Saving the Orangutan

A company without palm oil

2010-04-10T17:29:00.002+01:00

I'm still on my quest to find out who uses palm oil in their products. I emailed Kraft for an answer when they took over Cadbury - surprise suprise, I've heard nothing back from them whatsoever. I will be trying again, and again until I get a response.

In the meantime @RikaNauck sent me some details on a food tasting party she recently held involing a family business from the outskirts of London, called 'My Secret Kitchen'. They prefer to discontinue products rather than compromising on quality if a certain ingredient becomes unavailable. After her party she contacted them for their views on palm oil. She's very kindly shared this with me for this blog. This is what they said:

"The oils we use in our products are either olive oil, rapeseed oil or sunflower oil and we use them for the lovely flavour and other characteristics that they give our finished products. As you probably know, palm oil is a highly saturated fat and therefore solid at usual room temperatures Palm oil is not an ingredient we use in our products both for ethical and culinary reasons!"

I'm so glad to hear a company saying it doesn't use palm oil for its products. Palm oil hasn't been around forever, so goodness knows what these other companies, who say they have to use it for quality and taste, used to use - were their products disgusting? I certainly don't remember chocolate being horrid!

My Secret Kitchen's website also has a page dedicated to their values. On it they say they never use artificial colours or flavours as they find there's no need to. Also when choosing packaging they actively consider the environment and thing about reducing, reusing and recycling. It's certainly novel to see a company capitalising on this idea. I think in a world where there's fierce competition, which there certainly is in the food industry, there is a niche where people want ethical, fairtrade and environmentally sound products, even if they have to pay a little more.

I've not tried any of the products from 'My Secret Kitchen' - but I'm certainly going to investigate their website a little more. It would be great to hear from anyone who has tried their products, or can suggest other similar companies.

Naughty Nestle

2010-03-17T21:38:00.002Z

Twitter has been buzzing today with the battle between @greenpeace & @nestle

Nestle have admitted to using unsustainable palm oil and from Sinar Mas, the company dropped by Unilever earlier in the year due to the way they operated. Today Nestle announced that they have changed supplier from Sinar Mas, though Greenpeace say they are now probably buying it from a company that sources their palm oil direct from Sinar Mas, so there's no real difference there.

Greenpeace issued a short ad of their own, based on the famous 'have a break' Kit Kat ad. Nestle quickly had it removed from You Tube. The problem with this, like with many things that are banned, interest levels rocket, and people learn there are more places to have videos than You Tube.

Just in case you want to watch the video here it is:

Have a break? from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

Do watch it if you can - though best not whilst you're eating. It made me want to be sick!

You can read Nestle's official statement at http://tinyurl.com/nestlepalmoil
And here's what Greenpeace have to say http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/Nestle-needs-to-give-rainfores

Thorntons

2010-02-11T21:05:00.005Z

I love Thorntons chocolates. It's a real treat when a box of these turns up in our house. Reading the ingredients the other day I spotted that 'vegetable oil' was listed. Not knowing whether this was palm oil or not I sent off a quick email to find out. Here is the response:

"You will be reassured that our chocolate contains no palm oil or vegetable oils, only natural cocoa butter as we believe this delivers the best taste and product experiences.

However, palm oil has unique flavour and texture properties that are difficult to match for the centres of chocolates, so we use this in a number of centres.

We are concerned about the impact that some palm oil growers have on the environment and only use suppliers who are members of the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

We are also committed to ensuring all our bulk supplies of palm oil are sustainably sourced before 2012."

So, once again, another product containing palm oil. It really does seem to be in everything. It is a good sign that Thorntons only use suppliers who are part of the RSPO as this means if the oil isn't sustainable yet, it is encouraging the suppliers to get there. It's also encouraging that their deadline for bulk supplies to be sustainable is 2012, much sooner than most other producers.

I'm not convinced that palm oil has such a unique and amazing texture and flavour that nothing else can be used instead. Didn't the Australians recently convince Cadbury to take palm oil out of their chocolate bars and return to the original recipe because they prefered the taste. I think palm oil is a cheap alternative more than anything. I'd certainly be happy to do some chocolate tasting!

Hurray for Baked Beans

2010-02-08T20:20:00.004Z

In my quest to learn just how much palm oil is in the everyday goods we buy, what it is in, and what manufacturers are doing about the environmental issues, I contacted Heinz. They came back with a speedy response, and the good news is that Heinz Baked Beans do not contain palm oil. This is what else they said:

"Heinz policy is that it only uses palm oil that is produced in a sustainable manner, based on economic, social and environmental viability. We ask our suppliers to guarantee that the palm oil they supply is produced according to that policy. Our Baked Beans however, do not contain any palm oil.

You may like to know that Heinz is also a member of the "Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)" which addresses this issue and promotes the sustainable production and use of palm oil.

You will find more information about the RSPO at the following website: www.rspo.org "

I think my next task is to find out what they accept as a guarantee from their suppliers that their palm oil is produced with an economic, social and environmental viability. I'll keep you updated.

Little ways to become a bit greener

2010-01-17T13:05:00.011Z

Some people don't believe in global warming or in climate change. I've heard many people say 'global warming? huh, why have we just had so much snow?'. Just because we've had some of the coldest weather in a couple of decades is not evidence that neither of these is happening.

Other people don't believe it's their problem. They want to be driving 4x4s around a city, revving up engines, using 50 carrier bags when 3 would be enough, all that sort of thing because when the consequences really start to happen - they're not going to be affected. (They don't care that any children they have or might have, will be affected). Then there are the people who don't believe they can make a difference, so they don't even try.

(http://www.actoncopenhagen.decc.gov.uk/content/en/embeds/flash/4-degrees-large-map-final)

In the battle to get green issues higher up agendas, we have to persuade these sets of people that climate change is happening, environmental issues are already affecting everyone and that even little adjustments add up to make a difference. I'd like everyone to consider a few things:

Are you sure that it's absolutely necessary for every light to be on in your house right now? Are there any rooms where you've got 2, 3, 4 lamps / lights on when 1 less would still be enough? Or maybe you're not using a room, does it need lights on at all?

What about other electrical items? Any on standby? Do they need to be on?

According to the Government's website www.direct.gov.uk?actionco2 £800million could be saved each year in the UK if people turned off their unused appliances rather than leaving them on standby. A further £140million is wasted by leaving lights on unnecessarily. Imagine how much carbon could be saved by the flick of a switch.

Is your home too hot? It's been jolly cold lately, but is your heating on high enough to wear a t-shirt? I know quite a few people who like the warmth so much their homes are hot enough to wear their summer clothes all year round. Perhaps you could wear a long-sleeve top - or perhaps a jumper. Winter fashions are just as lovely.

Driving at slower speeds you get a better petrol consumption. This is also improved by driving more smoothly, braking just a bit earlier and by pulling away more gently - avoiding revving the engine too much (and it will only add a couple of minutes to your journey).

If you're not too fussed about green issues or are sitting on the fence, think about them from a selfish point of view:

Better petrol consumption - cheaper fuel costs
Fewer lights / electrical items on - cheaper electricity bills
Only boiling enough water for present needs - kettle boils quicker
Turning your heating down by 1degree could save you up to 10% on your heating bill
Even keeping to the speed limit on motorways (ie doing 70mph not 80mph) will save 10% on your fuel bill

If you're curious about what your carbon footprint is then visit http://carboncalculator.direct.gov.uk/carboncalc/html/

So, whilst you're thinking, why not try 1 or 2 of the above? It'll save you some money and help the earth a bit too.

Remember we're not really trying to save the earth - she'll be here until the sun swallows her up but we do have to do something if the human race wants to continue surviving.

Homelessness in the UK

2010-01-15T20:33:00.009Z

Over the past few weeks I've been following the Bolt family's trials as they were evicted from their house in Queensland without another to move into. Cate's determination to get her family back into housing at the same time as highlight the huge problem of homelessness in Australia has rubbed off and got me thinking. What's the situation with homelessness here in the UK?

Well I've been doing some research, and the thing I've found the hardest to find is the number of people who are homeless in this country - even a rough estimate. The government website is very keen to say that 130,000 households have avoided being made homeless, or been given better accomodation, and that the number of households accepted by local authorities as owed the main homelessness duty in England has fallen over the past year, but there's no figure. I have discovered that the Governement have a goal of halving the number of households living in temporary accomodation to 50,000 by 2010.

