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Orangutans are going extinct for a product we don’t need

  • Writer: Staci-lee Sherwood
    Staci-lee Sherwood
  • 15 hours ago
  • 5 min read

By Staci-lee Sherwood

 


Hidden away in a long list of consumer products is an ingredient whose use is directly causing the extinction of Orangutans.  The destruction caused by logging for palm oil has devastated their population bringing them to the brink of extinction.  Many other species have also been adversely affected as their habit is being destroyed.  Palm oil isn’t even something we need to survive.  The industry has caught on to consumer awareness and has relabeled palm oil and its derivatives under a long list of names intended to hide the truth from consumers.  Their actions show us they know they’re doing something wrong.

 


Companies who do this should be boycotted. If they lie about using palm oil what else do they lie about?  No ingredient is worth permanent destruction of land or causing extinction of any species.




Tearing up land for palm oil in central Kalimantan, Indonesia, 2019.   Photo credit:  Ariyo  Auriga Nusantara




So much destruction for something unnecessary

Industry will tell you the benefits of using palm oil but never the down side.  They openly ignore the crisis they have created while hoping consumers fail to see through their lies.  There are better sustainable alternatives to use such as  coconut or sunflower oil for cooking.  For soaps and cosmetics look for products using shea butter, cocoa butter or jojoba oil for moisturizing.   These have all been around for years and time tested.  A newer addition to alternatives is microbial oil which is made by fermenting sugar is a high-tech alternative.  



Plight of Orangutans

During the Pleistocene era, fossil evidence suggests between 1.8 million years to 11,500 years ago, orangutans lived throughout much of Southeast Asia, from Java to southern China.   Now they’re only found in Borneo and Sumatra.   Orangutans are among the largest primates and considered the most intelligent of the great apes.  Their historical home has been torn apart while their population has dropped to record lows.  It’s estimated over 100,000 Bornean orangutans were killed between 1999 – 2015, a staggeringly high loss in just sixteen years.   Maybe 50,000 exist in the wild but daily deforestation of their home leaves a bleak future.

 


Reproduction is slow.  A single birth is typical and offspring stay with their mom for about eight years.  Females reach maturity between ten and fifteen years and live to about forty five in the wild.  In her lifetime the adult female will have just three offspring.   Biruté Mary Galdikas, who recently passed away, spent decades studying and working closely with the orangutans of Indonesian Borneo.   She founded the nonprofit  Orangutan Foundation International and credited with saving orangutans and why we still have them today.

 


A 2024 study found that nearly 19 million acres in Indonesia have been cleared.  The deforestation is devastating to the ecosystem and while much of the land is used for palm oil some remains idle after clearing.  The loss of biodiversity can never be replaced once lost.   This industry also increases Green House Gas which drives the warming of the planet leading to more severe storms, droughts, wildfires and floods.  The biggest commercial markets driving the deforestation are India, China and The EU.


Click here to read the study




A member of a rescue team walks towards an unconscious orangutan after he received an anesthetic shot at the Damage rainforest in central Kalimanatan province  (AP file)




The long list of Palm Oil names

Product labels are suppose to tell consumers what they’re buying by showing what ingredients are used.  Educated consumers can decipher what many ingredients are but the masses can’t.  They often buy toxic products without knowing it.  Tricky tactics are used to hide dangerous or controversial chemicals.  Take Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder that for years used deadly asbestos as a binder,  hiding this fact under the ‘inactive or inert ingredients’ on the label.  They also use palm oil in their products.  Palm oil isn’t deadly to humans but the same tactics apply.  They have proven themselves to be untrustworthy.

 


Palm oil is disguised under hundreds of names.  The nonprofit Orangutan Foundation International compiled a list of all the names used on labels to hide the fact they either are wholly or partially derived from palm oil.  Just to name a few;  Palmate, Glycerin, Stearic acid, Vegetable emulsifier and Calcium stearate. 


Click here for the full list

 


The products and companies that use palm oil

Palm oil is used in so many products it’s hard to keep track.  Margarine, packaged goods (cake, cookies, chips) and spreads use it as do many toothpastes, shampoos, soaps, cleaning products and cosmetics.   Best way to avoid palm oil in food is to ditch packaged goods which also contain many unhealthy additives high in saturated fat, dyes and pesticides.  Sustainable brands can be found making it easier to replace using palm oil.  


Click here for the guide to alternatives

 


Some of the brands using palm oil: Nestle, Danone, PepsiCo,  Kellogg’s,  Johnson & Johnson, Colgate Palmolive and L’Oreal.  These behemoth companies don’t make natural sustainable products.  In 2004 the nonprofit World Wildlife Fund created the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) guideline.  The WWF was created by and for trophy hunters, over the years there have been many controversies about them.  We can’t rely on what they say on face value.  The RSPO has many weaknesses such as lack of verification, failure to question the plantation, lack of enforcement.  It’s more rubberstamping to assuage the public than help for oranguatans.


Click here to read about companies and deforestation

 


Many companies have been removed from the RSPO for failure to comply.  If no one is held accountable companies have no reason to stop the deforestation



How you can help 

Because palm oil use is so widespread and hidden best thing to do is get an app for your phone to use while you shop.  This will educate you on what products use it.  There are shopping guides that provide alternatives to palm oil products and nonprofits you can support that fight to save what few orangutans we have left.  Products that use palm oil aren’t just funding cruelty and extinction, these products often contain other chemicals that are dangerous to use and consume.



They only have your voice to survive



 
 
 

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