Help or Harm Animals?
New App Puts the Choice in your Hands.
Download the Free Certified Sustainable Palm Oil App from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Naples Zoo is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, the organization dedicated to making certified sustainable palm oil the norm. That's because although the jungles of Asia and other tropical forests are far away, our shopping choices have an impact as real as a poacher’s bullet or a ranger’s protection. And it all hinges on palm oil – the most widely produced edible vegetable oil in the world. With an attractively long shelf life and semi-solid state at room temperature, palm oil has rapidly become the ingredient of choice in packaged food like cookies, chocolate, potato chips, and bread – as well as shampoo, lotion, laundry soap, and a multitude of other common products.
Tragically, deforestation to produce that oil has recently spelled death for untold numbers of endangered animals. We have witnessed the loss of more than 50 percent of the orangutan population just since the 1960s. Even more concerning is the loss of over 80 percent of orangutan habitat in the 21st century. But choosing wisely is not quite as easy as reading an ingredient label. Unlike dolphin-safe tuna or organic vegetables, public awareness of this issue has not yet risen to the point of demanding legislation -- even just to have products labeled for easy identification of palm oil and if it is certified sustainable palm oil.
Part of the issue is that manufacturers have hundreds of names that palm oil can be called like sodium lauryl sulphate and stearic acid – and some of them may or may not actually be palm oil. To be sure you're supporting certified sustainable palm oil, look for the RSPO logo on the product. But as many products do not yet use the logo, the links at the top of this page connect to an easy app from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo that uses information from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to identify products with sustainable palm oil. You can download the app to see if the products you use have certified sustainable palm oil. Along with consumer choices to buy bird-friendly coffee and sustainable seafood, caring people like you have a profound ability to make a positive difference both locally and around the world. Each person who supports sustainable palm oil is a truly a voice for our most vulnerable wildlife and the families in these areas – and ultimately for all of us.
Read more in this article and watch the video below that covers the technical aspects of certification to ensure we have the best chance of helping forests, wildlife, and people. Beyond being an RSPO member, Naples Zoo has also joined in with Chester Zoo and nearly 100 other wildlife signatories in support of certified sustainable palm oil.