Palm oil doesnt just endanger the lives of orangutans

You might think that the rainforests of Indonesia are incredibly far away and the deforestation and destruction of the habitats of plants and animals have no major effect on your life. That isn't true: the destruction of forests and the wildfires spreading in their wake have an effect on the whole planet, including our lives. The carbon dioxide deposited in the atmosphere significantly contributes to global climate change and perhaps there's no need for me to explain that the summers are getting warmer every year and extreme weather conditions are becoming increasingly common.

I already wrote about why we don't use palm oil to make our Mannas: the consequences of the production of palm oil, often of unverified sources, are simply unacceptable for us. 

However, there's another reason why we are opposed to using this cheap vegetable fat found in almost half of all supermarket products. This material present in various forms in foodstuffs, cosmetics, detergents and toiletries is now endangering the lives of animals even within Europe.

Blocks of palm oil on sea shores

Perhaps you've heard that in the area of Cornwall, on the south-western shores of England, the sea is washing blocks of palm oil ashore. The greyish-white blocks of fat pose a threat to the dogs taken there since they can even be fatal when swallowed. Signs have been posted along numerous beaches to warn people walking their dogs of the threat.

How do they end up there?

Every year, tankers ship thousands of tons of palm oil to Europe, where it's processed. Palm oil is used in chocolates, biscuits, crisps and even detergents, facial creams and everything else, even in plain, plant-based cosmetics. Unfortunately, only a handful of companies using palm oil are able and willing to certify that they're using material from a sustainable farming.

According to some newspaper sources, the palm oil blocks appearing on the beaches of England end up in the sea when tankers are cleaned out and were first washed ashore in 2012. Although palm oil is edible and harmless to humans, the often fist or football-sized blocks of fat loaded with chemicals and God knows what else, are lethal poison for animals, especially dogs.

Following the first, fatal incident, the news quickly spread and hopefully convinced many people that the excessive use of palm oil is not something that takes place far away from us, effecting people and worlds entirely unknown to us, but is rather a problem which comes too close to comfort and concerns all of us.

I hope I managed to convince you to avoid palm oil and palm oil-based products whenever possible.

Source: 
https://goo.gl/pmYLGU
https://goo.gl/HswGm1