AVOID UNSUSTAINABLE PALM OIL

step #3

“Our personal consumer choices have ecological, social and spiritual consequences. It is time to reexamine some of our deeply held notions that underlie our lifestyles.”

DAVID SUZUKI
CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL
ACTIVIST

Time for a biggy: palm oil. You may not even know what palm oil is, let alone how it might be affecting tropical rainforests. As the world’s most-traded plant oil, cultivation of palm oil is a major force to be reckoned with and the situation is not easily solved. However, the good news is that your consumer choices have a major impact on how this oil is produced.

THE SCOOP

Palm oil cultivation is a serious threat to the world’s tropical rainforests, particularly in Southeast Asia. Also known as palm fruit oil, palm kernel oil and palmitate, palm oil is used in 50 percent of all consumer goods including food products such as baked goods and snack foods, cleaning products, beauty products, and biofuels, according to the Rainforest Action Network (RAN). Although most people have never even heard of it, palm oil has become the top agricultural commodity in many Southeast Asian economies, with Indonesia and Malaysia being the largest producers.

Palm oil plantations are replacing huge tracts of forested areas and peat swamps at an alarming rate. So much forest and peat swamp have been lost to palm oil cultivation that Indonesia was shockingly found to be the third-greatest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, after the United States and China, in a 2007 report sponsored by the World Bank and the British government. RAN reports that palm-oil plantations are expanding at a rate of 2.5 million acres per year into the tropical forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, particularly with the rise of biofuels in recent years. Analysis of remote-sensing data suggests that more than half the expansion since 1990 has occurred at the expense of natural forests, reports Mongabay.com. Additionally, local populations and indigenous tribes have been adversely affected, often being forced off their land as a result of palm-oil expansion, according to RAN reports. These poor communities depend on even the most degraded forest for food, water and wood. The rainforest is home to millions of plant and animal species, including highly endangered orangutans, clouded leopards, Sumatran tigers and sun bears—to name a few. All are now threatened.

American agribusiness giants Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Bunge and Cargill, all with huge investments in palm oil, are making efforts to clean up their supply chains, attempting to buy from suppliers who are either certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) or in the process of becoming certified. Large corporations that have been called out for use of palm oil, such as Unilever and Nestlé, have also made commitments to move to sustainable palm oil. However, the RSPO-certified palm oil is still extremely limited— just over 145 mills have been certified. And conservation groups believe the criteria for certification is not strict enough. Reports from Greenpeace have shown that some suppliers continue to be some of the worst offenders, clear-cutting primary rainforest and destroying peat swamps.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

As a consumer, you can use your buying power and your voice to create a grassroots momentum of change. Choosing products wisely and voicing your concerns to manufacturers and suppliers to let them know consumers care about how they source their palm oil are at the very crux of this step.

Check the Labels

To start, expand your awareness of the products you use every day that may have palm oil as an ingredient. Begin today. Read the labels of your favorite cleaning products, personal-care products, snack foods and baked goods. If you identify palm oil, e-mail the manufacturers and inquire about the source. Tell them you are concerned about rainforests. If they cannot ensure the palm oil they use is sustainably sourced, let them know you’ll be using a different brand until they can. This creates consumer pressure and instigates change.

Make Better Choices

Once you figure out if a product contains palm oil and how it is sourced, make the best choice possible for the rainforest.

Food Items

For example, Oreo cookies contain palm oil. So we contacted Nabisco, now owned by Kraft Foods. We were told that nearly 50 percent of Kraft Foods’ palm oil comes from RSPO-certified farms and that they are aiming for 100 percent RSPO-certified palm oil by 2015. This is commendable for a large corporation, and a step in a better direction. We then contacted Newman’s Own Organics, makers of Newman-O’s, a comparable cookie made with all-natural ingredients, including organic palm oil. Newman’s gave us detailed information about its sourcing. Purchased from a co-op in Colombia, Newman’s palm oil is 100 percent sustainably sourced. So, for now, we’re choosing Newman-O’s. In fact, going with organic palm oil is a good bet. Organic growers are often committed to minimizing impact on the environment.

Cleaning Products

Cleaning products are not required to list their ingredients—and unless they are doing things right, they probably won’t. You most likely will need to contact the manufacturers to inquire whether or not palm oil is used and how it is sourced. Eco-friendly cleaning products are generally a better choice, but even with them, you must be careful. We recommend Earth Friendly Products. Earth Friendly Products lists ingredients and does not use any palm oil in its formulations at all. And as an extra bonus, its products do not contribute any toxic chemicals to the environment while performing at the level of the leading conventional brands.

Beauty-Care Products

Palm oil is a common ingredient in both cosmetics and personal-care products. Check the labels. If your favorite brand uses palm oil, contact the company and inquire about sourcing. Consider giving your business to other manufacturers that are making great products without harm to the environment. LUSH Cosmetics has made a commitment to completely phase out palm oil altogether. Aubrey Organics is another great brand that does not use palm oil and contains only natural, organic ingredients. The Body Shop says that it sources its palm oil from an organic producer in Colombia. Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, a California-based organic soap manufacturer, sources all of its palm oil from a small women’s co-op in Ghana. All are good choices.

Lay Off Biodiesel

Most consumers believe biodiesel fuel is eco-friendly and an altogether better choice for the environment. Not necessarily so. Palm oil has become a major component in biodiesel fuel. In Europe, where motorists use biodiesel to fuel their cars, palm oil imports have soared. And even here in the United States, where biodiesel is not common for motorists, in industry, palm oil demand has increased dramatically. The advent of biodiesel fuel has taken its toll on the world’s rainforests. If you are in a decision-making position, opt for another green solution—all electric or electric hybrids do not fuel palm oil demand.

Contact Agribusiness

You can also contact the agribusiness giants—in America they are ADM, Bunge and Cargill—and express your concerns about rainforest destruction. They are among the largest players in the world market for palm oil and other oil crops that threaten rainforests. They can demand that their suppliers clean up their acts. You can find predrafted emails on the RAN website (www.ran.org) or draft your own. (See Step #27: Use the Power of E-mail.)

RESOURCES

Rainforest Action Network
www.ran.org

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
www.rspo.org

Archer Daniels Midland
www.adm.com

Bunge
www.bunge.com Cargill
www.cargill.com

Kraft Foods Company
www.kraftfoodscompany.com

Newman’s Own Organics
www.newmansownorganics.com

Earth Friendly Products
www.ecos.com

Seventh Generation
www.seventhgeneration.com

LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics
www.lush.com

Aubrey Organics
www.aubrey-organics.com

The Body Shop
www.thebodyshop.com

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps
www.drbronner.com

Talk About It with Others

Share what you have just learned about palm oil and rainforest destruction with everyone you know. Most people are unaware of the extent palm oil production destroys rainforests. Bring it up at a dinner party, the office or with your family. Send out an e-mail.

As a consumer, you have power. A lot. Exercise that power for the rainforests!