The Problem With Palm Oil by Arisha Zayan and Nicola Capuzzimati

What is palm oil? Most people won't know what is it when they first hear it, but maybe you know these companies that have palm oil as one of their main ingridients: Nutella, Dove, KFC, and Burger King. These companies all use palm oil, even though palm oil seriously harms our planet.

What actually is it? Palm oil is a type of oil that is often put inside of food, and beauty products. It’s high in saturated fat and lacks trans-fat, it can increase bad cholesterol (a waxy fat like substance that is found in the cells of your body) and triglycerides (type of fat found in your blood) and increase the risk of heart disease.

How does palm oil harm the planet? Palm oil grows on trees it is edible fruit of the African (and commonly American) They grow off trees called Oil palm tree. Hundreds of tiny orange-red fruits are produced by these trees, and the fruits are pulped, squeezed, and crushed to make palm oil. Palm oil has caused some of the most biodiverse rainforests, like the Amazon, in the world to be cut down, and this destroys the habitat of species like the orangutan. 64% of the amazon rainforest is cut down. That is more than half of it. Can you imagine how all the animals are suffering? How everyday more and more animal’s habitats are being destroyed and how their families are being separated? Many animals, like the orangutangs, are endangered and close to extinction because of habitat loss. They are one of the worst suffers, but they’re not the only one. The forests are being cut down by forest fires, which has killed over thousands of orangutans yearly, once they are exposed, they are usually shot especially if they are found in the zone of the palm oil trees. Some other animals that are suffering greatly are rhinos, elephants, tigers, and leopards.

Nutella is one of palm oils biggest users and very well known worldwide. 20% of palm oil is put into Nutella. As more and more people buy their products the more the companies reproduce which increased the demand of palm oil. As people cut down more trees and plant palm oil trees, a large amount of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, which adds to climate change and adds greenhouse gas emissions.

But there are ways we can help. If we buy fewer products that use palm oil. Instead of using Nutella or another chocolate-hazelnut spread, a good alternative and delicious choice would be Lindt's chocolate spread that you can find in your local Coop or Pan di Stelle. Instead of using dove for shampoo, use Ethique. Ethique is a type of brand that sells, shampoo, deodarant, conditioners, etc…and the best thing is that Ethique is completely vegan, plastic-free, animal cruelty-free, and does NOT include palm oil.

Robert Swan once said, “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it,” and this is completely true. If we don’t do anything soon, we’ll end up losing our planet, and our home.