Lipstick. Shampoo. Chocolate. Laundry detergent. Pizza dough. Soap. Daily vitamins. Peanut butter. Chap stick. Ice cream. Soda. Tooth paste. This seems like a nonsensical list of random items someone may find in their home. But each of these items actually have something in common, one ingredient that each of them contain. Every single one of them, and thousands of other products, are made using palm oil. An ingredient most people have never heard of, and yet use multiple times every single day.
So, what exactly is palm oil?Just as it sounds, palm oil is vegetable oil derived from the flowers of various palms, specifically the West African oil palm. Basically it is one of the most common vegetable oils used in everyday products. And it is used in just about everything. So, what's the big deal? It's vegetable oil, why should anyone care? Everyone should care, because palm oil could cause a lot of people to lose their favorite animal.
Orangutans, Sumatran tigers, pygmy elephants, Sumatran rhinos, clouded leopards, and sun bears are a small sample of the thousands of animals at risk due to the farming of palm oil. These are the ones most thought of because they are whats called "charismatic megafauna," basically meaning they are widely recognized by most people. But there are so many more species of mammals, birds, and insects that are threatened by the farming of palm oil. This is because their habitat in Sumatra is being constantly cut down in order to plant the oil palms.
The forests of Sumatra are clear cut in order to grow the oil palms, as well as clearing other land for buildings and roads around the farm. These farms can be grown right up against the border of the forest, which can cause the wildlife to accidentally wander onto the farms. If an elephant or rhino gets onto the farm, it can risk destroying the palms. If a predator enters the property of the farm, it becomes a safety risk for the workers. Because of this, the farmers will often injure or kill the animals in order to protect the farm itself. So not only are the animals at risk from losing their habitat, but they are also killed for entering the farm itself.
So, now that everyone is good and sad about the situation, it's time to give some good news. There is an organization called the RSPO, or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, that has set very specific guidelines in order for the palm oil produced to be considered sustainable. Some of these guidelines include not growing in areas that are biologically diverse, or that have endangered species living in them. Forests are also not permitted to be clear cut or burned down in order to produce the palm oil. There are numerous companies who have made the pledge to switch to only using sustainable palm oil, many of which are major companies like Unilever and Nestlé. Below is a website that lists many companies and to what extent they have begun using sustainable oil.
http://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/palm-oil-scorecard-2015#.WBQOP_krLIU
By making the simple switch to using products made by the brands who have committed to using sustainable palm oil, you can help protect the animals threatened by this industry. A small fact to keep in mind is that, in the year 2012, it was predicted that orangutans would be extinct by the year 2020. Thanks to the work of the RSPO and brands who have committed to using sustainable palm oil, that year has been pushed back. Hopefully, with more and more people switching to sustainable brands, that year can be pushed back indefinitely.