I've read one estimate that 464 people sleep rough on any given night. (http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/homelessness/homelessnesstrends) and also one saying they say 'there are 1 million people in Britain that are homeless, half a million of which are on the street and the other half a million are living in a squat of temporary shelter (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_are_homeless_in_the_uk)

It seems there is no clear answer to how many people are currently homeless in the UK. I imagine one of the problems is simply defining what we actually mean by the word 'homeless. 'Homelessness' doesn't just mean without a home and living on the streets. Shelter is a charity that is working to alleiviate the distress caused by bad housing and homelessness. The legal definition on their website is:

Broadly speaking, the law defines someone as being homeless if they do not have a legal right to occupy accommodation, or if their accommodation is unsuitable to live in. This can cover a wide range of circumstances, including, but not restricted to, the following:

having no accommodation at all
having accommodation that is not reasonable to live in, even in the short-term (eg because of violence or health reasons)
having a legal right to accommodation that you cannot access (eg if you have been evicted illegally)
living in accommodation you have no legal right to occupy (eg living in a squat or staying with friends temporarily).

Local councils have a legal duty to provide advice and assistance to people who are legally defined as homeless or threatened with homelessness. However, not everyone who falls within the legal definition necessarily qualifies for temporary accommodation.

This means there are lots of different 'types' of homelessness. The most recognised form is when people are forced to sleep on the streets. This is not the full picture though. 'Street homelessness' is a much broader type that includes many more than those under cardboard boxes in shop doorways. Some will have a hostel or a squat to sleep in but still have no where to go in the day time. Though they might have a roof over their heads, hostels can have their own set of problems such as other residents with drug, alcohol or violence issues. There can be a lack of privacy, beds and poor facilities. It is important, therefore, to find long term solutions for all people who are 'homeless'.

There are many different causes for homelessness and it is a complete myth that if there is a good economy there should be no reason why anyone is homeless. Shelter see the causes as the combination of personal and 'structural' causes from outside their control. Personal causes range from family breakdown and disputes, sexual and physical abuse in childhood or adolescence, alcohol / drug problems either of the individual or in their family, a lack of qualifications, lack of social support, debts, poor physical / mental health or relationship breakdown. The structural causes can include unemployment, povery, housing policies, structure / administration of housing benefits or lack of affordable housing.

Tackling any of these personal or structural causes and the problems of finding solutions is incredibly difficult especially in the current economic crisis. Fortunately there are some wonderful charities out there doing just that.

Shelter - http://england.shelter.org.uk
Centrepoint - http://www.centrepoint.org.uk
The Big Issue Foundation - http://www.bigissue.co.uk

The Big Issue - a magazine UK residents will be familiar with - is an opportunity for homeless people to start helping themselves out of their predicament. Vendors do have to prove they are 'homeless', undergo an induction process and sign up to the code of conduct. Once they are able to start selling the magazine they purchase copies for 75p and sell them for £1.50, keeping the profit for themselves. As they are never reimbursed for issues they don't sell, the quantities they take on need to be carefully calculated. I was walking in town today and there was the familiar sight of the man that sells our Big Issue. The majority of people ignored him, not even saying 'no thank you' which really grated on me. He's still a person, not something to be looked away from. He's always polite and often has a smile on his face. I don't know why he's homeless, whether it was his 'fault' or circumstances beyond his control - it doesn't matter. Everyone deserves somewhere permanent to live, however big or small. What was nice to see were 2 teenage boys, smartly dressed in their local boys' school uniform, who went up to him, shook his hand and talked to him, just seeing how he was. People complain about 'the youth of today' - but some of the adults in that street could learn a thing or two from these young lads.

It's been bitterly cold of late here in the UK. Locally it's been down to -11. Imagine what it's like not to have a nice, comfy bed with central heating to banish the winter blues, or even a roof over your head from the snow. It's not a good place to be.

What would be really great, is if you could spend a few minutes reading the websites above to get a better understanding of the situation just around the corner from your own home. And next time you see a Big Issue seller please don't walk by and look the other way - buy a copy, it's only £1.50 (one of the cheapest magazines around) or at the very least say hello.

Useful links to articles on palm oil & orangutans

2010-01-05T20:10:00.004Z

Whilst browsing the internet for information on palm oil and orangutans I've come across some interesting articles. You've probably seen them before, but here they all are again, just in case:

Cruel Oil: How Palm Oil Harms Health, Rainforest & Wildlife
http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/palm_oil_final_5-27-05.pdf

Save orangutans from exinction when you next shop - and put an end to the cruelty of palm oil
http://naturealert.org/14.10.05/Orangutan%20Appeal.pdf

Palm Oil Report - Ever Wondered How Much Palm Oil Costs?
http://naturealert.org/14.3.07/images/Palm%20Oil%20Report.pdf

Palm Oil Report - The Cost of Palm Oil is Rising
http://naturealert.org/9.2.2008/images/Palm%20Oil%20Report.pdf

Palm Oil Report - The Indonesian Chainsaw Massacre
http://naturealert.org/25.8.09/Palm%20Oil%20Report.pdf

The Last Stand of the Orangutan
http://www.unep-wcmc.org/resources/PDFs/LastStand/full_orangutanreport.pdf

Palm Oil Fact Sheet
http://redapes.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/20080415_palmoilfactsheet_v1.pdf

If anyone has other links (I know there are hundreds out there) that they have found particularly useful & or useful, do let me know and I will add them.

The Power of Twitter (& its users)

2009-12-29T21:06:00.006Z

Twitter is an excellent potential tool for getting public support for a particular cause. Trouble is, in order to spread the word you really need a lot of followers so that lots of people can hear your message.

In starting out trying to get publicity for your cause you probably won't have many followers, so you need to get your message to someone who does have lots of followers and who is willing to retweet your message for you. Here lies the dilemma. No doubt all the celebrities and such get so many tweets that even if they are checking their '@replies' they will probably miss yours in the flood they get every second.

I've been thinking about this for sometime as there are a couple of causes that I'm desperate to help and get the message out there for. Many of the charities I support already have great public support so I'm concentrating my efforts for the next few weeks on 2 in particular.

The first of these is Project_18. Those of you who have already read my blog will be familiar with Cate Bolt and her fantastic idea to help both the children and the orangutans of Indonesia. Currently circumstances are difficult for the Bolt familiy, partly due to their dedication to this Project, and are now having to camp around Queensland having been evicted from their house shortly before Christmas. Fortunately they've got slightly warmer temperatures than we have here in the UK at the moment, but it's constantly raining and besides a family deserves a home. It can't be easy camping with 9 children in the best of circumstances.

The second of these is Jenny Rowbory. Jenny suffers from severe ME which leaves her bed-bound and unable to sit up. Jenny lives in the UK where we are fortunate enough to have the National Health Service - that is, until the won't pay. She has had many medical consultations and has finally been given a treatment plan. The difficulty is, that it will cost £35,000 and her local PCT won't pay, or even contribute towards this. Not to be deterred she has written a wonderful poetry anthology which has now been published in order to help raise the money for her medical costs.

These are my 2 chosen causes for January and I need your help. I'm not asking for money, I'm just asking for you to do a bit of typing. I think that the only way to get real support for these causes is to get them noticed and picked up by a public figure and one of the ways of doing this is through Twitter. I think that perhaps, if a group of us agree a time to be all logged in together, preferably when a figure or two of choice is also online (trickier I know, but some seem to be on for large chunks of time), then if we all tweet them at the same time, with the same message then it might just get through.

I can't do this alone. Will anyone spare a few seconds to help these worthy causes?

Thank you.

Spare a Thought

2009-12-29T17:09:00.007Z

For a lot of people, right now is a special time of year. Why? Because we've just had Christmas and been given lots and lots of presents (some which we want, some which we really don't, or had from the same relative last year and the year before that). We've gorged ourselves on turkey, goose, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, mince pies, chocolates, cakes all washed down with wine, beer and indigestion remedies. Many of us will have been extremely lucky, we'll have been with our friends and loved ones, in a nice warm house with electricity for watching DVDs and playing computer games, internet connection to twitter and blog and heating to keep us all nice and toasty.

Unfortunately Christmas is not a happy time for everyone. In fact it can be a very difficult time for thousands of people. In the UK alone, like other Western countries, people have been bereaved, are sick, homeless or simply alone. The constant festivities being forced down their throats on TV, in newspapers, in shops that start their sales at 6am on Boxing Day can't make it any easier for them.

Further afield, in countries across Africa and Indonesia people are literally starving. They are malnourished and die of simple diseases that can be easily fought off by stronger, healthier bodies. The mortality rate, particularly of infants, in these countries is frighteningly high.

So, when you're casting aside that unwanted Christmas present, or when you're wishing you'd been given something else, or when you're shopping around for bargains in the sales despite all the presents you've just received, I would like you to spare 1minute to think of someone else. Someone here in the UK that's fallen on hard times, or someone far away who has no idea what Christmas is, or even if they do, don't care, because they just have to focus on surviving. Perhaps you could choose not to buy that one extra bargain which you probably will never wear or eat or use and are just buying because it's a great deal. Perhaps, instead you could donate it to a charity instead. Drop it into a collection box often found at tills, or being shaken outside the store. Go online and find a charity that is doing something you care about. If you're still stuck for ideas here are a few charities that I love:

www.savetheorangutan.co.uk
www.forests4orangutans.org
www.samaritans.org
www.project18.org.au
www.oxfam.org.uk

Any amount of money you could donate to any of these charities would be wisely spent and gratefully appreciated. Please, spare a thought for someone else. Afterall Christmas is a time for GIVING.

