Say no to Palm Oil and Save the Orangutans

Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.
~Dr. Jane Goodall

Our journey began four years ago, in the Fall of 2006. We met in 6th grade while playing basketball together on our school’s team. We soon became close friends and decided to earn our Girl Scout Bronze Award together. In order to do this, we had to raise awareness about an important issue in our community. We decided to raise awareness about orangutans and their rainforest habitat.

We did research and learned that orangutans were endangered for three main reasons; palm oil, deforestation, and the illegal pet trade. Rainforest land in Indonesia and Malaysia are cleared so that palm oil plantations can be planted. As a result of the land being cleared, the orangutans lose their habitat and suffer. Palm oil can be found in baked goods, candies and cosmetics. Deforestation is occurring at a rapid rate, mostly due to illegal logging. Rainforest trees are considered very valuable and as a result are often cut down and sold for furniture and other wood products. This too results in the orangutans losing their habitat. And the final main reason that orangutans are endangered is that they are illegal captured and sold as pets. Baby orangutans are very cute and as a result they can be sold for up to $60,000 on the black market. The conditions the orangutans are kept in are very harsh and often two thirds of the baby orangutans do not survive.

We began raising awareness in small ways, lugging around a home-made poster board and talking to local youth groups about orangutans and the rainforest. We also created a website (www.saveorangutan.bravehost.com) in the hopes of spreading the word even farther. At our school we founded a Middle School club called Awesome Animal Awareness, where we raised funds to protect endangered animals.

At the end of this we had completed enough service hours to earn our Bronze Award but neither one of us felt like we could stop there. After learning about the horrible things occurring in Indonesia and Malaysia to the orangutans and the rainforest, we knew that we had to continuing raising awareness and funds to save this magnificent species.

In November 2007, as 7th graders, we decided to hold National Orangutan Week (NOW) at our school to raise more awareness and funds. We made presentations to our entire 6th-12th grade and posted fun facts about the orangutan and the rainforest on lunch tables and bulletin boards throughout the school. We also sponsored a letter writing campaign for our grade which generated over 80 letters to companies that use palm oil in their products. We held various fundraising events including a palm-oil free bake sale and a Middle School Dance. In total, we raised over $800 which was donated to orangutan conservation.

In the Spring of 2008 we were invited to attend the Great Lakes Roots and Shoots Regional Conference in Chicago. Roots and Shoot is Jane Goodall’s association for young people and at the conference we were given an opportunity to hear Dr. Goodall speak. We were also able to present our project to the other conference participants, including Dr. Goodall.

After returning from the Roots and Shoots conference and hearing Dr. Goodall give a very inspiring speech we were filled with a new sense of motivation and set out to accomplish great things.

We were contacted by Richard Zimmerman, the head of an organization named Orangutan Outreach. He had heard of our project and wanted to personally congratulate us on our work. He also offered us the chance to act as the founders of Forest School 101, Orangutan Outreach’s program for youth. We were thrilled and accepted his offer.

We worked with Forest School 101 and Orangutan Outreach, while continuing to raise awareness within our local community. In the Fall of 2008 we decided to hold National Orangutan Week at our school again, knowing what a success it had been the last year. We raised awareness through presentations and fun facts posted throughout the school. We also raised another $800 which was donated to orangutan conservation.

About this time we realized that Girl Scout Cookies contained palm oil, an ingredient that causes rainforest deforestation and as a result, endangers the orangutan. We found it ironic that the organization that had motivated us to begin this project in the first place, was contributing to the problem. We contacted the Girl Scouts National Headquarters but received a very disappointing response.

Although we were eventually granted a conference call with a few of the staff at the Girl Scout Headquarters, it was again very disappointing and little was done. We were discouraged, but emerged stronger and began to campaign for the removal of palm oil in Girl Scout Cookies.

While the Girl Scout claimed that their palm oil source was sustainable, reports have shown that the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is not very green after all. A recent Greenpeace study reveled that the RSPO has no set standards for palm oil to meet in order for it to labeled as sustainable palm oil. The RSPO also does not follow up and inspect the plantation to ensure that the palm oil was in fact, being made in a sustainable way.

We launched various campaigns designed to raise awareness and support for this issue. We have created a petition (which was signed by Dr. Goodall), a letter writing campaign and a puzzle piece campaign where past and present Girl Scout Community members have decorated a blank puzzle piece with why they believe palm oil should be removed from Girl Scout Cookies and an alternative that is truly sustainable, and still trans-fat free like canola oil should be used. In addition we created a survey to generate market research, proving that consumers of Girl Scout Cookies would like palm oil to be removed (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=OIajgqEcWgATq27Klr_2bQkg_3d_3d) We have now teamed up with Orangutan Outreach, and other individual sponsors to work toward this goal of removing palm oil from Girl Scout Cookies.

While removing palm oil from Girl Scout Cookies has been a main focus we have continued educate and raise money for the orangutans. Rhiannon moved to China for the 2009-2010 school year but even being apart could not stop us from continuing to work on the cause we started in middle school.

Madi held the third National Orangutan Week, raising nearly $900. At the end of National Orangutan Week, she visited the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago where she assisted orangutan zookeepers during an awareness day, teaching zoo visitors about the orangutan and their plight. Rhiannon has enjoyed educating her new school about orangutans, through various presentations.

Looking back over the past 4 years it is astonishing how much we have changed. We grew from shy, self-conscious girls, to young women who are strong, out-going , and are confident in themselves. This project has given us a set of values and skills that act as a foundation for many different aspects of our lives.

Through this project, we have learned that the best things in life are not about the awards. We’ve realized that what matters the most is what you accomplish, not what award you wear on your vest. When you love something and have a passion for it, you don’t take 'no' for a answer. When you follow your dreams and keep working, you will find a way to achieve your goal.

We’ve had to fight through many obstacles and have overcome many challenges. We’ve encountered glitches and setbacks, and there have times when it’s seemed like nothing would go right. But by working together and persevering the two of us have managed to overcome each of the obstacles that have stood in our way, becoming stronger people with each struggle.

We are two girls trying to make a difference in a world of adults and we have had to prove ourselves over and over again. Opportunities haven’t been handed to us on a silver platter but we’ve found that when you have to work hard to earn them, you appreciate them so much more.

Perhaps the most important thing that we’ve learned from this project is that anyone can be a leader. Age, gender or race, should not prevent a person from standing up for what they believe in. If you see a problem in your community, then you should take action and make your voice heard. We’ve spent the past 4 years proving ourselves to those that didn’t believe that 14 year old girls could be advocates.

We believe that Girl.com.au is a great site, because it promotes the idea of girl power. We wholeheartedly support this idea. As two successful girl advocates, we believe that we can show other girls that if they work hard enough, they can achieve anything they set their minds to.

We ask you to consider helping us tell our story and show other girls that they too can become an advocate for a cause they believe in.

Sincerely,

Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen


Girl.com.au has opened a blog so you can express your support and keep updated on ways you can help, join with Girl.comau, Madison & Rhiannon to help save the Orangutans.... Say no to Palm Oil.

www.girl.com.au/blog/