I declared today a lazy day and gave myself the time to trawl through the many articles I had saved to read for my own interests rather than go through the very dry prescribed text passed onto me by university lecturers. Unfortunately, one article turned my day of blissful nothingness into a day of serious work.
‘Beaten and captured orangutan dies in Indonesia’s Aceh Province’
Another orangutan had been found beaten to death in Indonesia by local residents. It is believed that the villagers were trying to capture it and sell it on as a pet. However, experts believe that the villagers may have had a more sinister plan for the poor girl. One things for sure, these beatings are becoming an increasingly serious problem in the region as habitat decline, mostly due to oil palm plantations, leaves wild orangutans at risk of being killed or captured and kept illegally as pets.
This story left me staring at the disturbing pictures of the poor orangutan helplessly. How can I make change when I am so far removed from the situation?
I began googling like a crazed woman, trying to find a way to make change from my Melbourne base… and I did. I was lucky enough to come across Ethikools website. Ethikool is an online shopping platform that was created for animal lovers, health food junkies, and all of the beautiful people out there concerned for the environment. Their products are vegan, avoid chemicals, are sourced from Australian owned and operated suppliers and most importantly do not use palm oil.
Imagine the changes we could make to the lives of so many orangutans if we were able to decifer the wretched ingredient labeling on products and could choose items that are palm oil free or use palm oil sourced from sustainable sources? With this website you can, the lovely people at ethikool investigate the companies labelling for you!
Ethikool not only provides the usual items like food and cosmetics, it also provides things like sustainable sports gear and pet accessories.
Next time you feel helpless about Palm Oil and all the issues that come along with it, I strongly encourage you check out their site. By purchasing their products you not only make ethical changes in your household, you also help change the fate of Orangutans across the world from the comfort of your own home.