Boots & Palm Oil

2009-12-03T21:21:00.005Z

I realise I've been a bit quiet lately on here, but I've been waiting for some more responses from companies on the issue of palm oil.

Today I heard back from Boots. It's a long reply and for once, they've actually bothered to write details, explaining the various types of palm oil used in products and attempt to answer my specific answers.

"As one of the first retailers to join the RSPO in 2006 Boots recognise the considerable environmental and social impact of large scale palm oil production. Via the European Palm Oil Retailer Group hosted by the British Retail Consortium we help fund a RSPO representative and are working to a find way to make available credibly certified sources of palm oil in the products that we make and sell.

The palm oil supply chain is very complex and as palm oil can reach products in a number of different forms labelling is not as easy as for organic or Fairtrade products. To illustrate this (and to answer your questions) there are three possible ways palm oil is used in Boots health and beauty products.

i) Direct use of palm oil in products. Contrary to some press reports there is very little use of palm oil in health and beauty products. Boots do not use any neat palm oil in our products. If we did this would appear on the product ingredients list.

ii) Ingredients directly made from palm oil. The main products concerned here are solid soaps that use ingredients made from palm oil. Like other cosmetics & toiletry producers we have a legal obligation to identify on pack the ingredients in our products. Where ingredients are based on palm oil the regulations require us to use the Latin name for palm (Elaeis Guineensis). We also list the common name equivalents on our website:
http://www.boots-uk.com/App_Portals/BootsUK/Media/PDFs/CSR/Herbal_extracts_INCI_name_information_Aug_2008_.pdf

Currently the extract (fraction) of palm oil which is used to make the soap ingredients is not available as a Certified Sustainable Source (CSPO). We are working with our suppliers to develop certified sources and also look at alternative materials. We are aiming to complete this work in 2010

iii) There are also some ingredients which are made by breaking down the chemical structure of vegetable oil and then reformulating it. In theory any vegetable oil can be used as the starting material, (including palm). As the processing passes though several stages and suppliers on its way to the final product tracing the source is not easy. A simple "contains palm oil" label would be difficult to justify here as the likely palm content of the product is usually going to be very low. Certified sustainable sources are currently only available for palm material used in the food industry therefore are not available as these derivatives. We are working with ingredients suppliers to identify if palm is used and what the options are to move to either sustainable sources or only use non palm vegetable oils.

More information and our palm oil policy is available on our website.
http://www.boots-uk.com/Corporate_Social_Responsibility/Environment/Biodiversity.aspx "

The family behind Project 18

2009-11-10T23:31:00.005Z

As I've already posted - Project 18 is a charity founded by Cate Bolt with the aim of building an orphanage & wildlife refuge centre (predominantly for orangutans) on Sumatra. As a keen supporter of Cate & Project 18 I found this posting on her blog troubling. She's already crashed her own site with the sheer volume of traffic reading it and has put it on her husband's too. I thought I'd offer her mine to crash too - so, in Cate's words, here's what's happening to those good folks Down Under.

"Ok, so this isn’t directly charity related but this blog is about what happens when you make a decision to change your life for the “better” and follow your heart to try to leave the world a better place.

I’m emotionally drained, so most of this post is going to be copies & pasted from an email I sent last night to a friend. Forgive me, it’s not lazy… it’s just an emotional incapability to write it all again.

Here’s the deal. We live in this fantastic house, it’s really amazing and we took it on when we were both making good money and the rent $675/week was no issue. Then when Ricks business got hit by the GFC and all the big contracts he was supposed to be working on got put on hold until the economy picked up again. So initially my business was supporting his payroll until I just couldn’t afford to do it anymore and we had to put everyone off.

So a few months later when I decided I really wasn’t happy with my business anymore and needed to do something worthwhile, we were in a comfortable position. We did all the numbers and what we had coming in was enough to cover the necessities. There wasn’t heaps left over, but we’re simple people we don’t want for much. We don’t drink or smoke, we don’t eat out, we don’t as a general rule go anywhere that costs anything. The sum total of our “entertainment” spending is our Austar subscription – and given that we don’t get free to air TV here, I don’t think that’s a luxury when you’ve got kids.

We made the very difficult decision to take our children out of their private school that they love next year, and send them to a public school. This will save us about $12,000/yr and, had we not had some horrific problems with the school in the last term, I’m not sure I could have bought myself to do that.

We have managed to keep paying the rent for the most part this year but have missed about 4-5 weeks over the last year. For the last couple of months we’ve been paying $700/week to try to pay off some of what we owe in arrears, and we haven’t missed a rent payment in ages. The real estate agency seems to turn over staff faster than KFC (no offence KFC, thanks for not using Palm Oil anymore) - the previous property manager had made an agreement with us that if $700 was what we could afford, then that was fine. When he also left, 3 months ago we heard no more from the agent until about a week ago when they were to come for a routine inspection.

The inspection date rolls around and we are waiting all day for them to show up. We made 4 or 5 calls to their office but the phones weren’t answered (it was, after all, Melbourne Cup day). That evening we received a phone call from our neighbour who lives in a completely separate house at the bottom of the 14 hectare property. He asked if we were to have an inspection that day, because someone had come to his house and left a note saying that he was supposed to be there for an inspection, but as he wasn’t they had entered his property to carry out the inspection without him. That’s right… they went to the WRONG house – a house which is not even rented through their office and carried out an inspection on the home. People who live in the country will understand that we’re pretty relaxed about locking doors out in the sticks.

So the giggling property manager rings up two days later- apparently illegally entering someone’s house is funny, and she reschedules her appointment for today. I had no desire to speak to her so passed her on to Rick. At the time of this phone call she told Rick words to the effect of: she can see that our rent is being paid regularly but it is still behind, and that we need to put a payment plan forward to catch up the arrears and if we do that, everything is OK. That was on the 5th of November. “Set up a payment plan and everything will be fine”

On Monday the 9th we spoke to the property manager again to try to determine exactly how much we would need to pay to keep out of trouble. The property manager wouldn’t give us an answer and instead told us “you work it out and I’ll go back to the owner”

So we sit down and crunch the numbers, we’re already leaving ourselves short for food, but Rick spent the day at the Salvo’s getting some food etc. Which I feel crap about cause he’s a pretty proud guy, he’s never been unemployed, he’s never had to ask for food. But he did it and he came home happy because we had food. I should say also that he’s been applying for every single job that is advertised within a reasonable commute including some pretty crappy jobs which with his depth of knowledge & experience are insulting, but he’s applying. I’m just making the point that we aren’t sitting here trying to be elitist, we’re doing everything we can.

So then soon after he got home, less than 24 hours after speaking to the agent about the rental arrears, the real estate agent rings up again and says they’re hand delivering a notice to vacate and we have SEVEN days to get out of the house.

The whole time with the cars and all the other crap, I kept saying “I’m ok as long as I have a roof over my head and we don’t lose the house” – so now… yeah … now I have no idea what we’re going to do. We couldn’t afford to move even if we did have somewhere to go, and the landlord won’t let us stay even if we managed to find the $3,000-odd we owe them. My family have even asked me “what about your rent, are you ok with that?” and I’ve said “yeah, we’re fine!” because we had an agreement, that yes we were a few weeks behind but we were paying regularly AND paying extra, albeit only a little extra.

Just as I thought we would be able to cope with Christmas, Remax Mooloolaba expect a family, in financial hardship, with 9 children a dog, a cat & 9 chickens to not only find alternate housing but be moved out and property cleaned, keys returned within SEVEN days. And when we ask how we are supposed to find another house (especially as evictees) we are told “We will do what we can, but it probably won’t be through us”

We are not delinquent tenants. We don’t have parties and annoy the neighbours. We haven’t trashed the property, in fact we keep an impeccable house and grounds. We have three special needs children who have really only just settled in to their surroundings. The thought of spending Christmas homeless is really not something I planned when I decided to give up my previous life to try to make the world a better place.

The point of this blog at the start was to prove that anyone could make a difference if they decided to. I guess at this point I’m not making a very good case. If you’re wondering if this means the end of Project 18, then the answer is an unequivocal NO. I won’t give up on what I believe in. We’ve made a commitment to the betterment of the planet. Remax Mooloolaba won’t put an end to that.

We have had several discussions with Remax over the past 24 hours begging them to be reasonable – they refuse to negotiate. I would like to ask all my supporters, followers and friends to help me spread the word. And please take a minute to contact Remax Mooloolaba and ask them WHY in this day & age, are they so incapable of making reasonable compassionate decisions?

