The Choice Is Ours: Palm Oil or The Jungles of S.E. Asia and Its Inhabitants

This picture was taken by Pilar Bueno in 2009 at a jungle research station at a secret location in Sabah, Borneo. This beautiful lady is called Jackie and was rescued with her three brothers as very young orphans from a local market. Her family had been killed by poachers as a direct result of the clearing of the surrounding jungle. Her parents and extended family would have been slaughtered and chopped up for meat and souvenirs and these infants would have been sold into the illegal pet trade.

The researchers brought these poor babies back to full health and eventually after a year released them into the surrounding jungle. Within weeks the three brothers had been killed by poachers. Jackie is now the very last of her kind in this small oasis of remaining jungle. Each night, she comes out of the forest to make her bed near the research centre (a very small building). I conclude that she is lonely and feels safe at night near her trusted human friends. It was a true honour to meet her and have her smile into my eyes.

The reason for the collapse of the jungles population of Orang-Utan can be firmly placed on the table of the Palm Oil industry. Our journey to this remote area was one of the most heartbreaking journeys in all our travels, it literally made us cry. Hour after hour the views from our transport was of a monoculture of Palm Oil plantation, spreading for thousands of square miles from horizon to horizon. Where just 10 years ago stood majestic, old stand jungle, is now an ecological disaster.

Unless this government and corporate exploitation are stopped, we will lose this irreplaceable habitat. Borneo's jungles and all its biodiversity have, at the current rate of destruction, maybe 10 years left. Once it has gone, it's gone. 

It is the very definition of double standard hypocrisy. The little people (that's us) are consistently warned and scared about the problems of man-made global warming and yet the very organisations that tax us in every way possible endorse or at least turn a blind eye to the whole destruction of the oxygen producing lungs of the world. Jungles absorb huge amounts of CO2 and produce clean air that all life requires. 

PALM OIL

Unless you've been hiding under a rock we've all heard of Palm Oil. Rock dwellers listen up!

Palm oil, or often labelled ‘Vegetable Oil’ (sneaky huh), ‘Glycerin’ or ‘Elaeis guineensis oil’ (as labelled in cosmetics) has helped destroy over 50-65,000 Orang-Utans and over 80% of their irreplaceable jungle rain forest in the last 20 years.

OTHER LABELS USED TO HIDE PALM OIL

Cetyl Palmitate and Octyl Palmitate
Elaeis Guineensis (Taxonomic name for palm oil)
Hexadecylic or Palmitic Acid
Hydrated Palm Glycerides
Palm Oil Kernal
Palmate
Palmitate
Anything with Palmitate at the end

LIKELY TO BE PALM OIL:
Cetearyl Alcohol

Emulsifier 422, 430-36, 470-8, 481-483, 493-5

Glyceryl Stearate
Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS or NaDS)
Sodium Isostearoyl Lactylaye
Sodium Laureth Sulphate
Sodium Lauryl Sulphates
Steareth – 2 & Steareth – 20
Stearic Acid Vegetable Oil

This industry literally has blood on its hands. It violates all kinds of human rights issues, including child slavery. It is a major contributor to climate change and environmental toxicity, something the International Community hardly ever talks about. 

Global sales from palm oil exports totalled US$33.3 billion in 2017. Year over year, international palm oil sales gained 19% from 2016 to 2017.

All of us as consumers have the power to change this before it's too late. Remember 'we can only be conscious of things we pay attention to'

We have the power if we each chose to use it. 

Show Support - Save The Orang-Utan

Your purchasing power applies huge pressure and can facilitate major changes in corporate practices.

Below is a starter list of products that use and don't use Palm Oil in their production. If you want to be part of the solution you can start by boycotting the products listed.

As a side note and an issue for a future blog entry, Palm Oil also negatively affects your health, especially when heated.

