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Petition Tag - palm oil
1. Americans against global warming from palm oil 
We as Americans are directly causing global warming and animal cruelty everytime we buy something that contains palm oil. This has to stop! Palm oil is used in everything from our breakfast cereals and chocolates to our cosmetics and soon to come, in the gas we use to drive our cars!
Palm oil is also the biggest cause of global warming as forests are cut down to plant more plantations and more than 5 million acres of forests are under the chain saw in South America, Africa and Asia.
We are already starting to see the effects of global warming on American lives. This must be stopped at our borders.
The issue of palm oil plantations displacing and killing orangutans and tigers, as well as other forest dwelling creatures, and the displacing forest communities through removing their food source, and utterly devastating vast tracts of biodiverse jungle in and around Sumatra has been at the forefront of environmental issues for quite some time.
However, following the apparently intentional forest fires in late March 2012 by the palm oil companies, which is believed to have killed hundreds of orangutans and countless other creatures, it is time to enact an immediate blanket ban on the import of palm oil, and the import of products containing palm oil, and use of palm oil in domestically produced products in Australia, as well as mandatory labelling.
3. Demand the labeling of palm oil in cosmetic products
The Sumatran orangutan society, have been very successful in campaigning to get palm oil labeled in all products who use it. They have recently won their clear labels, not forests campaign and it is now compulsory for all food products containing palm oil to be labeled in Europe and the UK. However this does not cover all products...cosmetics are not included in this campaign but i believe they should be.
The palm oil industry is responsible for destroying thousands of acres of deforestation in other countries. Currently 300 football fields are destroyed in south east Asia every hour for palm oil. And it's not just the vegetation that is being affected! The animals that rely on the forest (such as orangutans) are affected, many orangutans have no place to go when the forest is destroyed. 20 years ago their were more than 300,000 Bornean orangutans in the wild, now their are less than 45,000 in the wild. Orangutans only give birth once in 6 - 10 years therefore it is hard for them to breed as much as they are dying out due to deforestation.
Please go to http://www.wspa.org.uk/wspaswork/orangutans/ for more information on orangutans.
But worst of all the industry does not even label palm oil! Most palm oil is labeled as vegetable oil, therefore many people are unaware that it is in their shopping products. This is taking away our freedom to know what exactly goes into our cosmetics, it takes away are choice of whether or not to use palm oil! This is wrong, they should label palm oil and deliberately point out if it is palm oil free!
4. Demand palm oil be labeled!
Today palm oil is used in lots of shopping products, some of which includes pears soap, pringles, most peanut butters, clover, ginsters, haribo, Good fellas pizza, warburtons and much more. Unfortunately I wouldn't be mentioning this if it didn't have such an affect on the environment.
The palm oil industry is responsible for destroying thousands of acres of deforestation in other countries. Currently 300 football fields are destroyed in south east Asia every hour for palm oil. And it's not just the vegetation that is being affected! The animals that rely on the forest (such as orangutans) are affected, many orangutans have no place to go when the forest is destroyed. 20 years ago their were more than 300,000 Bornean orangutans in the wild, now their are less than 45,000 in the wild. Orangutans only give birth once in 6 - 10 years therefore it is hard for them to breed as much as they are dying out due to deforestation.
Please go to http://www.wspa.org.uk/wspaswork/orangutans/ for more information on orangutans.
But worst of all the industry does not even label palm oil! Most palm oil is labeled as vegetable oil, therefore many people are unaware that it is in their food. This is taking away our freedom to know what exactly goes into our food, it takes away are choice of whether or not to eat palm oil! This is wrong, they should label palm oil and deliberately point out if it is palm oil free!
5. Mandatory Labeling of Palm Oil
Every hour over 300 football fields of pristine, tropical rainforest is destroyed to make room for the establishment and expansion of palm oil plantations. Huge swaths of rainforest are burnt to the ground, leaving thousands of innocent animals, including the endangered Orangutan, helpless. Local tribes who have lived in the forest for thousands of years are forcibly removed, often without compensation.
BUT it doesn't have to be this way. There is an abundance of degraded land and grassland that could easily be converted to palm oil plantations. The only reason companies destroy the rainforest is to selfishly profit from the sale of the timber.
To help support sustainable palm oil, the first step is for palm oil to be labelled on food products. Currently, with no mandatory labelling, consumers do not know if the food products they purchase support this destruction. You have a right to know!
Passed in the sente on the 23rd June, the truth in labeling bill is set to be presented to the House of Representatives as early as July 4th. To show your support for this bill, please sign our petition.
Visit http://www.truthinlabelling.com.au/palmoil.html for more information on the Bill being put forward by Nick Xenophon (Independent Senator for South Australia).
Independent Senator for South Australia, Nick Xenophon, Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Bob Brown and Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, Senator Barnaby Joyce, are calling for greater truth in labelling.
In 2009, the three Senators introduced the Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling Laws) Bill and the Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling Laws – Palm Oil) Bill.
