SHOPPER JOSH: Ooh. Sorry.
SHOPPER JUSTINA: Ugh, you need to add some soap to that basket. When was the last time you showered?
SHOPPER JOSH: I do not buy soap, okay?
SHOPPER JUSTINA: Why?
SHOPPER JOSH: Because soap contains palm oil.
SHOPPER JUSTINA: Uhh, not all soap has it and a lot of chocolate has palm oil in it too, you know.
SHOPPER JOSH: Yeah, I know.
JOSH LANGMAN, REPORTER: Yeah, as I figured out the hard way, palm oil isn't just in soap and chocolate, but it's actually in about 50 percent of the products on our shelves. Like cookies, donuts, lipstick, bread, ice cream, pizza dough, butter, cake, cereal, crackers, pet food, canned soup, peanut butter.
Phew, yeah, I think you get the idea. And while it might make a good ingredient for our products, it's not good for something else, orangutans.
Why? Well, Jodie from Adelaide Zoo might have the answer.
JOSH: G'day Jodie, nice to meet you.
JODIE SHERIDAN, PRIMATE KEEPER AT ADELAIDE ZOO: Ugh, wow. When was the last time you showered?
JOSH: Serious? Alright Jodie, who do we have behind us here?
JODIE: This is Puspa. She is one of the Sumatran orangutans that lives here at Adelaide Zoo.
JOSH: What do orangutans like Puspa here actually have to do with palm oil, and why is it bad for them?
JODIE: Orangutans only live on the island of Borneo and Sumatra, so that's within Indonesia and Malaysia. Currently, 85 percent of the world's palm oil is grown on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. When the orangutans need the forest, and then the palm oil sometimes comes in and takes away the forest, then orangutans are in lots of trouble. It means tigers are losing their home, elephants are losing their homes, so many birds and other animals.
JOSH: How do we spot palm oil on packaging? Is that an easy thing to do?
JODIE: Here in Australia, palm oil can be over 200 different names. And a lot of them are really fancy chemical kind of names. So, we're talking about it in foods, but it can be even used in plastics, in fuels, in medications.
JOSH: So, it sounds like the solution here is to not buy products with palm oil in them. Or is that not quite right?
JODIE: That's not quite right. So, if we were to just stop using palm oil, many items would need to find a different oil to use. And then many of those oils, like soy, or canola end up needing more land to make the same amount of oil. So, we would end up with an even bigger problem somewhere else.
Jodie says we should be going for products that use sustainable palm oil, but what's the difference?
JODIE: So, unsustainable is when we're chopping down loads and loads of forest to be able to have the palm oil plantations there. If it's just grown in a clear patch of land, palm oil is not a big deal.
And while figuring out which palm oil is which might sound kind of tricky, Jodie has a solution.
JODIE: So, here at Adelaide Zoo, we have been part of an international app that is helping people find palm oil. People can look at the items that they're buying, scan the barcode, and then make a decision on whether they want to buy the item because it's sustainable, or whether maybe they don't want to buy it because it's unsustainable. And of course, that gives them choice over what they're buying every day.
Huh, well I guess maybe I can buy soap after all.
JODIE: Oh, wait this might be helpful.
BTN High Promo
The BTN team has been super busy this year, working on a new project: BTN High.
JACK: Are you ready?
STUDENT: I am.
They're stories exclusively for high schoolers that teachers can use in the classroom.
JOE: Space junk, what is it?
You can check out new stories every week during term. So, teachers, if you want to be the first to see them, make sure you sign up to our BTN High newsletter. Just scan the QR code or visit our website.
