Palm Oil: More Sustainable Thanks To Girl Scouts!

Thanks to the work of a couple of determined girl scouts and environmental groups, Kellogg is switching to a sustainable source of palm oil, which can save the rainforests and orangutans!

When Girl Scouts Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen were just 10 years old, they learned about the often unsustainable practice of harvesting palm oil.

They were studying endangered Orangutans, whose habitats in Borneo and Sumatra are being threatened as the forest is being brought down for palm oil.

Madison and Rhiannon raised awareness about palm oil in their communities, and at the age of 11 earned Girl Scout Bronze Awards.

But the two were  shocked to find out the palm oil was an ingredient found in most varieties of Girl Scout cookies. They made it their goal to remove the ingredient from girl scout cookies.

Now, the girls are 18. Two years ago, they won the first-ever United Nations Forest Heroes Award for their work, and today, it seems to have paid off.

While Kellogg, the company that produces Girl Scout cookies, hasn't eliminated palm oil from its cookies, it has announced a new policy that will move the company toward deforestation-free palm oil by the end of 2015!

"Kellogg Company announced today a global commitment to work with palm oil suppliers to source fully traceable palm oil, produced in a manner that's environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable," read a statement by Kellogg. "To do so, Kellogg is working through its supply chain — from suppliers to processors to growers — to ensure that palm oil it uses is sourced from plantations that uphold the company's commitment to protect forests and peat lands, as well as human and community rights."

The move should save not just the forests but the orangutans and other wildlife that live there!

Potentially, the move could encourage other companies to switch to more sustainable resources, and palm oil could be totally deforestation free!

While there is still a lot to be done, we applaud the years of work by Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen to such a worthy cause!

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