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COMPANIES and PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN PALM OIL: 

(This is a small guide list, please read your labels)

McDONALDS, CADBURY, WEIGHTWATCHERS, PIZZA HUT, STARBUCKS, FISH and CHIPS, DONUT KING, DOMINOS, TACO BELL, HEINZ, KRAFT, BIONA, PACIFIC WEST

DRINKS: Pepsi, Coca-Cola, 7UP, Mountain Dew

SPREADS: Flora, Clover, Pro Activ

CRISPS: Kettle Chips, Doritos, Pringles

BREAD & CEREAL: Mighty Soft, Cheerios, Warburtons, Hovis, Kingsmill

SWEETS: Nestle, Haribo, Starburst, Milky way, Favourites, Picnic, Time Out, Cadbury, Quality

Street, Reeces, Lindt, Oreo, Belvita, Ritz, Galaxy, Kit Kat

ICE CREAM: Blue Ribbon, So Good

VITAMINS: Centrum

TOILETRIES: Rimmel, Revlon, Estee Lauder, Avon, Bobbi Brown, Clarins, Aveda, Max Factor, Covergirl, M.A.C, Essence, Chanel, Palmers, Ponds, Olay, Dove, Simple, St. Ives, Garnier, Nivea, Clinique, Biore, Liz Earl, Cutex, Pro Activ, Oral B, Macleans, Kingfisher, Dove, Pantene, Schwartzkopf, Sunsilk, Tresemme, Garnier, Head n Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Clairol, Nice n’ Easy, Palmolive, John Frieda, Aussie, LUX, Palmers, Pears, Lynx, Old Spice, Johnsons

CLEANING: Persil, Surf, Jif, Windex, Dettol, Fairy, Vanish

PETS: Aldi, Hi-Life, Eukanuba, Purina, Friskies, Optimum

BRANDS WITH SUSTAINABLE / NO PALM OIL: 

(Most eco-brands are palm free)

ICELAND, WAITROSE, COLES, SUBWAY, LEAN CUISINE, BIRDSEYE, McCAIN, QUORN,

LINDA McCARTNEY, OLD EL PASO, STARBUCKS

DRINKS: Nescafe, Lucozade

SPREADS: Lurpack, Country Life

BREAD & CEREALS: Golden Crumpets, Abbot’s Village Bakery, Nesquick, Coco Pops, Nature Valley, Ryvita, Kellogs

CRISPS: French Fries, Walkers

SWEETS: Skittles, Mentos, Chuppa Chups, Jelly Belly, Wrigleys, Bounty, Crunchy, Flake, Lindt (block), Lindt Lindor, Toblerone, Whittakers, Twirl, Cadbury (plain), Guylain, Booja Booja, Ombar, Aero, Ferrero, Koko Black, Smarties, Snickers, Twix, Maltesers, M&M variety, Mars, Celebrations, Kinder, Thorntons, Dunkin’ Doughnuts, Hershey’s

ICE CREAM: Weis, Ben & Jerry’s, Booja Booja, Magnum, Nutella

TOILETRIES: Andrex, Lush, The Body Shop, Urban Decay, L’Oreal, Maybelline, Nars, Trilogy, Heavenly Organics, A’kin, Neutrogena, Aveeno, St. Tropez, Sanctuary SPA, Sukin, Sensodyne, Colgate, Dr Bronner, A’kin, Aeosop, Fudge, Charles Worthington, Radox

CLEANING: Method, Down to Earth, Clean Conscience, Ajax, Glade

PETS: Schmackos, Pal, Pedigree, Whiskas, Iams

To learn more about the effects of palm oil deforestation, please check out one of my

favourite charities doing great work on site with the orangutans -

https://www.internationalanimalrescue.org/ or donate on their facebook page -

https://www.facebook.com/internationalanimalrescue/?__tn__=HH-R 

Every pound counts!

Google Apps also list a FREE download for your mobile phone, click on the image below for a direct link.

The photographs on these t-shirts linked below were taken by myself in Borneo in 2009. I will donate £5.00 in your name if you decide to order either of these shirts purchased from these links. 

Please email a screenshot of your purchase invoice and I will then make a donation in your name and email you the receipt. 

I will personally not make a penny from the purchase of this shirt.

Thank you for your support

Regards

John Hodges

The 'controversial' and banned #NoPalmOilChristmas Iceland Advert

PLEASE WATCH AND SHARE

Let's us make this a viral phenomenon over Christmas