Items To Avoid

Items to Avoid

“Contentment is natural wealth; luxury, artificial poverty.”

— Socrates (B.C. 469-399)  

Indonesia lost almost 100 million acres of rainforest during the rampant plunder of forests that occurred during former president Suharto’s 32-year reign. After Suharto was toppled in 1998, illegal logging grew even faster, as powerful regional timber barons took advantage of a political vacuum to exploit endangered resources. A United Nations report issued in 2007 found that illegal logging occurred in 37 of Indonesia’s 41 national parks, and predicted that the current rate of destruction would see those forests wiped out by 2022.

Many items sold today originating from Indonesia are made from materials that come from these vanishing rainforests or are related to the endangered species that are fast disappearing from these forests.

As you shop, ask yourself these questions:

  • Do I really need that picture frame or piece of furniture crafted from tropical hardwood?
  • Do I really need a suit made of rayon?
  • Do I want to make palm oil a part of my diet?  What are the alternatives?
  • Is it really fair to keep an endangered animal such as a primate in captivity as a pet?
  • Is there proof that this exotic wood product has come from well-managed forests by an accredited certifier of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)?

Then remind yourself to not purchase these products:

    • Tropical plywood
    • Dowels made from ramin
    • Rayon viscose
    • Exotic hardwoods, teak, ebony, sandalwood or ironwood
    • AVOID PALM OIL PRODUCTS WHENEVER POSSIBLE
    • Palm oil-based products can be identified through these names:

                           Cetyl Palmitate and Octyl Palmitate
                           Elaeis Guineensis (Taxonomic name for palm oil)
                           Hexadecylic or Palmitic Acid
                           Hydrated Palm Glycerides
                           Palm Oil Kernal
                           Palmate
                           Palmitate
                           Anything with Palmitate at the end

                           LIKELY TO BE PALM OIL:

                           Cetearyl Alcohol
                           Emulsifier 422, 430-36, 470-8, 481-483, 493-5
                           Glyceryl Stearate
                           Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS or NaDS)
                           Sodium Isostearoyl Lactylaye
                           Sodium Laureth Sulphate
                           Sodium Lauryl Sulphates
                           Steareth – 2 & Steareth – 20
                           Stearic Acid Vegetable Oil

    • Avoiding palm oil altogether is the best solution to helping the orangutan. 
    • If that’s not possible then look to companies practicing sustainability.
    • The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo maintains the most updated list of companies and products that are members of RSPO and reportedly work toward sustainable production of oil palm.  These companies claim to promote true sustainable agroforestry.  To see a list of these companies and their products visit:  http://www.cmzoo.org/docs/palmOilShoppingGuide-March2011.pdf: 
    • There is also the website Say No To Palm Oil, which is a terrific resource for international information about palm oil: http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/palm-oil.php

Educate those who don’t know better:

  • Ownership of non-human primates as pets is illegal and wrong. 

Remember this too:

  • There are many things we can do: The Internet offers a wealth of information.  Facebook, Twitter, Google and YouTube all have timely information, news, petitions, alerts and items that we can learn from andshare in effective ways. 
  • The Sierra Club provides a list of many things we can do to make our consumption of forest products more sustainable
  • If you have any doubt about a product or company, shop elsewhere.  There are always sustainable solutions.