If you care about the forests, animals, or our environment at all please avoid buying anything containing palm oil. Its use is recklessly contributing to mass loss of forested land and the animals that live within, as well as mass releases of greenhouse gases particularly methane.

Companies use palm oil because it’s incredibly cheap to add to a recipe, however it’s everlasting effect is not cheap at all.

“Palm oil is in nearly half of what we buy — from lipstick and soaps to instant noodles and cookies. It’s also used in diesel fuel. Palm oil accounted for one-tenth of the world’s permanent cropland in 2010, and the industry is rapidly expanding.” read more

Consumer demand – or maybe that should be manufacturer demand – for palm oil has resulted in palm oil in one of every two packaged products in the super market! You can find it in baked goods, cereals, crisps, sweets, margarine and popular soaps and cosmetics – to name a few.  Often listed under a dizzying number of names, like palmate and Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, it’s not always easy to spot. continue reading

                                     FOREST KILLERS:

Air Pollutants Produced from Burning Forests:

• Particulate matter: Contributes to lung and heart disease and climate change
• Mercury: A bioaccumulative toxin; causes diseases and other cancer
• VOCs (Volatile Organic Chemicals): Causes respiratory problems and cancer
• Ozone smog-forming chemicals: Traps heat; causes a rise in surface temps
• Carbon monoxide: Inhibits oxygen; causes organ malfunction and death
• Methane: notably from deforestation occurring where peat soil is found
• Carbon dioxide: Tree loss diminishes carbon reservoirs; CO2 stays in air

Shopping Responsibly

Next time you’re getting your coffee, think about what’s in that donut or muffin you’re thinking about buying? Take a stand for the forests that can’t protect themselves. Until those coffee shops discontinue selling products made with palm oil, you should get your breakfast goodies elsewhere. The only palm oil you should buy if you want it for health benefits is that grown sustainably, meaning on small farms.  Or you could opt for virgin coconut oil instead.  If you believe you must have red palm oil for health reasons at least for the sake of us all find sustainable sources. Here’s one.

Take the Palm Oil Pledge: http://www.rainforestfoundation.org/palm-oil-pledge

As shocking as it may be that is the green reality!