You can Tweet Remax Mooloolaba @RentalAdvice email: mooloolaba@remaxproperty.com.au or phone their office 07 5452 4555"

Unilever - finally

2009-11-07T10:28:00.002Z

In my quest to get some straight answers from the users of palm oil I've been pestering various companies for the past few months. The company that has so far taken the longest to respond is Unilever, and yet I imagine they are one of the larger users of palm oil that I have so far contacted. This is what they have to say:

"Palm oil is widely used in food and personal care products, and contributes to the economic development of the producing countries, as well as to the diets of millions of people around the world. Demand for palm oil is only expected to increase, however it is recognised that there are environmental issues around the expansion to eco-sensitive areas.

Since 2002, Unilever has been working with the conservation group WWF, plantation owners and other commercial users to devise standards for sustainable production. This is being done through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The principal objective of the RSPO is to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil through co-operation within the supply chain and open dialogue with stakeholders.

I hope this has reassured you about the use of palm oil in our products, and I will pass your comments on to our Product Development team. We welcome all consumer feedback - both positive and negative - as it helps us to improve our products and policies, so thank you for taking the time to contact us."

Yes, it's another standard letter saying all the right things, that they are working with the RSPO and towards sustainable palm oil, but I'm now losing my patience with this stock reply (as you will see if you read the others I have been given, they're all pretty much the same). Unilever has failed to answer my questions on which products contain palm oil and why it isn't clearly labelled (so far only Green & Blacks has admitted which products have the oil in, and I have more respect for them because of it - and I can choose not to eat them). I really believe that no one is actually reading my letters - they see the title 'Palm Oil' and send out the same old response. I think I will go back to Unilever and ask the questions again - but I'm not sure when I'll get an answer - if ever!

Conservationists of the future

2009-10-29T21:28:00.004Z

People often talk about how they despair of the younger generations. Apparently all they do is hang out on street corners causing trouble, text each other, play computer games and do very badly at school. I have no statistics for how true this is, but it is worth remembering not to group all youngsters together.

It's true that as I walk from my office to my car, now in the dark, it can be intimidating to walk through large crowds of teenages swearing at the tops of their voices and spitting, but I'm sure these are just the minority. Even so, it's wonderful to see the other side of children and it's something that we should celebrate. This is why I was delighted to watch a new video on YouTube. Not only did it show 2 bright and articulate children speaking out for something they feel passionately about, but it also gave me hope that the fate of the world along with its environment, fauna and flora, is not necessarily one of doom. In a few years it will be these children's turn to make the critical decisions that will effect all of these things. I just hope that the current generation of adults in the position of decision makers, make enough good choices to ensure there is enough of an environment left to fix.

If you haven't already seen this video yet, I would like to introduce you to Ash & Ailish 2 of Cate Bolt's children. Take a couple of minutes to watch the video - it'll restore your faith - and it might even inspire you to do something too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBCPl5iM4jg

Cadbury

2009-10-03T12:26:00.005+01:00

Finally, a response from Cadbury. This more than any of the other responses has really annoyed me. I'd love to hear what you think:

"As you are aware, palm oil is used by most major food and consumer goods manufacturers, and widely established as a core ingredient, for example in margarine, soap and many other products. For confectionery, a very small amount of palm oil is used in our products, and is key for consumer preferred tasted and texture profile.

Cadbury are a very small user of palm oil, typically less than 0.1% of global supply.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004, and Cadbury have been active board members since its inception. We are also members of the Coalition on Sustainable Palm Oil.

Both groups have a range of board members from manufacturers (who use palm oil), suppliers and processors, major retailers and the NGO community (a full list of members can be found at www.rspo.org)

The RSPO has recently established principles and criteria for certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) production. 'GreenPalm' is one of the systems that conforms to this, and which supports the delivery of CSPO to the market. Cadbury is sourcing its palm oil to the 'GreenPalm' system, while we also work to stengthen supply systems. Through this and the broader work of the RSPO and Coalition on Sustainable Palm Oil, we are supporting the sustainable practices of individual palm oil producers.

Like all our ingredients, Cadbury is committed to ethical and sustainable sourcing of palm oil. This year (2009) we will have 'GreenPalm' certificates for all of the palm oil that we purchase for our products. We will continue to renew these as we work with the RSPO to develop a practicable, segregated supply chain by 2014.

Our recent move to Fairtrade certification of Cadbury Dairy Milk in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Japan also shows our commitment to sustainable sourcing. This move builds upon the work of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, launched in 2008 in partnership with the United National Development Programme, local governments, farmers and communities.

The ground-breaking Cadbury Cocoa Partnership aims to secure the economic, social and environmental sustainability of around a million cocoa farmers and their communities in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean. Over ten years £45 million GBP will be invested through the partnership to improve farmer incomes, develop communities and build partnerships. In January 2009 Cadbury announced that the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership was now active across 100 Ghanaian communities, mamrking the 100th anniversary of cocoa trading with Ghana.

If you want more information about 'GreenPalm', the RSPO and certification, please visit: www.rspo.org and www.greenpalm.org"

Out of all the people I've contacted so far, Cadbury has by far taken the longest time to respond (though Green & Blacks was very quick). It opens the letter by naming other products that contain palm oil and then by saying it uses less than 0.1%. So many manufactuers are saying their usage is minimal - but this puzzles me. Where is all the palm oil that is being produced going to? This also hits me as trying to push the blame firmly onto other companies, and whilst they are at fault to a point, Cadbury's is equally to blame, but here try to excuse their actions in a very lame manner.

I have heard reports about certificates for sustainable palm oil and how they can be sold as pieces of paper that don't mean very much. My next mission will be to research in more depth about GreenPalm and what these certificates actually mean.

It also annoyed me that they state that the inclusion of palm oil in their products was 'key for consumer preferred tasted and texture profile' - excuse me, but haven't they just been proved wrong in Australia/New Zealand? I commented on this in my letter and they chose to ignore it. I bet if people were given samples of Dairy Milk with and without palm oil, they would either not be able to tell the difference, or prefer it as it used to be - without the palm oil.

This statement also implies they are actually proud of using palm oil - if so, why isn't it clearly labelled on their products?

Finally, though I think it's very admirable that Cadbury are working on Fairtrade, as this is another passion of mine, however I don't think it's relevant to mention in such detail, what they are doing in Ghana, in a reply to a letter about their use of palm oil. They deflected all the questions such as 'which of your products contain palm oil' and 'why isn't it labelled' and instead tried to impress me with talk of their Cocoa Partnership - completely irrelevant in this context.

What do you think?

Marks & Spencer

2009-09-28T21:38:00.002+01:00

Marks & Spencer has publically announced its Plan A - a plan of action on how to be greener. Here is what have to say on the use of palm oil.

"You may have heard that in January 2007 we launced "Plan A", a business wide £200m "eco-plan" which will have an impact on every part of M&S operations over five years. As a major feature in our 100-point plan, we have committed to ensuring that all of the key raw materials used in our business, come from the most sustainable source possible, in order to protect the environment and the world's natural resouces.

The committment will extend to the use of palm oil in our products and as we are a 100% own brand business, this will apply to all of our M&S branded products. We use palm oil as a minor ingredient in a range of our food and cosmetic products, although I'm afraid I can't provide you with an exact figure. We believe that ensuring the use of sustainable materials in all of our products will help to drive demand for sustainable raw materials in the marketplace and as a result increase the supply.

We are acutely aware of the environmental and sustainability concerns related to the production of palm oil, while recognising the importance of palm oil to the countries which supply it. As a result we are members of the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) as you have observed. We joined to ensure we are part of a global force striving for a responsible approach to palm oil production.

M&S is actually a very small user of palm oil (the amount we use amounts to less than 1% of the palm oil imported into the UK). However, we know we can only drive global change and achieve our Plan A goals by working in conjunction with other, bigger users.

As an active member of the RSPO, we're encouraging our sources and industry partners to adopt the RSPO standard. During 2009, we expect seven of our products to receive RSPO certification.

By 2015, we aim to use only 100% fully traceable certified sustainable palm oil - but of course we'll review this timetable regularly, to take into account global availability of certified sustainable palm oil and its derivatives.

During our move to sustainable palm oil, we'll make sure that there's never any compromise on the safety, quality and value of any of our products. We'll also clearly label all our products containing oil (something we started in December 2007), so the type of oil is identified - palm, rapeseed etc. Blends of oils are labelled as vegetable oils. If you go into one of our stores today, you will find that many of our products that use palm oil already have the stated in the ingredients.