These Bills address the issues of labelling of Country of Origin and Palm Oil, both of which consumers have a right to be informed about.
Palm oil is destroying their habitat.
Palm oil is in 1 in 10 productson British shelves. It is grown in tropical countries in South East Asia, Africa and South America. Large tracts of rainforest are cut down to provide plantations to grow palm oil.
It is used since it is cheap to produce but it is very environmentally damaging to rainforest species of plants and animals including big cats and primates. It is often labelled in a deceptive way when in products using scientific names and euphemisms.
Ikea, which claims to have an environmental and sustainability promise use palm oil in their candles. This extremely environmentally destructive behaviour is disappointing in a company that puts itself forward as being ethical in every way.
MASC is a charity set up to educate children and adults in the West about what effects their choices in shopping have on environments far removed and easily forgotten from themselves.
8. Save our rainforests from palm oil production
There are many animals and plants even trees in the rainforest going extinct so now you can help!
Also Malaysia is the top palm oil producer (44%) and Indonesia is second with 36 %!
9. Label Palm Oil. Save the Orangutan. Save the Rainforest.
The orangutan and its habitat are seriously at risk due to palm oil production - an ingredient in 10% of our supermarket products. As consumers, we cannot make informed and ethical choices on purchases as palm oil is not properly labeled.
Please sign this petition to ask the EU parliament to lead by example and to start to take some action. It is time to to action NOW - before it is too late. Please share this petition with your friends, family and colleagues and on your social networking sites.
Thank you.
Red Alert Orangutan Preservation Campaign
www.primateprotection.org.uk
Auckland Zoo is asking the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to label palm oil on all food products, and we'd love you to join us!
The growth of oil palm plantations to produce palm oil in South East Asia is destroying rainforest habitat and driving the orangutan, Sumatran tiger, Asian elephant, Asian rhino and other rainforest species to extinction.
Palm oil is now in one in 10 supermarket products, but on most of these products, it's not labelled.
We all have the right to make informed choices about what food products we buy, and to not buy foods that destroy rainforest habitat and drive wildlife to extinction.
Please sign our 'Don't Palm Us Off' petition by clicking here or pick up a postcard at the zoo.
Tell FSANZ don't palm us off.
11. Say No To Un-Sustainable Use Of Palm Oil
Palm oil is a major contributor to global warming. Rain forests are being destroyed by either being burnt or logged to make way for Palm oil crops.
Over 1/2 of the world animal species live in these rain forests. Their homes are getting destroyed and they are DYING all because of this. Companies such as Arnotts, Nestle, Kelloggs and the body shop need to stop using Palm oil or get their Palm oil form a sustainable source.
12. Save Orangutans – demand only sustainable palm oil is used by Supermarkets/Manufacturers!
Boycott Palm oil until we have answers!
I have been writing to Manufacturers and Supermarkets in the UK in the past 3 months who are known to use palm oil in their products and are in the top 100 for UK sales, and the news is not very positive and most of them have omitted to answer the questions I posed, particularly in providing me with a list of their products containing palm oil and whether it is sustainable or unsustainable palm oil that they use. Unsustainable palm oil plantations are the biggest threat and killer of the Orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra – these plantation Companies burn and tear down the Rainforests (the Orangutans habitat), kill and torture them. There is a supply of sustainable palm oil out there and it is not being used, so there is no excuse!
I now refuse to use ANY of their products, where possible and instead use products from Companies that do not use palm oil at all until there is proof of sustainable palm oil use. I do not want to be consuming this unhealthy saturated fat.
RSPO – is it just a cover?
The RSPO (Round table for Sustainable Palm oil) was set up in part by one of the biggest users of unsustainable palm oil in the World, in order to manage the promotion and changeover to sustainable palm oil for Companies. It appears to be doing good work, but I do feel that some of the members could be hiding behind their membership and saying that they are ‘doing their bit’ when they are actually, as a Company, doing very little. This does not mean everyone, but some of them, so do not take their membership as being the be all and end all – it is not and we need more proof.
It’s all about time
Time is actually running out for the Orangutan’s and many other animals, such as the Sumatran Tiger. If deforestation for the planting of unsustainable palm oil plantations is not stopped, then the Orangutan will be extinct within around 10 years!
Most Manufacturer’s, Supermarkets, and the RSPO itself do not have strict time scales that they commit to, to make the required changes (change to sustainable palm oil). This is no good – we want some promises and action before the Orangutan is extinct! We need them to tell us WHEN they are going to do something.
It is essentially all about greed……..
1. Our consumer greed for tasty and cheap products. (do we really need to eat biscuits and long life bread anyway?)
2. The Manufacturer’s greed for selling in bulk, their budget products, using palm oil as a cheap bulking agent.
3. The Palm oil Companies greed for selling quickly grown, cheaply produced and lucrative oil.
Listing Palm oil as ‘Vegetable oil’.
