# Palm oil



## peregrine (Dec 9, 2008)

I wanted to bring up something I believe is terribly important and I hope you will too. Some of you may already know about this problem, I understand however that many people have no idea of the horror that is being perpetrated against on of God's most gentle and magnificent creatures. I believe that you all will want to know the truth of the tragedy, because you are all animal lovers and care for the land. Orangutans, who are the gentlest of the great apes, are having their forest habitat cut down at such an alarming rate, they have no where to go. The trees they sit in are chopped down right out from under them, and then they are shot, hacked to death, burned alive and/or buried alive. Their children are sold into the pet and entertainment industry, the lucky ones end up in sanctuaries. They have no where to go, because their forest is being cleared to make way for palm oil monoculture to supply us with oil for our processed foods. This has to be one of the cruelest, greediest, most deplorable situations I have ever heard of (and I have heard of a lot as a wildlife biologist).

Because you are soapers and likely buy palm oil for your soaps, I am hoping that you will consider buying only palm oil that will help to promote and support growers of sustainable, orangutan friendly oil. For my first purchase of palm oil for my first batch of soap, I was able to buy this sustainable organic orang-friendly oil from Columbus Foods/Soaper's Choice. Of course there is also the problem of palm oil being in something like 20% of processed grocery store items, so please consider making orang-friendly food choices as well.

Remember when the dolphin's were being rounded up in nets and killed as by-catch in tuna-netting? Remember how we all got so upset about that, and we all boycotted tuna until it was certified and labelled "dolphin-safe?" This needs to be where we are going with this. This is our children's world, we have no right to be doing this to the world's creatures in the name of soap and cookies and margarine.

:help :help :help :help :help :help :help :help :help :help :help :help :help :help :help :help :help

If companies cannot, or will not, prove that their palm oil is from non-destructive sources, they must be considered to be contributing to the extinction of the orangutan. Consumers are entitled to know if their weekly shop is adding to the extermination of orangutans and other wildlife in Indonesia and Malaysia. By demanding a commitment from manufacturers to purchase their palm oil only from non-destructive sources, we can all contribute to the survival of this great ape - as well as many other species.

Never forget. One person can make a difference when others join in to create a force of unstoppable change.

"Let us remember, always, that we are the consumers. By exercising free choice, by choosing what to buy, what not to buy, we have the power, collectively to change the ethics of the business of industry. We have the potential to exert immense power for good-we each carry it with us, in our purses, cheque books, and credit cards." 
Jane Goodall, "A Reason for Hope"

Visit www.sustainable-palmoil.org and www.born-to-be-wild.org for more info.

To view a more complex and informative article about this problem and what you can do to affect change, you can download this pdf: www.born-to-be-wild.org/A3_Palm_Oil_Report.pdf

THANK YOU!!!! :faint

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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

I purchase from Columbus too and tell my customers that it is from a sustainable source though I have never had anyone come out and ask.


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## peregrine (Dec 9, 2008)

I forgot to give credit to the website: www.born-to-be-wild.org for the quotes at the last half of my post (after all the help smileys). 
And to mention that the Soapers Choice organic palm oil is just a few cents more than the other. This can also make your soap more marketable, you can promote it as organic/sustainable and "orangutan-friendly" which would be a blessing to educate the public on the problem if you so wish.

Thank you again,
Alisa


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

But be sure to research the sustainable orgs. Some are not so pretty as they seem. Remember too that non-profit means no profit taken after every one gets a huge salary and pays their jet payments.
The public needs to be re-educated to modify the consumer mentality then there would be no market for excess tons of products that end up wasted any way so we would not be killing the planet to overproduce.


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## peregrine (Dec 9, 2008)

I am chair of a small non-profit that strives to protect a roost of birds from vehicular impact thru public education. We are raising awareness so the problem does not continue; most people were not aware of it and the numbers of bird deaths has dropped by 80-90% because of our work in public education. Nobody is making any money on this, this is not Blue Cross Blue Shield, and I maintain that most non-profits working in wildlife conservation are in it to help not make huge money. In fact I know I am out of pocket a lot of my own money because this issue has been so concerning to me. I know many people in these wildlife conservation non-profits because I have been in this field all my life, as has my husband and many of my friends. We care about what has been happening to hurt wildlife and habitats and are moved to help through that care and concern. There is not a lot of room for cynicism when it comes to seeing and knowing what is happening and realizing what comes at the end is the extinction of a species because we couldn't stand up and say no to our greed or chosen ignorance. Many people just choose not to look at these issues because they do not want to stand up and do anything, it's easier to just keep going along in the status quo. Complacency is what is killing our planet and it's wildlife and habitats. Educating the public on consumption to excess is a much more abstract issue and less likely to get results in a world of supersized everything and an economy based on shipping boatloads of cheap crap from China. That's not going to happen anytime soon if we try and start by educating to the end -result. The symptoms must be addressed and treated--and a major symptom and tragic horror occurring now is the extinction of species. We have so far lost a species of monkey, a couple years ago the Chinese River Dolphin went extinct, and we are 10 years from losing the Orangutan. WHo are we to sit around and argue academic questions and make excuses? We should all investigate our consumer choices at an individual level and make certain they are sustainable and responsible. If we purchase palm oil from companies that are hacking, setting aflame and burying alive orangutans, it is as if we are doing it ourselves. I don't want that blood on my hands and I can't imagine that anyone would. This is not my world, I am borrowing it from my children, I better make sure I do everything in my power to make sure I pass a legacy on to them that is one of responsibility, truth and justice, not greed, power, destruction and loss.