Our work on palm oil ties in with our partnership with the WWF which was formed in 2007. In particular, our support of their conservation work in the Heart of Borneo region. This project aims to work with Malaysian, Indonesian and Brunei governments to end deforestion and to create incentives to make forests more valuable standing. The project will rehabilitate 50 ha of forest - the size of 50 football pitches - a vital habitat for Orangutans and other wonderful creatures of Borneo. As part of this initiative, WWF will also be working with forestry and plantation management companies to obtain sustainable certification for their practice."

I recently went shopping in M&S and was sidetracked by a delicious looking display of biscuits - and they were 2 for 1. Never finding it easy to turn down chocolate biscuits I turned to the ingredients. Sadly palm oil was in some of the biscuits, but it was clearly labelled. This meant that I had the choice of whether or not to consume palm oil - I obviously chose the biscuits without it. So, these snacks were doubly delicious - double chocolate and palm oil free. I was able to enjoy them knowing that no palm oil had been used. Though M&S are a user of palm oil, I give them credit for clearly admitting this and putting it clearly on their labels. Now if we could just get the other manufactuerers to do the same!

Project 18 & Cate Bolt

2009-09-27T13:30:00.008+01:00

In this world of so many problems - poverty, climate change, deforestation, famine, war - it seems like nothing can be done to make it a better place to live.

Occasionally, however, one person decides that they are going to do whatever it takes to do just that. Through the marvels of Twitter & the internet I've recently come across one of these incredible people - Cate Bolt.

If you've not heard about Cate and her mission, then visit her website at www.catherinebolt.com to learn more. In brief Cate is a mother of 9, who runs a small business as well as a writer and photographer. Added to all of this she's now dedicated her life to build an orphanage and wildlife refuge.

Over 50% of Indonesians live on less than 2US$ a day. Can you do that? In fact, such low incomes force parents to put at least one of their children into an orphanage in the hope that someone will adopt them and be able to offer them a better life.

Cate's dream is to establish an orphanage on Sumatra. In the long term it will make up a village with 18 homes each with 3 bedrooms for 8 children and a house mother. She believes this is a more effective model than a large building with dormitories housing several children in one room - the kind we are more used to seeing on the news. It is hoped that the village will also contain a school, a community cetnre and a medical centre. It will be built using sustainable methods and involve solar power and rain water collection.

In addition to this huge ambition, there are also plans to include a conservation program, primarily to offer refuge for the orangutan who is suffering at the hands of palm oil. This will involve the children in the hopes that educating them and showing how important wildlife conversation is, they will take this with them into their future and help change the things that need to be done.

This is a huge dream; a major endeavour. They always say, if you want something done, give it to a busy person. I truly believe that if anyone's going to be able to fulfil this dream - it's Cate Bolt.

But, she can't do it alone. All dreams need a bit of help.

If you would like to help visit www.catherinebolt.com - donate to Project18 if you can. Every dollar really will help and make a difference to the children and orangutans of Indonesia. So, if you'd like to make a change to the world, but don't know how, then this is a simple option - help Project18 and spread the word.

United Biscuits

2009-09-22T20:36:00.002+01:00

United Biscuits is a large company responsible for such yummy delights such as McVities, Jaffa Cakes, Jacob's & McCoy's. Unfortunately these snacks contain palm oil.

Here is what United Biscuits have to say on the matter:

"You raise concerns in your letter about Indonesia for the productioon of palm oil. We are aware of these in our sourcing of this ingnrediencct and can confrim that we are a user of palm oil. All sourcing policies for hte ingredients we use are discussed and agreed at senior levels within the company, and indeed we do operate an Ethical Sourcing policy in conjunction withour retail customers and their requirements of us as a business.

Organisations such as Friends of the Earth are key participants in the move towards Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) and have urged that companies do not boycott palm oil and move to other oils. They recognise that other replacement crops such as Soybean oil have an equal issue associated with deforestation. Moving out of palm oil would potentially only switch the issue elsewhere.

One of the key achievements of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is that although they have not yet certified oil as sustainable, they have identifed valuable rainforest and ensured that any land converted from this rainforest to palm oil plantation after November 2005 will never achieve sustainability status. Moreover, such forest when they fall within land owned by palm oil plantations will, under the RSPO scheme, need to be actively protected, not just shut off and neglected. For instance, plantations will need to ensure that water supplies remain open and that animals are able to move along corridors between rainforests. This will cost the plantations time and money to achieve and they need support to do this.

Boycotting palm oil on an individual basis could very slightly reduce the world wide demand for palm oil, but would also remove the incentive to attain accredited status. It is also seen that once certification becomes a reality, it will help improve the sociological situation for many people and again, ongoing support to achieve the right outcome is important.

As a business, we have reduced the amount of palm oil we use in recent years. We continue to undertake development work which will help us to move this further. However, alternative oils are very different and present technical issues which we have not always been able to overcome. Supporting the aims of the RSPO will ensure that the best outcome is achived."

I'm glad they are able to see the big picture, and discuss the issues of protecting the rainforest and the people who rely on it, however yet again they fail to admit why they don't put palm oil in their list of ingredients. I am completely baffled why so few companies have the guts to do this.

Twitter and Procter&Gamble

2009-09-11T22:40:00.005+01:00

Social media's a fabulous thing - it allows you to get in touch with all sorts of people, from all sorts of places, both to learn something new and also to share what you have in common. I'm a huge fan of Twitter - and since signing up I've made a great network of people who are passionate about the environment and in particular the plight of the orangutan and the devastation caused by palm oil.

Today I 'met' a new friend @RikaNauck who has kindly forwarded me a response she received from Proctor & Gamble regarding their thoughts on palm oil. Thank you Rika! Here it is:

"We can confirm that Procter & Gamble (P&G) supports a moratorium on the illegal conversion of High-Conservation-Value (HGV)-designated forests for the production of palm oil. This approach is consistent with the principles and criteria set forth by the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which has been largely-embraced as an industry-accepted, responsible practice.

P&G remains fully-committed to the sustainable sourcing of palm oiil and its by-products. We have followed the work of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) since its inception, through FELDA, our joint venture partner in Malaysia.

We share our sustainability guidelines with our suppliers, which can be found on our website at http://pg.com/company/our_commitment/sustainability.jhtml We also encourage and reward sustainable and responsible behaviour on behalf of our suppliers. P&G buys its palm products from a variety of reputable sources with the majority of these products originating in Malaysia and Indonesia, the world's two largest palm oil producers with the majority of suppliers being members of the RSPO.

We agree that illegal deforestation and land usage remains a pivotal issue for all stakeholders associated with palm oil supply and utilization. Our partners and suppliers have strict policies in nplace ensuring they do not initiate nor contribute to illegal deforestation practices and/or behaviour, based on the laws in place in the specific country or region in which they operate. They are also strictly adhering to RSPO-specifed criteria in the selection, designation and protection of HCV forests in both existing and proposed plantation sites. In addition, our suppliers also have "zero burn" polices in place, forbidding the use of fire for site-clearing, andselection, use and allowable depth of peat-lands for use in the planting of palm plantations.

In summary, we share your conerns regarding illegal deforestation practices and continue to support and advocate the need for sustainable behaviour as it relates to the sourcing of palm oil and its by-products with all of our suppliers and partners moving forward."

Green & Blacks

2009-09-08T20:46:00.010+01:00

Another response from a company on their use of palm oil. This time it's Green & Black's.

"Thank you for contacting Green & Black’s concerning the sourcing of palm oil we use in our products. It is always helpful for us to know the concerns of our customers so thank you sincerely for taking the time to contact us.

Most of the fat used in our chocolate is cocoa butter derived from the cocoa bean. However, we do have a small number of products which have components containing palm oil.

• Butterscotch chocolate range: palm oil is found within the butterscotch pieces so this affects the Butterscotch bar and Butterscotch Easter egg range
• Hazelnut Spread
• After Dinner Mint Chocolate Leaves
• The Assortment
• Soft- filled milk chocolate eggs
• Nut & Seed and Fruit & Nut cereal bars

I can confirm that where we do use palm oil, this oil comes from a supplier who is a member of the recently established Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The RSPO set the gold standard for the sourcing of palm oil. This body was established to address the issue of sustainable production of palm oil. You can find out more about their work through their website: www.sustainable-palmoil.org.

Thank you once again for your interest in our brand and I hope that with these reassurances you will continue to enjoy our products in future."

This is a very similar response to the one reported on @kusasi blog at http://nopalmoil.wordpress.com/ . Hopefully, the fact that they have a 'standard' answer ready to go to enquiries of this nature, mean that they are getting enquiries. With any luck customer pressure will encourage them to reduce this list of products containing palm oil further, perhaps getting rid of it all together. Let's keep it up people. Change can happen.

Waitrose

2009-09-05T17:14:00.002+01:00

Another response to my letter campaign - this time from Waitrose:

"I am sorry that you are concerned about our products and apologise for the inconvenience you have been caused.

