes are made from 100% Natural Palm Oil based raw materials. The various blends of palm waxes are formulated from the many fractions of palm oil and the many fractions of the palm oil based oleo-chemicals. Some fractions are soft and some are hard. The selections of the various fractions of palm oil and oleo-chemicals are made based on the many requirements of making Natural Candles. Cost of Genetically Modified Soy in the US: 95% of soy in the US is Roundup Ready soy. The U. S. is the leading producer of soy in the world. If you look at the total yield drag from using Roundup Ready soy, the loss is greater than U. S. soy exports to the EU or Mexico (and maybe even to both places combined). The soybean industry is causing more destruction to the environment than probably any other agricultural industry on the planet. New genetically modified soy was specifically developed to withstand toxins so farmers can spray more pesticides on them without diminishing yields. Talk about destroying the environment, the soybean industry has to rank near the top of the offender's list. Palm is, perhaps, the world's most environmentally friendly commercial crop. After oil palms reach maturity, they are commercially productive for at least a quarter of a century. That means that once the trees are planted, the soil remains essentially undisturbed for decades, unlike soy, where the ground is dug up and re-cultivated every year. The soil in a palm plantation remains essentially undisturbed. Native grasses and scrubs are allowed to repopulate the space between trees. The natural habitat returns, complete with wildlife. An oil palm plantation takes on the appearance of a rain forest filled with vegetation. Wild boar, monkeys, birds, and other wildlife are allowed to roam in and out of the plantations, just as they do in the wild. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are rarely, if ever, used. Since the ground is continually covered with trees and growth, the soil is not eroded, maintaining the integrity of the environment from the tiniest soil organisms to the largest land animals. So a palm plantation blends into the environment without causing untold disruption. Compare that with a soybean plantation where all trees and other vegetation are killed and removed. Only soybeans are allowed to grow. And what about wildlife? Animals would trample or eat the crops, so they are fenced out, shot, or poisoned. Unlike soy and most other crops that produce once a year, oil palms produce fruit year round, so they are always in season. This allows for a high yield of fruit on comparatively little acreage. For this reason, the oil palm produces more oil per acre than any other vegetable source. For example, in one year on one acre of land a farmer can produce 18 gallons of corn oil, or 35 gallons of cottonseed oil, or 48 gallons of soybean oil. However, on the same amount of land they can produce 635 gallons of palm oil! No, that is not a misprint. You read that correctly…635 gallons of palm oil compared to just 48 gallons of soybean oil. In terms of land use, you would need to plant 13 acres of soy or 35 acres of corn to produce an equal amount of oil from just one acre of palm. So, soybean cultivation requires 13 times more land to produce the same amount of oil. The Oil Palm is the world's most efficient oil-bearing crop in terms of land utilization, efficiency, and productivity. A single acre of land produces about 10 times more oil than other oil seeds. Globally, oil palm produces just as much oil as soy, yet utilizes only one-tenth the land area. So, what does all this have to do with the Mia Bella candle? In addition to the benefits of using palm wax for the reasons noted above, there is an equally important reason for using palm wax in the production of the Mia Bella...scent throw. Research indicates that as a soy wax candle burns, the fragrance oil rises to the top. Hence, once a soy wax candle has burned 1/2 to 3/4 of its contents, the scent throw (or smell) begins to diminish. Therefore, the remainder of the candle provides very little scent resulting in the loss of its value as a fragrance product. The Mia Bella palm wax candle, on the other hand, retains its fragrance oil throughout the entire candle during the burning process resulting in only a small amount of wax remaining at the bottom once the wick has burned completely down. This remaining wax can be easily removed from the jar and used in other fragrance products such as a simmer pot. Unlike paraffin wax which is very difficult to remove in the event of a spill, palm wax cleans up with warm soapy water. Many candle users are certainly familiar with the black soot found on many jar candles as a result of the burning process. Scientifically, the burning process produces this soot which also may be found on curtains, walls and other items which are near the area of the candle. While no candle which involves the use of a flamed wick is 100% soot free, the Mia Bella burns so cleanly that it is virtually soot free. A clean, even burn (due to its double cotton wicks), unmatched scent throw, and very little waste has earned the Mia Bella palm wax candle the title of "the best performing candle on the planet." If you would like to try the Mia Bella, fill out the form at FREE Candle and Car Air Freshener Drawing.
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