PalmOil Scan 12+

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Palm Oil Scanner

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Palm Oil Scanner app has been quite useful in helping me decide products to buy. I’ve even stopped buying some items learning that the manufacturer doesn’t care about the environment nor animals nor the rain forest. If we don’t start caring, who will?

Inaccurate, but a good resource nonetheless

EDITED (from first review, titled “Inaccurate”): I like the purpose of this app, but it labels may to many companies as “Excellent”. It is largely based on companies commitments, but not actually what they are doing. It is also mostly based on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). This may sound good, but it is actually not. For starters, the RSPO fails to enforce its own regulations. For example, Procter and Gamble (P&G) is a member of RSPO, yet it is linked to intense destruction of natural wildlife habitat and severe human rights violations. However, the app lists them as “good”! Actually, many companies in the RSPO are like that. The rating algorithm should take into account studies done to measure the company’s deforestation and human rights abuses, not just the purchases of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO). Also, the RSPO is dominated by businesses and they are making the majority of the decisions at this point. RSPO is not driving necessary change. This app needs a place for other certifications, including Fair Trade and Palm Done Right. In addition, membership in POIG should be considered as well.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your review. We are always happy to receive feedback on how we can improve our app. From our research and field experience, we believe that boycotting palm oil is not the right choice, and in fact, sustainable palm oil can be the best edible oil for the environment. Oil palms are 4-10x more productive than other edible oil crops, and use significantly less fertilizer, pesticides, water input, and energy input. This means that palm oil, when grown according to the RSPO's rigorous standards, has less environmental impact than other oils like soy, sunflower, coconut, rapeseed, etc. Additionally, boycotting palm oil would put millions of people at risk of poverty, as it is the main source of income for many people in Malaysia, Indonesia, and other tropical countries with little to no other means.

To address your concern about too many companies being rated as "Excellent," we have developed a comprehensive formula that we use to rate every company based on these components: membership to the RSPO, completion of an Annual Communication of Progress to the RSPO to transparently report their palm oil activity, RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) usage out of a company's total palm oil usage, and whether or not they have a public statement declaring a goal to use 100% certified sustainable palm oil within the next five years. We recognize that IP and Segregated supply chains are the best for the environment, and that buying credits is not the same as buying CSPO, so our formula weights those differently. If you would like to discuss any further concerns, please email palmoilscan@cmzoo.org.

Great app!

Great user friendly app! Easy to use and an incredible resource