Palm oil, a versatile raw material, is an ingredient included in many products including soap, chocolate, biscuits, ready meals, ice creams, cereal, margarine, paints, make up, shampoo, shower gels, washing powder and fabric softeners. As such it plays a valuable role in the economic development of many countries but as demand for plantations increases, so does the threat to the habitats and biodiversity of tropical forests in Asia, Africa and South America.

As a responsible retailer Waitrose constantly aims to minimise the impact of its operations on the environment and we are keen to see the wide-scale implementatioons of a robust and auditable traceability system for palm oil.

Waitrsoe joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a global forum that encourages sustainable palm oil production and sue, in January 2006. We firmly believe that its work is essential to ensure that production and use of palm oil is carried out in a sustainable manner based on economic, social and environmental viability. Waitrose is committed to the organisation's objectives and we will actively contribute to the growth of sustainable palm oil through its practices and the implementation of relevant projects.

Waitrose does not sell any own brand palm oil. We do sell own brand productws containn palm oil as an ingredient and it is our strict policy to individually name 'palm oil' in our ingredients lists, not to use the term 'blended vegetable oils'. This means that our customers can easily identify which of our own label products contain palm oil. For branded products, the labelling of ingredients is the responsibility of the brand manufacturers. However, we are committed to sharing best practice and we encourage branded suppliers to apply the same principles and polcies as Waitrose. A number of brand manufacturers are also members of the RSPO.

In light of our concerns about the sustainability of palm oil we have developed a firm Sustainable Palm Oil Policy and sourcing guidelines in partnership with the oil producers who supply us. After an extensive consultation period, the RSPO have recently finalised a credible definition of sustainable palm oil production and a set of under pinning criteria. Working with other members of the RSPO Waitrose is helping to devise systems to trace palm oil back to the plantation so that once palm oil is certified as sustaineble (using the RSPO criteria) our suppliers can purchase it.

We will continue with our existing activities - implenting our Sustainable Palm Oil Policy and engaging suppliers in this issue through our Producer Group - until such a time certified sustainable palm oil becomes available and a viable option for retailers and their suppliers."

It might be my previous experiences with Waitrose that are clouding my judgement, but I am more reassured that Waitrose are actively trying to work towards getting sustainable palm oil and taking the matter seriously, than others I have heard from, like Tesco. They are the only company so far to actually label palm oil in their products which, at the very least, gives the consumer the choice of whether to make the purchase or not. If all companies followed suit then the 'power of the people' could really make a point by not buying any products containing palm oil which would mean it would soon prove not to be as profitable as it is now.

Mars

2009-09-04T21:43:00.003+01:00

So, one of the other manufacturers that's responded is Mars. Looking at what it produces it covers a lot more than I thought. Here is what their customer service team had to say on the issue of palm oil:

Mars deals only with those suppliers who have respect for the environment and is committed to working with all stakeholders to make progress towards more sustainable production.

"We support the environment and the sustainable production of palm oil. Currently we ONLY use palm oil suppliers that are members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). We are going further and our aim is to move to 100% RSPO certified palm oil, originanting from sustainable sources by 2015.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a non-profit association works to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil within the supply chain and open dialogue between its stakeholders. More information on the RSPO can be found at www.rspo.org."

It was a nice, quick reply - but didn't answer my questions. I would have thought a company that was responsible for making something we eat, would know what ingredients were going in to the product. It amazes me how so far no one has specified which products have palm oil in and which do not. None of them admit why they don't label it - is it because they actually don't care what type of 'vegetable oil' goes into the food as long as it's the cheapest the supplier can get hold of. That doesn't sound very responsible to me. The other, quite worrying, point in Mars' response is that they 'ONLY use palm oil suppliers that are members of the RSPO" - yet still have the aim of using 100% certified palm oil by 2015, which means that members of the RSPO are producing non-sustainable palm oil. The RSPO sounds like a very good idea in theory, but the more I hear, the more I wonder what effect it is actually having in the real world, or whether it is just being used by big companies as a PR tool to 'show' people they're doing something.

Finally, what concerns me most is that Mars and many others aim (which doesn't even amount to a promise) to be using 100% certified sustainable palm oil by 2015. That's another 6 years away. Experts are predicting the orangutan will be exinct in the wild in 10 years. 2015 might be too late.

Kelloggs

2009-09-04T21:26:00.005+01:00

Whilst I'm waiting for the rest of the large supermarket / shops to respond in my letter campaign (only half have responded so far) I decided it was time to hit the manufacturers. So I've sent off my letters and emails this week. It's surprising how many 'brands' are under the one company.

One of the companies I targeted was Kelloggs. I was first alerted to the fact they were using palm oil in their products through @kusasi on Twitter who had noticed the confusing labelling on Special K. The Independent's black listed (viewable at Kusasi's great blog) labelled it as containing palm oil, but on examination, none of the ingredients mentioned anything remotely vegetable oily. So he contacted Kelloggs. Then, along with some other 'Twits' (including @DAYLEE) I contacted Kelloggs. Together we can make them sit up and take notice. I was told "We use minimal amounts of palm oil in 50 of our products - most of which are snacks" and @kusasi & @DAYLEE were both told "Yes we do use a limited amount of Palm Oil in our products. In 2009, Kellogg will offset 4 percent of its worldwide palm oil use."

If anyone can tell us what 'offset 4 percent of its worldwide palm oil use" - we would really like to know. Surely if it's not sustainable, it's not sustainable and to be honest 4% is an extremely low number and not something to be proud of.

So, to be honest, I'm not really any the wiser to what Kelloggs products are orangutan & forest friendly, so I think the best thing to do is to avoid them as much as possible until they get their act together!

Adopt an Oranguan

2009-08-29T22:22:00.010+01:00

If, like me, you are limited in what you can do in the battle to save the orangutan then why not do something simple.

For just £5 a month (that's about 2 lattes) you can adopt one of those beautiful creatures. BOS UK run a wonderful adoption scheme. You choose 1 of the oranguans that star in Orangutan Diaries and they send you a gorgeous photo, a certificate of adoption, the background to your chosen orangutan and regular updates. In addition you get to know that you are helping fund the amazing work BOS are doing in Borneo.

There's:

Ruthie Lomon Grendon

Kesi Nody

For more information and to adopt please visit www.savetheorangutan.co.uk

Tesco

2009-08-29T17:10:00.002+01:00

And now time for the big giant, Tesco:

"I can appreciate your concerns regarding the implications of Palm Oil production and I would like to take this opportunity to explain our position.

We acknowledge the significant environmental consequences of rainforest destruction and the impact this is having on the orangutans. It's therefore very important that a sustainable supply is developed and supported by food and non-food manufacturers, especially those who currrently use Palm Oil in their products. But, such a supply, on the basis of an internationally agreed definition, doesn't exist at present.

We're encouraged that the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm OIl (RSPO) has recently come forward with a definition of sustainable production. This mmeans that, after a thereshold date, Palm Oil being produced on land from which the rainforest had been cleraed would be excluded. Palm Oil is usded inmany products and by a lrage number of manufacturers across the world. So, translating this promising work into the reality of an internationally recognised supply, as well as a market for the sustainability of Palm Oil, is a major challenge. I would like to reassure you that we're determined to play our part in meeting it.

To help us with this, we've recently become members of the RSPO. The RSPO will help the industry identify ways of sourcing our knowledge and ideas, and we'll make a positive contribution to building a sustainable supply chain.

We've also initiated discussions with other major retailers through the British Retail Consortium (BRC). And we're currently in ongoing discussions with our suppliers, to identify how we can all work together to achieve the goal of a genuinely sustainable supply of Palm Oil, and over which time scale.

We understand the strong level of concern about the loss of rainforest and the implications this holds for the habitat of the orangutans it supports. As a member of the RSPO and by working with other retailers we're playing our part."

For some reason, probably their track record, I don't have much trust in Tesco. For a company with such a large market share surely it should be leading the other retailers forwards. From this I get the impression that it's tagging along as a PR job rather than doing anything significant - or is that just me?

Morrisons

2009-08-29T16:58:00.003+01:00

The letters are coming back thick and fast now with 2 more responses to date. Here's Morrisons' comments:

"Morrisons takes your concerns about palm oil and the impact of deforestation of orangutans seriously. We are committed to encouraging the responsible sourcing of palm oil and ensureing that its cultivation is not threatening forests or natural habitats.

Although palm oil is entirely GM free and has the highest yield per hectare than any oil or oilseed crop, it is recognised that there are environmental pressures on its expanision to eco-sensitive areas, particularly as oil palm can only be cultivated in tropical areas of Asia, Africa and South America. It is therefore vital that production and use of palm oil must be done in a sustainable manner based on economic, social and environmental viability.

As part of our commitment, in 2008 Morrisons was accepted on to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), to help promote best practice for the cultivation and use of sutstainable palm oil throughout the supply chain.

