Palm oil, Biodiesel and Ethics

Palm oil is high demand in many parts of the world. It is used has an ingredient in many foods and it is also used for bio-fuel. Indonesia is known as the largest producer of palm oil. President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono created a policy to develop palm oil plantation on degraded land. Palm oil is edible plant oil that is high in saturated fats. It is comes from the fruits of a palm tree. Palm oil is found in bread, biscuits, instant noodles and shampoo.
The import of palm oil has increased 485% in the United States. Palm oil has caused rain forest destruction. The Indonesian government has a plan to use rain forest area as a palm oil plantation by 2020. Many people in Indonesia live in rain forests and depend on it for their everyday living. If the government continues to grow palm oil plants in the rain forest, it will cause destruction and poverty for the people. The rain forest is also the home of endangered species such as Orangutan, Sumatran tigers and rhinoceros. The palm oil plantation will destroy their habitat. Government data has shown that over 50,000 orangutans have already died as a result of deforestation due to palm oil.
According to the UNEP report, deforestation will cause 98% of Indonesian forests to be destroyed by 2022. Forest removal causes carbon to release in the air. This is called environmental degradation. Burning fossil fuels causes Four percent of global greenhouse gas emission and eight percent of all global emission. Indonesia became the 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases. For example, in 1997, fires in Indonesia may have been one of the main sources of global CO2 emissions. 0.81-2.57 gigaton of carbons was released into the atmosphere by fire (wwf panda). The release of CO2 in the atmosphere can cause climate change. Palm oils are dangerous to the earth as well. In order to keep the palm oil plants alive, farmers put about 25 different pesticide, herbicides and insecticides on the plants. If a consumers eats this it can be damaging to their health and make them very ill. Palm oil is even thrown in the river, which can be harmful to the animals that live in the river.
Palm oil also caused child labor. In the Sumartian village children between 14 and 21 are taken to the plantation and promised jobs. Instead, they were forced to spray harmful fertilizer on the plants without wearing protective gear. If the fertilizer gets in contact with their skin or eyes it can be damage them for life. For example, Bimo Kencana Anef, 13-year-old Indonesian is a middle school student who spends his afternoons hauling heavy oil palm fruits from the tree to the truck. He helps his father earn $2 for the whole day. This money is used to fund his schooling. If her load two trucks in one day they earn $4, which is equivalent to 50,000 rupians in their country.
This is child labor because instead of doing homework, this underage child is working long hours and the labor doesn’t add up to what his father is earning. The child is doing all the work but the money all goes to the father. This is the culture in Indonesia for children to help their parents. According to Suhartuno, a spokesman for Indonesia’s Manpower & Transmigration Ministry, “it is hard to break”. Since these children have been doing this for years, it will be difficult to stop it now. This is how they were raised. The parents need to be convicted that their children need to study more rather than working. The cheap labor is also hazardous to children health because they are expected to lift heavy objects and machinery for long periods of time. 3.7 million child laborers face dangerous an abusive working conditions.
Palm oil is also bad for our health. As stated before, palm oil is very high in saturated fats and it can raise blood cholesterol. This can cause our arteries to clog and we risk of having a heart attack and stroke. Consumers can avoid this by reading food labels carefully before buying products. The consumer is basically looking for food or products that doesn’t contain palm oil and hydrogenated vegetable oil. According to medical experts at Colombia University, heart disease will increase in many countries. In China and India millions of people did due to foods that contained cooking oil and fats. The people that were dying were between the age of 35 and 64. The US health authority encourages Americans to consume foods with less saturated fat. They should avoid eating many meats and dairy products. This may be a difficult task to do because palm oil is used with other oils and alone is a great number of foods such as Oreos, Animal crackers and water crackers. If children eat these products and they are exposed to palm oils daily. They can also be at rusk of having heart disease at an early age. Consumers should look for foods that are mad with canola oil or olive oil because it is healthier and not fattening.
Palm oils are not safe for our health and it is only causing destruction in the rain forests causing animals to lose their habitat.
The Future of Water

Two green chemistry key ideas that might help us to keep water clean is prevent waste and using less hazardous chemical synthesis. Ways we can stop waste in water is by not dumping sewer and septic tank water that contains urine and feces in the water people use everyday. Toxic wastes in water come from leaks from landfills, dumps and mines. These wastes can also harm the animals because if it gets on their fur it can cause them to die. People also need to stop throwing things such as needle and medication in the water because it is contaminating the water and also spending diseases across the world. There were also chemicals in water. Chlorine is one of them. It helps kill bacteria in water mostly used in swimming pools. There were also harmful chemicals in water such as pesticides and if a pregnant woman drinks water with pesticides it can cause birth defects. Lead is also found in water. It gets into the water mostly from pipes. Humans can get lead poisoning if they drink water with lead in it. People can waste by disposing of trash in garbage can instead of rivers and lakes. They can also recycle their medication instead of throwing unused pills down the toilet. We can also prevent chemicals in water by being careful where we get our water from and using filters to clean our water before consuming it. One global water issue is people around the world have trouble getting safe drinking water. The United Nations has been addressing this global crisis. Humans need water to meet commercial and agricultural needs. One factor this issues is important because the lack of safe water causes diseases such as cholera, typhoid and malaria. These illnesses kill 5 million people each year. Another factor is that without safe water humans will not have crops and children will not have food to eat. This will increase hunger in the country. Children will also be missing a lot of days of school because of illness from lack of water in their diet. Clean water will reduce poverty and health problems. Doctor visits and hungry issue will decrease. One way people are addressing this issue is the Clean Water act. This act basically makes it the law that people doesn’t discharge pollutant in water and making it safer for people to consume and use. This act was passed in 1972. It also gives EPA the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. Another way thus issue is being addressed is by fixing the pipes the water is coming from. Fixing the pipes will reduce lead poisoning that water may contain.

Work Cited
“How palm oil is made” Jan 17,2011 Carolyn Fry www.eandt.theiet.org The Jaharta Post Indonesia allocate 18 milion hectares of land for palm oil December 02,2009
RSPO fact sheet. Promoting the groth and use of sustainable palm oil January 10,2010 www.rspo.org/resource_centre/RSPO_fact_sheet www.Saynotopalmoil.com 2010 Thomas

Cooking the Climate Greenpeace UK November 15,2007

Environmental and Social impacts www.wwf.panda.org 2015

The Problem with Palm oil Matthew Hawthrone May 22,2013 www.vegnews.com

Brown, Ellie PH.D & Michel F. Jacobson PH.D Cruel Oil How Palm oil Harms health, rainforest and wildfire. May 205 www.espinet.org

Is Palm Oil the new trans fat? Fitness September 16,2009

Bell, Loren Child Labor and Palm oil in Indonesia December 23,2014

Bramble, Laura Toxic waste dumping in water www.ehow.com 2015

Wagner, Jarney What chemicals are in tap water? www.healthguidance.org

Global issues water www.un.org/en/globalissues/water

Bringing Safe Water to the World www.nrdc.org/international/safewater.asp