The law regarding ingredients listings, is an EU law, and allows manufacturers to list palm oil within the general term ‘vegetable oil’ making it difficult for us to avoid palm oil – please see my other petition for information on this very important subject and sign my other petition here: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-the-orangutan-demand-labelling-of-palm-oil.html
13. Save the Orangutans – Demand Government law change on the labelling of ‘Palm oil’ in our products!
We need to ask the Government to put forward new legislation on the labelling of our products containing palm oil so that Manufacturers cannot label our products with the generic term ‘Vegetable oil’ when it contains destructive palm oil. Label palm oil!
It’s all about time.....
Time is actually running out for the Orangutan’s of Borneo and Sumatra and many other animals, such as the Sumatran Tiger. If deforestation for the planting of unsustainable palm oil plantations is not stopped, then the Orangutan will lose their homes and be extinct within around 10 years!
I have been writing to Manufacturers and Supermarkets in the UK in the past 3 months who are known to use palm oil in their products and are in the top 100 for UK sales. The news is not very positive and most of them have omitted to answer the questions I posed, particularly in providing me with a list of their products containing palm oil and will not commit to whether it is sustainable or unsustainable palm oil that they use. There is a supply of sustainable palm oil out there and it is not being used, so there is no excuse!
List of products containing palm oil......
Until they provide me with a list, as a consumer, I will refuse to use ANY of their products, where possible and instead use products from Companies that do not use palm oil at all. At the end of the day, I do not want to be consuming this unhealthy saturated fat anyway and lessen my chance of a heart attack. BUT the main thing is that we are not allowed the choice to know whether a product has it in or not…..
Listing Palm oil as ‘Vegetable oil’.......
The law regarding ingredients listings, is an EU law, and allows manufacturer’s to list palm oil within the general term ‘vegetable oil’. There is not enough pressure on the European Union to change that right now so we need to do something. As a consumer, I do not want to be munching on palm oil (a saturated fat) and I feel cheated that I have been eating it for so long in my breads, chocolate, biscuits, chewing gum and lot’s more – every day! It is awful that we are not allowed to have the choice to see what products have palm oil in them, because the law says we do not have to be given that choice.
But we must petition and ask the Government to change the law – please sign today!
Plus, see my other petition on the subject of our demand for sustainable palm oil to be used by manufacturers and Supremarkets - signthe other one from this link …http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-the-orangutan-demand-sustainable-palm-oil-use.html
Palm Oil is made from Oil Trees. Oil Trees can be found in Maylasia, South Africa, Indoneesia, Columbia, countries where wild animals live, such as Primates. To get Palm Oil you must cut down Oil Trees, which means you ahve to demolish wild animals habitat.
Do the people who cut down Oil Trees think of the animals? No, they think of themselves and money. While you think about it, just be in mind that there are many substitutes for Palm Oil..... What do YOU think? I think its unfair!
15. Stop using palm oil, change it to something else
Recent discoveries have determined the orangutan species is rapidly declining. This is due to logging in places such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Rainforests are being destroyed and palm oil plantations are established in their place.
An organization under the website, themanoftheforest.com, states the following: “Presently in Borneo (Indonesia and Malaysia) and Sumatra the Orangutan population is down to around 69,000.This may initially sound like a fairly large number, but when you discover that we are currently losing 50 Orangutans a week and that at the present rate of killing there will be none left by 2026, you then realize why the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) have raised the alarm to an unprecedented level with a new report : "Last Stand of the Orangutan : A State of Emergency".”.
This oil is used in products such as food and Girl Scout cookies manufactured by ABC/Interbake and Little Brownie Baker. Let’s change the ingredient and save the environment.
(Please note this petition is not affiliated with any specific troop or Girl Scout council. It was started by an individual.)
16. Say Yes to Orangutan Friendly Palm Oil
Presently in Borneo (Indonesia and Malaysia) and Sumatra the Orangutan population is down to around 69,000.
This may initially sound like a fairly large number, but when you discover that we are currently losing 50 Orangutans a week and that at the present rate of killing there will be none left by 2026, you then realise why the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have raised the alarm to an unprecedented level with a new report : "Last Stand of the Orangutan : A State of Emergency".
The reason for this panic and devastation unfortunately lies very close to home.....Palm Oil.
In your home right now there are likely to be a number of products that you use & consume everyday which contain Palm Oil from Borneo or Sumatra. To enable us to have these products millions of hectares of natural Rainforest are being destroyed to be replaced with Palm Oil Plantations.
These Rainforests are the homes of the Orangutans, but everyday more and more are being slaughtered with guns, machetes, wooden stakes and even set on fire so that multi-national Palm Oil companies can get richer quicker.
In some cases the babies of these Orangutans manage to escape, but unless rescued their fate is as heartbreaking as their parents. Orangutans share 96.4% of human genes and the helpless babies stay stuck to their mothers side for at least the first 5 years of their lives............ Just like our children.