In addition, we intend to strengthen our position in 2009 and to monitor product specifications through supplier audit activity. There are around 35,000 lines of products in store of branded and own brand products at time and you will appreciate that any review across the business can be a fairly lengthly process. As a result of our approach, our policy has started to take practical effect so that, for example, we have recently introduced a new Heath and Beauty range incorporating certified sustainable palm oil.

I do hope this letter has gone some way to reassuring you that we take our responsibilities in the area very serioously."

Sainsbury's

2009-08-27T20:22:00.007+01:00

Now it is Sainsbury's turn in the palm oil spotlight - here is what they have to say on the matter:

"I appreciate your concerns about the use of palm oil in the products we sell. We're aware that palm oil cultivation is a contributor to deforestation and climate change, and has a direct impact on the natural habitat of orangutans. I'm grateful for the chance to let you know what we're doing in this area.

At the end of May 2008, our Basics fish fingers became the first food in a UK supermarket to contain certified sustainable palm oil. Since then, we have also converted the rest of our frozen fish range and our standard bars of soap. Our aim is that all the palm oil in our own-brand products will come from sustainable sources by December 2014. In order to achieve this, we are dependent on may more plantations achieving certificatioon, and the suppliers of our raw materials and ingredients sorcing sustainable palm oil.

We continue to lead the way in supporting those organisataions best positioned to make a difference in this area. We remain fully engaged in the work of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The RSPO has made significant progress in overcoming the considerable challenges of tracing and certifying palm oil as sustatinable. We recognise that there's a need to review the RSPO certification standard continually to ensure it's alwaus recognised as thorough and robuts. We therefore play an active part in encouraging the RSPO tomake improvements. You can find out more information on this initiative at www.rspo.org

We're very proud that Justin King, our Chief Executive, is part of the steering group of the Prince's Rainforest Project (PRP), which aims to stop the destruction of rainforests. For more on this initiative, please visit the PRP website at www.rainforestsos.org

As most palm oil is still constumed in Asia and the Far East, there is a limit to the difference that Sainsbur's alone an make. However, as well as committing to removing unsstainable palm oil from our products, we are determined to demonstrate to companies in these countries that using certified sustainable pam oil can be both responsible and profitable.

Around 30% of global palm oil comes from small farmers. We recognise the valuable contribution that palm oil makes to the economies of developing countries, and how muchmany individuals and communitities rely on growing palm oil for their lievelihoods. For this reason, we do not fee it would be responsible for us to ban the use of palm oil in our products. This view is supported b y organisations like the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace, who are campaigning for improved palm oil sourcing standards. We believe we can make the most difference by promoting hte use of certified sustainable palm oil in our products.

We know that our customers want to know which products contain palm oil. We are in the process of making sure all our products containing palm oil say so on the label. Many other companies conceal the use of palm oil in their products by labelling it as vegetable oil. All our fresh and chilled food containing palm oil is labelled as such, and the packaging of the remainder of our products will be updated by July 2009.

We understand that there is a need for collective action, particularly between retailers, processsors and investors, to bring about change throughout the palm oil sector. In 2007, we established a European Retailers' Working Group, to share experis and give a voice to the concerns of our customers. This forum also provides opportunitiies for us to influence change at a UK, EU and global level. We Have chaired this group since it was established, which further reflects our commitment to bringing about change not only in our own sourcing policies, but in the industry as a whole.

We have been very encouraged by the positive feedback we've received from leading organisations like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK. This support reflects the high regard in which Sainsbury's is held due to the major moves we've made in the sourcing of sustainable palm oil."

I feel this is a much more thorough response than the one I received from ASDA as it addresses more of the issues I raised. I do, however, feel it might be a bit of a standard letter in the sense it was once again not from the CEO (although it did say he normally responds personally but he is on holiday) - and also the phrase "the packaging of the remainder of our products will be updated by July 2009", still sounds like it is an ambition for the future rather than something that has happened (which it should have as we near the end of August).

I was interested and encouraged to read that WWF and BOS UK have given Sainsbury's positive feedback over their actions and would be interested to hear from these organisations themselves on the matter.

Michelle Desilets

2009-08-25T23:03:00.007+01:00

Another key figure in the fight to save the orangutan and the forests in which they live in is Michelle Desilets.

Michelle has been working in orangutan conservation for over 15 years. She founded Borneo Orangutan Survival UK in 2002 and Orangutan Land Trust, which seeks permanent solutions for the long term survival of the orangutan in the wild by ensuring safe areas of land for them to live in.

Like Lone, Michelle's passion for great apes began at school. In class she saw films featuring Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall and Birute Galdikas. Though she did not aim to follow in their footsteps, she remained fascinated by the behaviour of these creatures and read widely in the area, learning about them and their habitat. Whilst pursuing a career as a teacher, Michelle always wanted the chance to see the great apes in the wild.

This dream was first realised on a trip to East and Central Africa where she came face to fae with wild gorillas. A trip to Borneo followed in 1994 where she voluteered at the Tanjun Puting National Park. During her time here, one little orangutan caught her attention more than the others and stole her heart. Michelle returned later to look after little Somalia and the other orangtuan orphans that came in to the project.

Three years later in 1997 Michelle and Lone decided to investigate the possibility of creating a new project deep in Central Kalimantan to give refuge and hope to the rising numbers of orphaned orangutans. Advice and help came from Dr Willie Smits and they found financial backing in the Gibbon Foundation and BOS Indonesia and the now famous Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project began.

The firset dozen orangutans arrived at the project in 1999. Now it cares for over 500 orangutans and is viewed as one of, if not the, finest primate rehabilitation projects in the world.

Michelle hasn't stopped here. She has since begun a number of international campaigns to help orangutans. these include campaigns to stop their illegal trade, to repatriate smuggled orangutans and the campaign for sustainable oil.

Four years ago Michelle decided to devote all her time to these campaigns and along with spending much time out in Borneo on the front line, she never stops looking for ways of finding the much needed funding for the project.

Michelle is an amazing woman; dedicated, hard-working and inspiring.

ASDA's response on palm oil

2009-08-25T21:18:00.007+01:00

Recently I wrote to some of the large supermarkets that are members of the RSPO to get their response on the issue of palm oil. Today, I recieved a letter from ASDA. This is what they had to say:

"As a major retailer we take our corporate responsibilities extremely seriously and always act responsibly in terms of putting matters concerning the environment and animal welface ahead of company profits.

The major challenge faced by all manufacturers and retailers, and recognised by organisations such as the World Wildlife Fund and Friends of the Earth, is that sustainable palm oil is available only in very small quantities. However, if Orangutans, Gibbons and other wild animals are under threat it's apparent something needs to be done. It's important that reputable companies which produce sustainable palm oil are encouraged to expand the availability of their product and so promote and protect the diverse environments in which these species live.

We're engaged in discussions with two major organisations - namely Friends of the Earth and World Wildlife Fund. We hope to assist them over the coming months in identifying the source of this issue and encouraging the development and use of sustainable palm oil.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us and I hope we can support any efforts in finding resolutions to this matter before it's too late. Please let me know if I can help further."

I was surprised to hear back from any of them, particularly so soon and although it wasn't directly from the CEO, it is a reply. However, my main questions such as:

How many products do you stock (own brand and other) contain palm oil?
Why is palm oil not labelled to give people the choice?
Why do you use palm oil at all until it is sustainable?

Were simply ignored.

I feel I might take her up on 'Please let me know if I can help further'.

RSPO

2009-08-24T22:53:00.004+01:00

What is RSPO? This stands for the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. It was formed in 2004 in reaction to the urgent and increasing global demand for sustainably produced palm oil. It's primary aim is to promote the grwoth and use of sustainable palm oil products through both credible global standards and the engagement of stakeholders.

RSP is a non-profit association and its stakeholders come from 7 different sectors of the palm oil industry:

Palm oil producers
Palm oil processors / traders
Consumer goods manufactureres
Banks / investors
Retailers
Environmenttal or nature conservation NGOs
Social / developmental NGOs

The idea is they work together to develop and implement these globabl standards for producing sustainable palm oil.

Currently its members include high profile, multinationals such as Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Colgate,Palmolive, The Body Shop, Cadbury, Tesco, ASDA and Waitrose.

It seems that the RSPO and its members are full of ideas and aspirations, but when major players such as Unilever only promise to use certified palm oil by 2015, it seems a weak promise. 2015 is 6 years away. Estimates predict the orangutan will be exinct in the wild in 10 years. These promises are too little too late.

As membership to the RSPO is completely voluntary no-one seems to be in a position to force these companies to act - and to act now. It's all very good PR, but not much action seems to be taking place. In addition to this, recent reports say that even 'certified palm-oil' is not necessarily sustainable at all. RSPP auditors can certify a planation as sustainable and hand out certificates equal to the number of tonnes of palm oil produced there. The plantation owners are then able to sell these certifiates on - to anyone. Those buying these certificates can then claim their palm oil is sustainable without it even being checked.

