The more I learn about how humans have screwed with this planet, the more I realize I know diddily-dick.
The first I ever heard about unsustainable palm oil harvesting in Indonesia and Malaysia, which involves slash 'n burn clearing of rain forests and pushing orangutans toward extinction, was a CNN article right before Halloween THIS YEAR. Turns out just about every form of milk chocolate candy outside a good ol'-fashioned Hershey's bar contains palm oil. Yeah yeah, learning about an environmental travesty for the first time from CNN, some liberal I am.
So I resolved to simply nix chocolate bars from my diet and leave it at that. That'll stave off adult-onset diabetes for a few more years, I figured. But wait! Turns out palm oil is used in a lot of other foods I typically bought. Palm oil is in the Pop-Tart I sometimes have on my 10-minute morning break? Well, screw that from now on. Wait a minute, Cheez-Its have this stuff too? I love the white cheddar variety, but I guess I can live without it. Oh, it's in most butter spreads too!? Oh fine, I'll buy organic stick butter. A few less butter tubs in a landfill anyway.
But yesterday, I learned palm oil is even used in most soaps and shampoos! And companies are pretty damn sneaky about it too, listing it as 'sodium laureth sulfate' on the back label, which can be derived from palm oil. A quick look through the personal care products aisle while I was shopping today revealed how it's in just about EVERY brand, not just the stuff I typically pick up from Dollar General. Given that sacrificing presentability while at a job I've only been at for a few months ain't an option, I better find replacements for those, too.
It's a bitch, trying to be a responsible consumer and set an example with your purchasing decisions, resisting the path of least resistance. But hey, it's worth it, especially when I recall all the taunts from right-wingers insisting we don't practice what we preach. Always braying about accountability, yet on that CNN article, it was the comments from right-leaning folks who complained about those concerned for the environment were 'trying to make people feel guilty' or some shit like that. Because insisting that people should know about the consequences of their behavior must be avoided, unless it's something you'd hear from a fake crisis pregnancy center. Then it's OK.
Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent. For those who want to save cute orangutan babies, here's a helpful link for spotting the stuff on product labels, along with other information.
