You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone

“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s  gone”

I have had a very fortunate life so far. I’ve not had a really devastating loss yet – temporary or permanent.

The closest I got was when my sister snapped her Achilles tendon. I saw how difficult it was for her losing the use of her leg for a few months. I felt like I had to run more because she couldn’t and it made me appreciate every step.

Now, we’re on our way out of Singapore. We are going away for a while because the air in Singapore is “hazardous”. It’s temporary, but one day it might not be. One day it might not stay localised and possibly within our lifetime this air that has catastrophic consequences for human (and animal) life will cover the entire earth.

Everyone who has every bought anything containing palm oil, or underestimated the impact that this product has on the environment should come and visit Singapore, Borneo, Southern Malaysia or South Sumatra when the palm oil plantations are burning. Once you have experienced it for yourself, the phrase “you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone” will be what you’ll be thinking about breathable, non toxic air.

Most packaged, supermarket products with a long shelf life contain palm oil, and most of it is from unsustainable, planet damaging sources. Eating real food – vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs…. the stuff that has a short shelf life, and is far, far more healthy for your body, will also be less likely to contain palm oil. This picture shows a few of the things that do contain palm oil.

Changing habits is hard, but if we each do a little bit, it’ll help a lot. There are lots of great resources out there to help make better choices – here are just two:

https://palmoilapp.com/

www.palmoilinvestigationsapp.com