When people think of the products they buy that could contribute to deforestation, your mind would logically go to paper and wood products. But did you know that there’s other products lurking on the shelves that help drive deforestation?
Palm oil, soy, cocoa, coffee, chicken and beef are just 6 such products that can have negative effects on tropical forests. In the case of the first four items, areas of forest are often cleared, sometimes illegally, in order to grow the plants that make these products. Many of the by products of these plants then go into animal feed for livestock, including chickens and cows.
The decisions that we make as consumers can have a huge impact on rainforests – and this could be good or bad depending on the choices we make. Unfortunately current rules around food labelling don’t make choosing the rainforest friendly option easy and this is something that needs addressing.
For now though, the best you can do is look for the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil trademark on products.