Surely this can't be right. This means that we, the consumers, are being lied to - not just misled but deliberately lied to and this cannot continue.

We can make a difference. We have to make each and every one of these companies take responsibility for their own products. We deserve to know what goes into our goods and we have the right to choose. If enough of us stand together we can hold them accountable for the awful scenes currently being witnessed in Indonesia.

For me the name 'Roundtable' conjours up images of King Arthur and his Knights. They were a noble group of men who kept their word, who knew the meaning of honour. If this group of multinational companies chooses to go by the same name, then their sense of honour and commitment should be no less. I promise to do all I can to help the orangutan and the forests of Indonesia, to get the companies to at least label their products properly in the short term and only use sustainable palm oil as soon as possible. These companies have made their own promises - we have to make sure they keep them!

Do what you can.

Your Pantry

2009-08-17T22:44:00.005+01:00

Have you looked in your cupboards recently? When I say looked, I mean really looked. Any idea what is in even 10% of the food you've got in there? Along with their salt, sugar, food colours and e-numbers most of these foods will probably be tainted with the death of orangutans.

Now I agree, that sounds a bit extreme, but palm oil is becoming more widely used as an every day ingredient in every day food. The worst thing is that companies are not obliged to specify their products contain it. Palm oil can simply be labelled generically as vegetable oil or vegetable fat.

Looking through my cupboards I was suprised at how few products specify their vegetable oil. True some so label sunflower oil, but most is the generic vegetable oil. The only company I have found so far to specifically list palm oil as an ingredient is Waitrose. Logging onto their website they are also one of the few companies who publically state their policy on palm oil www.waitrose.com/food/foodissuesandpolicies/palmoil.aspx It looks like though they are using palm oil in a few products they are trying to source it correctly. I'll be interested to see how they respond to my letter regarding this and what evidence they can provide of their actions.

I urge every one to take just a few moments to look at the ingredients in their cupboards. By doing this I'm sure you'll realise how big a problem this is and is becoming. We need to act now to stop this. It can be done. Consumers really can affect a change in the big companies as was recently seen in New Zealand http://shar.es/Qabj where Cadbury finally caved in and reversed their decision to replace cocoa butter with palm oil.

Now let's get it happening here!

One Voice

2009-08-10T23:45:00.003+01:00

Sitting here at my laptop in the middle of England, with little opportunity to get my voice heard by the global decision makers I feel almost helpless in the fight to save the orangutans. I'm not as brave as Lone, and I can't move out to Borneo to be on the front line.

Their plight and the speed at which it is happening moves me and I have to do something. I can do something. I can write letters.

This might not seem much, but if every consumer wrote a letter, even 1 letter per family, then those decision makers would have to start to listen and take notice of what we say. The first batch of letters are going out to the main supermarket chains, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda etc. They can all be found under the members' lists on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), so theoretically they should be making a difference to how palm oil is produced. The actions they are taking, if any, are not clear. Hopefully by writing to the CEOs of these large companies I should get answers to my questions, such as which of their products contain palm oil, how much is from sustainable sources, when will palm oil be specified on ingredients labels?

I will keep you up to date with their responses!

Lone Droscher Nielsen

2009-08-09T18:33:00.007+01:00

A school project about the local zoo began a lifetime's devotion for Lone Droscher Nielsen. Lone met her first orangutan, from Kalimantan, at the zoo whilst researching her project. This experience lasted into adulthood and later, when working for the Scandinavian Air System as a stewardess, she learnt that Kalimantan orangutans were in serious danger. In 1993, Lone finally moved to Borneo permanently to dedicate her life to this critically endangered species.

6 years later she opened the Orangutan Reintroduction Project in Central Kalimantan at Nyaru Menteng and it welcomed its first dozen orangutans. From small beginnings this centre is now the largest primate rescue project in the world with several hundred orangutans in its care. Lone and her team's aim is not just to rescue the orangutans but also to rehabilitate and finally release them back to the wild where they belong.

This not only requires hard work and dedication at the centre in teaching the orangutans how to live out in the wild, but also to secure enough forest in which to release them.

This alone is incredibly time consuming and expensive as so much of the land is now being cleared to make profit on palm-oil. There are many challenges in securing land, funding and support as well as helping as many orangutans recover from being orphaned, torture and maltreatment. Some how, these dedicated people are able to do just this.

To learn more and find out how you can help visit www.savetheorangutan.co.uk

Nyaru Menteng

2009-08-05T23:12:00.006+01:00

28km from Palangka Raya in Borneo, lies a haven for orangutans.

All ages live here from orphaned babies, barely a month old, to large, adult males that have lost their homes from the unbelievably rapid deforestation that is taking place on this Indonesian Island.

Here there are a few buildings and some dedicated staff whose goal it is to save this species from extinction.

The orangutan survival centre lies in a forest area that has a rich diversity of fauna and flora. The location was chosen by Lone Droscher Nielsen and BOS with great care. It needed to be central to Kalimantan, where many captured orangutans come from and it needed to have access to towns and have enough undisturbed forest for the succesful rehabilitation of the orangutans.

The centre even has its own 3 hectare fruit planation which produces pineapple, rambutan and mango among other fruits. This is a key part of the centre as it is one of the primary suppliers of fruit to these orangutans.

Over 150 people work at Nyaru Menteng and include babysitters, vets, guards and assistants.

The amazing work that all of these people do is not cheap and BOS rely on donations to help keep this work going. Whether knowingly or not we are all contributing to the destruction of the orangutan's habitat by our consumption of palm oil which is driving companies to increase their plantations through deforestation. Palm oil is in so many products and without companies needing to detail its inclusion in ingredients, it is hard to find a way around the problem. For the time being the orangutans have Lone and her team at Nyaru Menteng, but this is not a solution. We all need to act, we need to write to MPs, MEPs and companies to demand change.

For more information please visit www.savetheorangutan.co.uk

The Palm Oil Threat

2009-08-02T16:12:00.002+01:00

One of the largest threats to the orangutan is the huge deforestation of Borneo and Sumatra to make way for palm oil plantations. Orangutans are predominantly solitary creatures who require large amounts of forest in order to provide them with enough food. With the deforestation these animals are being squashed into ever decreasing pockets of forest. They are often seen as pests and are frequently killed in order to make way for palm oil trees.

Palm oil is a vegetable oil used in thousands of every day products all around the world. It can be found in biscuits, chocolate, margarine, toothpaste and make-up. The oil palm tree originates from Africa, but because it flourishes anywhere with heat and regular rainfall, it has become the plantation crop of this century.

Currently companies are not required to state the type of palm oil used in its products, let alone whether or not the palm oil is from sustainable supplies or not. In fact, many probably don't know if they use palm oil in the products on their shelves.

Palm oil will also soon be driving cars as bio-fuel.

As demand for this product grows, the threat to the orangutan increases. One of our closest relatives is close to extinction. There are many predictions to how long this creature can survive in the wild, but it could be as little as 10 years before there are no wild orangutans left on Borneo or Sumatra.

This is why we need to act now. We need to write letters to MPs, MEPs and large companies such as Tesco, Asda, Waitrose, Mars, Nestle and Cadbury demanding that we, the consumer, are better informed of their use of palm oil and how they intend to ensure it is from sustainable resources. By doing this we can put pressure on them to change what they do and make real change to the world of the orangutan. They have a responsibility and so do we.

2009-08-02T11:51:00.002+01:00

This is Kesi, an orphaned orangutan who found sanctuary at Nyaru Menteng. She lost her left hand whilst clinging on to her mother who was being macheted to death by palm oil plantation workers. Though disabled, with the love and dedication of staff, Kesi is now an excellent tree climber and nest builder and a wonderful role model for newly arriving orangutan orphans.

Though their world is shrinking and the orangutans are having to endure cruelty and trauma, there is still hope left. We can stop this inhumane treatment, if we stand together and act now.

The Orangutan

2009-08-02T11:23:00.000+01:00

Orangutans are one of our closest relatives, sharing 97% of the same DNA as us. They are the only great ape to come from Asia where they live on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. They show significant intelligence and the ability to think and reason. They makes tools to help get food and water and even make umbrellas when it rains very heavily.

Recent research shows that orangutans are the most intelligent animal, other than humans. They even have a higher learning capacity and problem solving ability than chimps.

In the wild orangutans live upto 40years, in captivity it's about 50years. As there is so much to learn in order to survive, baby orangutans will stay nursing with their mother until they are about 6years old. Even after this the young will stay close by for many more years learning more skills. Females give birth eveyr 6-11years which is why orangutan populations take such a long time to recover from any disasters.