Meet Kendall Jones

What do you see when you look at this picture?

A second Bindi Irwin?

A very brave zoologist?

A leopard whisperer?

How about a teenage hunter of endangered African animals, who posts countless photos like this one and claims she is helping the animals grow and thrive?

If you picked the fourth option, you are correct. I'm not going to say any more, because you probably won't want to hear the description of my point of view, so I'm leaving the explaining to the websites below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/01/kendall-jones-texan-cheerleader-hunt-animals_n_5547731.html

http://cdn3.independent.ie/incoming/article30402533.ece/5a747/ALTERNATES/w620/Kendall-Jones-6.jpg

Click here for a petition. Let's stop the hunting of these endangered animals!

A Shocking Fact...

That palm oil is what is destroying rainforests and polluting our air. For more information, look at some of my later posts. Just remember, don't buy any Pepsi products!

Follow The Frog Commercial

Here is a hilarious ad that I found that shows the importance of using Rainforest Alliance Certified products. It doesn't really name many, but I know a few. They're listed at the bottom. Just remember to follow the frog!

Here is a link to a website that has lots of these products.

                                                                                                 

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/marketing/examples                             

Cooking

• Red Ape Cinnamon

 
Sweets                                 

• Alter Eco Chocolate           
• Some Magnum Bars (look for this seal)
• Endangered Species chocolate
• Dagoba organic chocolate
• Anything from Costa Coffee

 

 

Cool TOP Video

Here is a cool video I found on The Orangutan Project website. It's about some people that volunteer in Indonesia to help out with the orangutans and watch them being taken care of. It also has some shocking facts about how endangered the orangutans are. The video mentions Rocky and Rickina, who were adopted last December by the writer of this blog!!

URGENT!!!! (Again)

In Indonesia, they are planning to cut down even more rainforests for plantations that will earn some money for the owners. However, this rainforest is one of the last remaining habitats for wild orangutans and several other endangered species, both flora and fauna. I got a letter in the mail from TOP, or The Orangutan Project about this, so it's very serious. They need 60,000 dollars to protest this terrible project, and to help rehabilitate over 1,000 baby orangutans. I have a link below that has a lot more information and a way to donate to stop this from happening. I don't get many viewers, so please help me spread the word and share this blog link with all your friends.

http://www.orangutan.org.au/home-page-announcements/join-our-appeal-to-save-the-sumatran-orangutan-from-extinction

All About Palm Oil

As you should already know, palm oil is an environmental disaster.  But it's used in so many everyday products we use all the time. People are burning down rainforests for it. In my opinion (and many other peoples'), this is going way too far.  You can be a big help by simply not using these products.

This is really much harder than you may think. There's palm oil in a ton of stuff you wouldn't expect to have it. Palm oil can be found in food products, soap, toothpaste, and many other things. I found the link below very helpful. It has tips to help you find the hidden palm oil in things, as labels can sometimes use a different name to disguise the use of it. There are also lists of alternates for palm oil products, but there aren't any things not to get. I will try to come up with some, but I can't do all of them. Please feel free to write a comment below, with something not to use, an alternate, or a request for one. Remember that it takes more than one person to change something as big as the use of palm oil.

Stuff Not To Get

• Anything from Pepsi
• Mamee Monster Noodles
• Cup Noodles
• Nutella (except in France)
• Hershey's Kisses
• M&M's
• Twisties
• Milo
• Oreos
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Fruit Plus, Mint Plus, Choco Plus

The ingredients list can be very tricky. Palm oil has many names, such as "Elaeis guineensis", or even just "vegetable oil." Other chemicals that usually include palm oil are cetyl alcohol, isopropyl, sodium lauryl sulphate, steareths, fatty alcohol sulphates, glycerine, cocoa butter equivalent and cocoa butter substitute.*

Here's some palm oil free products.
http://www.palmoilfreeproducts.com.au/

The helpful link.
http://www.orangutans.com.au/orangutans-survival-information/helping-you-buy-responsibly-palm-oil-free-alternatives.aspx

*I got most of this from the link labeled "the helpful link".

I also found this amazing video about palm oil. There's a lot of good information in it, which taught me  a lot.

The Dark Secret of Oreos

Now, you're probably thinking "When did this turn into a food blog?". If you are, here's your answer: it didn't. Along with being terrible for you, Oreos are also terrible for the environment. Read on to find out why.

On Friday, after our "Rock Star Mall", I was very happy to have been able to get a packet of Oreos. As I was riding the bus home, I got kind of bored and started to examine the wrapper. There were two things that happened to catch my eye. Number one was a (very small) label that said "Product of Indonesia". Number two was an ingredient on the ingredient list. Palm oil. This is almost certain to be Indonesian palm oil, and palm oil plantations are exactly what they're burning Sumatran rainforests down for. Exactly what is creating the haze.

As an Oreo lover, I know you might not want to give them up. But think about it. Rainforests are being burned down. Homes to endangered animals. Endangered plants. Endangered plants which make the oxygen we breathe, the oxygen which helps prevent global warming, the oxygen we can't survive without. The burning makes the Haze, which lingers over not only Indonesia, but several other neighboring countries as well. With every packet of Oreos you get, you are supporting the burning of Indonesian rainforests.

You probably aren't very happy about not being able to eat an Oreo without feeling guilty (or paying palm oil plantation owners to burn down more rainforests), and I found one replacement for them. That's how much palm oil is used, even though you may not realize it. I found some recipes to make your own Oreos, too. The links are below. I also found a petition to change the ingredients of Oreos, with the link below. Please comment on your favorite recipe, or if you can find another store - bought brand that is environmentally friendly.

This is a very helpful website with tips to finding palm oil free products.
http://www.orangutans.com.au/orangutans-survival-information/helping-you-buy-responsibly-palm-oil-free-alternatives.aspx

Some palm oil free products
http://www.palmoilfreeproducts.com.au/

These are the store - bought cookies.
http://www.countrychoiceorganic.com/products/cookies/sandwich-cremes/

This link is from a blog with a ton of other recipes (some of which are other types of homemade Oreos). For those ones, click Recipes at the top and you'll see the list.
 http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/10/24/healthy-oreos/

This is a tricky one. Keep scrolling down until you see the recipe.
http://www.whatrunslori.com/2012/02/homemade-how-to-make-healthy-oreo-cookies/

The petition.
http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/oreo-stop-putting-palm-oil-in-your-cookies-unless-you-know-it-does-not-contain-deforestation-animal-extinction#share

URGENT!!!

If you are reading this right now, keep reading. In Sumatra, they plan to destroy 1.2 MILLION hectares for development of roads, mines, plantations, logging and palm oil expansion. All you rainforest lovers, this is your call to action. Please click on the link below to see more information and donate to stop this happening. The Orangutan Project needs 70,000 US dollars URGENTLY!!!

http://www.orangutan.org.au/home-page-announcements/acehs-people-wildlife-and-forests-need-you-now

Also, please sign the petition included in the link below. They are trying to get 1 million signatures to deliver to the president of Indonesia to stop this awful project from happening.

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Save_Sumatras_Rainforest/?cDHAweb

PLEASE SHARE THESE LINKS WITH ALL FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!