Cosmetics, soap, chocolate, and frozen meals. These general products all have something in common; they include palm oil, a resource found in oil palm trees located primarily in Indonesia and Malaysia. Palm oil is a valuable resource that is contained in many everyday products. However, the mass consumption of this ingredient caused wide deforestation in wildlife’s natural habitat and is leading to the endangerment of several animal species. Sustainable palm oil is grown and harvested by companies on private land to avoid deforestation and harm to wildlife, so people should consider purchasing products that include sustainable palm oil rather than palm oil taken from natural forests. One may be surprised by how many common products include palm oil. It’s in a wide variety of items, and with over fifty different names, many are unaware of what palm oil is. The reason everything includes this oil specifically is because oil palm …show more content…
Many companies have turned to sustainable palm oil, palm oil that is produced on plantations that reuse the land for their agricultural purposes, thus supplying more palm oil without the destruction of natural forests. Some choose to boycott palm oil entirely, but this alternative will not significantly change the demand for palm oil. Vegetable oil is used abundantly and oil palm trees are the quickest producing oil crops, concluding them necessary to satisfy the demand for edible oils. Not only is palm oil versatile for its uses and quick to produce, but it is a major component to the economy in Indonesia and Malaysia. Many people living in these countries struggle with poverty, and agriculture of sustainable palm oil is how a great deal of people support themselves and their families. If the boycott of palm oil were successful, a considerable population of people would be unemployed and
Forests cover 31% of the land area on our planet. They produce vital oxygen and provide homes for people and wildlife. Many of the world’s most threatened and endangered animals live in forests, and 1.6 billion people rely on benefits forests offer, including food, fresh water, clothing, traditional medicine and shelter (drug war facts, Page 1).
Our 100% all natural beeswax candle in Frosted Square Glass Candles burn longer and cleaner than all traditional wax glass candles. Our lovely candles are completely non-toxic, non-allergenic and non-carcinogenic. With its healthful negative ions and warm, halo glows they act like indoor air purifiers. Our candles have been proven to be beneficial for people who have allergies, environmental sensitivities or just too much stress in their life. 100% natural beeswax candles are the cleanest burning candles that you will ever burn. Rest easy knowing that this sophisticated candle is biodegradable and free of synthetics. Pure beeswax candles have many redeeming properties it is a pure, unadulterated fuel, has a
Trees not only have the capability of bringing majestic beauty to a landscape, they also have the ability to sustain the livelihood of individuals from the small seeds they provide. Traditionally trees have been felled to make timber, but the Shea tree through the development of seeds has the potential to develop into a major export item. Shea Butter comes from the seeds of the Shea tree which can be used in the manufacture of food items, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. The moisturizing and healing properties of Shea butter have been discovered by western cosmetic industries in recent years, but Shea butter has been in use in African society for centuries. The Shea butter is gathered by women and young children and involves tedious labor before the product can be sold to itinerant trader and then finally to a larger supplier. There is some controversy involved with the harvesting of this widely used and coveted cosmetic item as women and children have to work hard but are not paid fairly for their product. Production and sale of Shea butter covers a number of topics, including but not limited to global poverty, ways to acquire hard currency, women and development, and finally globalization and the environment.
Number one of one hundred ninety six countries. The United States tops the list of most oil consumption with our outrageous addiction to fossil fuels. With demand comes price, but there is a silver lining to the nearly $4.00 per gallon cost. The ‘Ecologist’ shares “Above all, cheaper oil would ease concerns about inflation, and so reduce the need for central bankers to increase interest rates. ("The heat is off; Oil.")” Petroleum is everywhere; consumer or commercial, products or fuel. Its the blood of America and has a powerful effect on all commerce. Infla...
Palm Olein Cooking Oil vs Olive Oil. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2013, from Palm Plantations: http://www.palmplantations.com.au/palmolein/palm-oil-olive-oil.htm
Biological Knowledge The production of palm oil requires the deforestation and clearing of land which threatens the rich biodiversity in the ecosystem of Indonesia, which is affected by the production of palm oil negatively as issues are raised with the problem of deforestation with the clearing of land, and also the potential distinction of animals such as orangutans. There are still however ways in which the production of palm oil can be sustainable to the environment, as palm oil is essential for the use by humans because of the containment of the nutrients and also with the production of foods and products. Arguments for The production of palm oil is beneficial for humans as palm oil contains various nutrients. Research suggests that the palm oil contains the essential nutrients contributing to good health, like low cholesterol for humans.
In Indonesia, the illegal logging trade is as profitable as ever, and as is often the case in many countries that have a globally desirable, yet illegal resource, it is run by an organized crime ring. There exist in certain areas of rainforest in Indonesia timber barons who employ what are commonly referred to as logging gangsters. The victims in this social problem are not only the rare species that inhabit the rainforests, such as the Sumatran Tiger and Orangutan, but also those people whose wish to do something to stop this depletion. Environmental activists and Journalists attempting to document or protest the atrocities are often killed or severely beaten by the criminals. Like all illegal trafficking, the illegal rainforest wood trade exists only because there is an outside force demanding it. In this case, the force is that of high-income countries. Had the British people been aware of the fact that by buying Marks&Spencers garden furniture, they were in fact supporting rainforest destruction and violent organized crime, they probably wouldn't buy it. However, ignorance is not an excuse. In a world where wood is becoming less abundant, we need to be aware of the environmental and societal issues surrounding our product choices.