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

Good to learn that there is an issue that could need more investigation for some of us... I just started reading some of the soap posts as previously I could not imagine using yummy, limited supply, milk for SOAP. I still don't have "extra" milk that's going to go to waste, but my fridge is full, and unless Pav comes over and raids my fridge for cheese making, I'm likely to just stick it in the freezer in the interest of time right now. 

My experiments last year with freezing milk for eating, didn't turn out well, but did I read that its still ok for soaping? 

And my hyper-local Farmer's Market that just asked me for this year to bring my goats "every week" LOL, has "locally made soap" specifically on their wish list... so I started looking into it and reading some soap posts. Customers around here would be so on to an issue like this... If I do start soaping, I'll have to know where the oils come from, use recycled paper labels, blah blah blah... its just that kind of area. So, good to know there's an issue around this too.


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## peregrine (Dec 9, 2008)

I meant to say that I can recollect personally the loss of the monkey and the dolphin, which happened recently within the past few years and it has been so sad and upsetting for me. There are many many more examples. My husband just met with Jane Goodall who has a non-profit called Jane Goodall Institute. Perhaps this is the type of non-profit you are speaking about? One in which really there is a major force for change, helping people help wildlife, people and the planet, growing sanctuaries for orphaned chimps, stopping the bushmeat trade through interception and concern for the not only the hunted but also the economic status of the hunter, Jane tirelessly speaking at educational events, writing books and making television appearances to raise awareness, meeting with politicians to regulate use of chimps in biomedical research and entertainment, and on and on. SHe is a huge operation, probably one of the biggest with a major staff, but I guarantee you just because everything is glossy doesn't mean that they are all living high on the hog. People who work in these more successful non-profits have to eat to, they are businesses, just non-profit business, they have to support thier staff as any other business so the workforce stays to get the job done. So, no, I would bet my life there are any wildlife non-profits that have staff jet-setting off to Maui for golf retreats and strip clubs and excess consumption. There has to be some way of keeping perspective, and imo, thats seeing the photographs and seeing the devastating footage. If you see a hacked up orangutan and read the words of the field worker describing how and why they hacked up the animal after it was knocked out of the only tree left standing in what was left of its forest home, the only possible choice is to get the heck out of that equation and to set things right.


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## peregrine (Dec 9, 2008)

I posted this second post after your post Lacia, thank you. I do think that most people these days are very much supportive of this "green revolution" and I do realize that many big-business companies are trying to make a buck on it and that you do have to be careful. People buying natural soaps from goat milkers are likely a crowd that would be very interested to support an orang-friendly company. And I do think it could also sell-well, and i see no problem with that, I hope that oragnic sustainability will seel likel hotcakes, and showing consumers that as a manufactuer you make good responsible choices, can only help you sell more soap in todays world, I believe. People dont like what is happening out there, and will change eventually, I just hope it's not too late for some species before they do...


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Sustainable consumption is the answer no matter how long it takes to teach it.

If you don't live where bananas are grown how you can ethically have a banana available every day of your life while hundreds of thousands go to waste because you might want one but did not think of it that day?
Mindset will have to change. Most people think they deserve whatever they want just because they exist. 
You have to get people thinking in less than selfish terms as a total outlook. Not just - oh no they killed a monkey. Dramatic yes but changing life habits- avoiding one product does not do that.
It's about everything in your home. Blood on our hands for every thing we so easily access. 

Congratulations on your success and thank you for your contribution. 
Not such a happy ending for the Brazilian rainforest activist killed yesterday for taking a stand.

And yes there are orgs out there taking advantage- don't kid yourself. 
My point was know who you support. We have friends that got burned trying to contribute to coffee and textile villages in Mexico.
It's not always what it seems. There are lots of good resources to check out orgs you would like to support. I was suggesting to become knowledgeable in particular before contributing.


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