Palm oil is a growing industry. Once used primarily for a cooking oil, now it is in about 50% of American household products. This huge boom in interest is coming at a pretty dramatic cost to our rainforests, destroying one of our best defenses against climate crisis, endangering a huge percentage of our biodiversity, and displacing indigenous people who live there. Rainforests are razed every day to make space for more palm oil plantations.

Obviously, for the sake of all of our survival, this needs to stop. 

We can stop consuming palm oil (the blog has lots of tips coming on how to identify and avoid it), but real change can only come when companies choose to stop using it or only use RSPO palm oil. And right now, they are operating under the assumption that people don't care enough to pay attention.

So, here's all of our missions. Write and tell them that we do care.

It doesn't have to be a novel. It can even be a facebook post, an email, or even a couple of tweets.

To give you an example, I am going to write Jif peanut butter. Now mind you, I cannot actually eat this product, but my children eat it almost daily (specifically, peanut butter sandwiches they dip in jelly). We have tried a few local brands with little success, and end up buying the biggest jars of jif we can find. We switched to "natural" Jif, because it didn't have as many unidentifiable ingredients. But, it has palm oil. So, this is my attempt to reach out. You can use the same model to reach out to the businesses you wish would stop with the palm oil:

Dear Jif, 

Your product is one of the most beloved in our house. My kids eat your Natural Peanut Butter everyday. Sadly, we are going to stop buying it because of it's use of palm oil. This is a letter to ask you to consider another oil or a certified ethical palm oil in your products. 

The explosion of palm oil in products is leading to major environmental trauma to our planet. Rain forests, which we desperately need to fight climate crisis and to conserve biodiversity, are being cleared to make more palm oil plantations. This unchecked expansion has destroyed 20% of our planet's precious rain forests. These plantations have also forced indigenous people out of their homes.

Unless you stop using this problematic ingredient, you are endorsing and contributing to this injustice and destruction.On your website, you mention that you are aware of the problems with palm oil, and claim to work with ethical sources, but you use no specifics and have no certification. You can expand on this commitment to more concrete action. 

I can no longer stand by and watch our rain forests be destroyed, so I will choose another peanut butter until you choose to do the right thing. 

Please step up and help our planet and rainforests. We need your help! 

Sunshine Guerrilla

Ok, see? So simple! You can write a letter like this too. Here is a template.

Dear [Company], 

We love your [name of the product. We [a sentence on how you use the product]. Sadly, we have to stop buying your product because it contains palm oil. This is a letter to ask you to consider another oil or certified ethical palm oil in your products. 

The explosion of palm oil in products is leading to major environmental trauma to our planet. Rain forests, which we desperately need to fight climate crisis and to conserve biodiversity, are being cleared to make more palm oil plantations. This unchecked expansion has destroyed 20% of our planet's precious rain forests. These plantations have also forced indigenous people out of their homes.

Unless you stop using this problematic ingredient, you are endorsing and contributing to this injustice and destruction. [Do your research and check their website- do they address the problem? Be sure to acknowledge the efforts they already make] Please show your commitment to a continue to take care of the planet by expanding your efforts and avoiding uncertified palm oil all togehter.

I can no longer stand by and watch our rain forests be destroyed, so I will choose another peanut butter until you choose to do the right thing.

Please step up and help our planet and rainforests. We need your help!  

[Your name here]

So, as you discover palm oil products in your space, send a note to the company letting them know this is unacceptable. Companies change because they think that they need to. They hardly ever make positive changes out of the goodness of their hearts. We have to tell them to change, or they assume we don't care.

So get involved! You can do this!