March 23, 2014

Singapore is breathing a HUGE sigh of relief as the first rain in months arrived recently and for the first time in weeks, the air tasted a bit clean. While the recent haze in Singapore is nowhere near as bad as the filth that swamped us last year (see below a series of pictures from my office of MBS in June 2013) it’s arrived much earlier than normal, and once again the people living in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore suffer – with those living in Sumatra and Borneo- especially the poor – suffering much much more in poorly insulated dwellings. The view of MBS from my office in June 2013 – expected to be worse this year So what’s changed since last year? From what I can see, not much. Oil palm expansion is on the rise as is its market price, soy and palm oil production is expected to rise (both destroy the environment), and if we keep going with use expected to double by 2020, well the Orangutans don’t stand a chance and none of us will be able to breathe. I often ask myself would I care so much if I wasn’t impacted? Well I hope so, but the truth is, most of us don’t do anything unless it’s a real and present danger to ourselves. I get that it’s hard to understand something is important when it’s happening so far away, and often outside of the media glare. But this issue (along with many others) is critical for all of us – seriously. Equally, the work that is being done by an amazing and dedicated group of people who are giving their hearts to make a difference, needs to become mainstream. You and I need to act. We can’t turn a blind eye and continue living our lives, enjoying our commodities without thought. Orangutans could be gone in five years. The Sumatran tigers in three. The quality of air we breathe? Who knows, but it’s at risk to. We can reverse this. We still have time. When the Western Black Rhino was declared extinct last year, my great mate Willie said “we’re all responsible for that.” And you know what, she’s right, we are. I don’t know if my writing a single blog will help much, but in this case, it’s all about momentum and education to ensure the products you are buying come from sustainable palm oil companies. And all we need to do – at a minimum – is be more conscious of what goes in our grocery trolley. We can do a lot more, we can write to the companies using palm oil, we can swamp their social media pages and ask them to change, but if everyone shopped more consciously, what a start! My boys and Aunty Vick in June 2013 Never imagined I’d live in a place where masks were necessary If you don’t keep reading – because it’s a longie – I want you to take four points away from this blog: The Sumatran tiger will be extinct within three years if palm oil production continues at its current rate The Orangutans will be extinct in 5-10 years The countries using products with palm oil most extensively are America, Australia, New Zealand, England and Europe – so it is the developed world creating this havoc and it is us that needs to change To change this trend we need to buy products with no palm oil or sustainably produced palm oil. Currently, more than 50% of our supermarket shopping has palm oil in it – we can change this by paying attention and making different buying decision OK got that? We can change this. It’s up to us. We cannot mourn the loss of two magnificent creates and say there was nothing we could do. We have the power to make a difference. Let’s do it OK? Where do you find palm oil? Shampoo, ice cream, cleaning products, margarine, baking products, biscuits, and make up. Check out this link for a list of palm oil products – with some in the image below. Are they sourcing palm oil sustainably? That’s what we’ve got to find out. It takes a bit of effort, but that’s what’s required now. I’m bummed to see Dove Soap in there – my definite preferred soap and a brand that represents something good in the world – please Dove, I want you working with me here. To keep using Dove soap, I will now check out their sustainability practice and if they’re not playing nice, I must act. I must. Anyone else with me? And any other favorite products jump out at you? I know this is an Australian site and this is a global issue, but there are many global brands on this list, so if it’s in Australia, it’s certainly going to be in the products it produces elsewhere. The big brands, like Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble and Kellogs are using palm oil. If it’s not sustainably harvested, we need to make them accountable. The one company that REALLY surprised me though is Ben & Jerry’s – come on guys, you guys are awesome. You can do better than that. Also another little gripe. I was in one of your Singapore stores recently and before you always offered customers free water. Now we have to buy it – which means more plastic bottles in the world. Not happy Ben & Jerrys. Then there is Harmony products, Balance Bars, chips/crisps/biscuits of many brands (including Tim Tams hello Arnots!!), Girl Scout Cookies (!?!), McDonalds (hardly a surprise), Jewel cookies, Milk (which often contains Vitamin A Palmitate), many Soy Milks, Mrs. Fields (booh!), Pepperidge Farm (booh!), Quaker, Sweet ‘n’ Low (it’s got aspartame too), Avon products, Clinique products, Cover Girl, Herbal Essences, Head & Shoulders, Neutrogena, Mary Kay, Revlon and many other beauty products that also have “healthy” looking names, including organic in the title. Well how can it be organic? I am astonished