The term “organic” is almost everywhere in modern society, whether it’s used to promote a product or it’s debated on whether it really benefits the human diet. Organic food is heavily debated on as it appears more and more in local grocery stores and farmers markets begin to populate, it raises questions such as “Is organic food better than food grown with pesticides and biologically engineered genes?” and “Are there benefits to eating organically over foods grown in any other way?” In terms of what data and results show in research may help lead to answers to most of the heavily debated issues throughout discussions on organic food.
The study’s methodology was qualitative. While the study recognizes that palm oil plantation increases deforestation and consequently reducing biodiversity, the authors argues that the demand for palm oil up to the year 2020 can be met without any reduction of forest cover through the improvement of yields and conservation of degraded land. In particular, the study notes that while palm oil plantation endangers orangutan’s habitat, the authors suggest that encroachment of orangutan’s habitat could be reduced by up to 30% through the use of sustainable land use initiatives and policies. Overall, the findings of this article suggest that is there is a need to advocate for an environmental sustainable biomass industry in Malaysia in order to protect the natural habitat for
Healthy and affordable food choices on the go or even just in the store is a huge and worldwide ongoing problem that of course cannot be fixed overnight. To help start and put one foot forward to improvements in the availability of healthy food options and choices in lower income neighborhoods, we as a community and a whole should do the following.
Our world is growing! Growing in population that is, but the resources are staying the same. To help with the growing of the population that will be happening in the 21st century, science and agriculture need to work hand-in-hand. They need to stand together to make a break through together, to insure that everyone will have food on their plate. We need to work to have larger yields with the land we have. Some people say that humans need to change their diet, and others say that we should destroy hundreds of acres of wild land.
Our planet is suffering from severe pollution, which ranges from contaminated air, water and soil as well. Humans are doing nothing to reduce the amount of pollution that is harming our earth. To understand how pollution works first you must understand that there are different types of pollution. The most common types of pollution and the ones that I will be focusing on which are the ones doing the most harm to our planet are air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination and littering. In order to help out and reduce pollution in our planet people need to be more aware of what these problems are and about the severe damages that they are causing our planet. Before industrialization really jumped into place and had an effect on large cities, nature had its own way of cleaning up its own air and itself. Wind scattered gases, rain washed many substances and the rest dissolved into the ground; while plants absorbed carbon dioxide and made it into oxygen. With big cities growing more every time and with more towns that were becoming more industrialized a lot of more waste began to be released into the environment and the atmosphere and soon this was more than enough for nature to handle. In order to stop and reduce pollution people need to understand the damage that it is causing our environment and our planet as well. People need to be more aware of how they can help out and do their part in reducing these problems that are causing our planet to die slowly with people not even noticing it.
A healthy lifestyle is usually picked up as we get older. However, think of how much more beneficial it would be for our bodies when we get older, if we would have learned and adapted to a healthier lifestyle when we were younger? Teaching your kids how important a healthy diet is, will help them maintain that lifestyle in their older years. Not to mention have lower health risks, higher self-esteem and it will give them the energy they need to keep up with their eating habits and maintain their body weight.
More farmers are now planting crops for biofuel, resulting to an intense drop in food production. According to experts this promising alternative energy source is seemingly causing a global decrease of food supply. As the demand for biofuels increases, more industrialized countries are offering encouragements and subsidizing farmers to grow crops for fuel rather than for food. The biofuel production method was also anticipated to be carbon neutral, as the crops would absorb the carbon dioxide released when the biofuel was burned. However crops for fuel are now grown at such a rate that they need more energy to cultivate, grow and harvest. By the time it reaches households, it would have consumed more energy and released more greenhouse causing substances than the feared fossil fuels would have. The fact that emissions are released during production, processing, fertilizer application and as a result of land use change is highly ignored. Somehow biofuels can sidetrack less harmful and clean resources like renewable energies such as solar and wind energy. Large scale cultivation of biofuel crops, unlike small scale, locally produced and biofuel owned farms are commonly challenged by problems such as severe use of water, chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides. These also often lead to pollution, depleting and degrading available water resources which can cause famines. According to contrary believe of analysts, it has also shown that there is not enough farming land on earth to produce biofuel crops to meet the huge energy needs encouraged by our current and unmaintainable ways of living. http://www.greenerideal.com/science/0516-biofuels/ &
Although subsistence activities have dominated agriculture-driven deforestation in the tropics to date, large-scale commercial activities are playing an increasingly significant role. In the Amazon, industrial-scale cattle ranching and soybean production for world markets are increasingly important causes of deforestation, and in Indonesia, the conversion of tropical forest to commercial palm tree plantations to produce bio-fuels for export is a major cause of deforestation on Borneo and Sumatra.