Mutilated orangutan corpses lay throughout the demolished and barren rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. Baby orangutans cling to the lifeless bodies of their mothers, crying out for help. They are now orphaned, helpless and have little to no chance of survival. This tragic scene is a common one and is a result of deforestation to obtain palm oil, a source of production that is used in almost every consumer product imaginable and is the leading reason that orangutans are an endangered species.

Over the past 12 years, the use of palm oil has dramatically increased because it is very versatile, easy to produce and inexpensive. Due to the increasing demand for palm oil, it has also equally increased that rate at which the orangutan species is going extinct.

Today, palm oil has been estimated to be in half of all packaged items found in supermarkets. Palm oil is used in an array of cosmetic and consumer products such as margarine, biscuits, bread, breakfast cereals, instant noodles, shampoos, lipsticks, candles, detergents, chocolates and ice cream. The list of products in which rely heavily on the unique properties of palm oil is extensive and often these products may not even be labeled as containing palm oil.

Why should people care about the crisis of unsustainable palm oil? Everything that humans do has an effect on someone or something, somewhere. In the case of unsustainable palm oil production, chances are that when people buy unethical and or inorganic products it is very likely that one is using and or consuming products that contain unsustainable palm oil.

While consumers may or may not be aware that they are using and or consuming unsustainable palm oil products, by doing so they are directly aiding to the demand for palm oil production by manufacturing companies. Consequently, this cycle is destroying the rainforest and pushing orangutans to the brink of extinction. The orangutan species needs now more than ever a voice to communicative what they cannot: help us save our fleeting species and habitat before it is too late.

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation of Indonesia is one foundation that is committed to protecting the rights of the orangutan species and their habitat by eliminating the production and use of unsustainable palm oil. The foundation rehabilitates orangutans and strives to protect the rights and lives of orangutans and their habitats. It is the largest orangutan foundation in the world with over 700 orangutans in its care.

The counteracting efforts of foundations like Borneo Orangutan Survival of Indonesia are diligent and aggressive. However, in some instances rescue for the orangutans can arrive late, and the aftermath of what has happened in these instances tugs at the heartstrings.

Usually, the habitats of orangutans have been cut down and mothers to infant orangutans have been killed. Ones in which survive become orphaned, helpless and traumatized and many may die within weeks of arrival at foundations like the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation with no will to live.

The predisposition to disregard concerns to aid in personal gain and industrial advancement has arguably been a tendency in the actions of humans. This tendency can be recognized with the crisis of orangutan endangerment a calamity that is almost entirely derived from the actions of humans due to the demolishment of the rainforest for inexpensive, unsustainable palm oil production.

Salvation for the orangutan species may soon be delivered as sustainable palm oil farms and production are becoming more available and adapted. Sustainable palm oil production offers a solution that is equally efficient for means of production, does not destroy the habitats of orangutans and or endanger the species. Many consumers have jumped on the sustainable palm oil bandwagon but various companies have been reluctant.

Although sustainable palm oil has become an option that creates a friendly and equally beneficial comprise for both the orangutan species and manufacturing companies, many companies have still not reformed. If renowned and beneficial solutions exist to save orangutans that will continue diligent production, then why have companies refused to adapt? Price is the single largest factor. Companies can be driven by personal gain at the expense of orangutans and the environment.

While some companies may not be adopting sustainable palm oil, this does not mean that help for the orangutans is hopeless and should be forgotten. Knowledge can be liberation and change lies in the hands of consumers who should enforce the demand for sustainable palm oil use, ethical labeling of products by becoming conscious and ethical consumers. Trust and diligence in this process can expectantly trigger action and change in producers.

Many manufacturing companies can get away with not labeling unsustainable palm oil products by tiptoeing around the truth. They can do so by labeling many unsustainable palm oil products as “vegetable oil”. While palm oil is a vegetable oil, labeling products as just “vegetable oil” is deceiving and is not entirely true. How can consumers avoid buying unsustainable palm oil products that are directly contributing to the endangerment of orangutans if products are not labeled accurately?

Consumers have the ability to personalize and customize their consumer habits. However, this freedom can unwillingly be taken away from the consumer by production and manufacturing companies who cleverly label products. If a consumer is trying to make a conscious effort to shop ethically, then there is a high possibility that he or she may be mislead from doing so by production and manufacturing companies that are labeling products dishonestly. Consequently, consumers will fail to make the conscious and ethical choices they want and are trying to make. This deceitful nature can be believed to be stripping consumers of their basic rights, such as shopping sustainably and ethically.

If companies cannot appeal to a customer base and therefore result to deceiving their customers through cunning labeling, then their product may not be worthy to be on the market.

By enforcing the labeling of products that contain either sustainable or unsustainable palm oil, ethical shopping has the potential to be brought to the forefront, which will allow for consumers to become educated and ethically for themselves and others, and will also demand and create change in the actions of producers.

If positive change is to occur for this crisis, then change will have to be shown in the actions of humans. Compassion and sympathy is a common characteristic of the human race and the crisis of orangutan extinction and unsustainable palm oil production are both calamities that would immensely benefit if the caring nature of humans were to be shown.