1st February - Palm Oil Free Day

Join and help us with the campaign

Please share the information about the event on your web sites, profiles or via e-mails. Print and display the leaflets in shops, at schools, chemist's, doctors' surgeries, zoos, or on the toilets - just wherever you want. Thank you!

Where to start? | Palm Oil Free Day Example
How to write to company? | Palm Oil Free Day History

Don't know where to start?

Palm Oil Free Day

How to write to company?

WHAT'S IMPORTANT?
Although this event calls for addressing companies using palm oil, our goal is not an absolute, blind boycott of palm oil. We want to offer an effective solution. In particular, we require producers to reconsider their existing technological procedures and to obtain raw materials for the production – not only concerning palm oil use. Of course, the production should be as good and as gentle as possible for both human health and the environment in our home and at the other end of the world as well.

HOW TO DO IT?
The first step – Replacing palm oil is all the more important because nowadays and in the near future it will not be possible to cover all current consumption only with certified palm oil - certainly not with the fact that we would not be cutting a single tree in the next 20 years. Palm oil companies should replace palm oil by local oil / fat wherever it is technologically possible. If this is not possible, they should require BIO palm oil according to European standards or other verified certification.

WHY?
Producers should realize that these steps will benefit not only tropical forest ecosystems and the people of the entire planet, but also themselves, as ethical consumers will prefer their products to products from other producers that continue to use palm oil.

You can use document Five Most Common Misjudgements or e-mail templates.

Palm Oil Free Day History

Palm Oil Free Day is mainly a reminder of what has been going on and what needs to be done. It is a reminder of our global responsibility. It is up to each of us to proactively influence what is happening in the places of palm oil production. And it is our hope that if we suggest you to try spending one day (or maybe two, three, five or even other every day) without palm oil, you will go for it. Because by doing so, both your own health and the nature will benefit from your actions and you will finally realize that it also saves you money as you won't need so many useless products containing palm oil.

Palm Oil Free Day is a continuation of the successful campaign "The day when we tell the companies we don't want their products with palm oil", which took place a year ago - on February 1, 2016.

About 30,000 people joined the Facebook event, and the POWI provided its materials to support it (company list to focus on, e-mail templates and then processing gained information into database). The media has even increased pressure on companies and for many Czech companies it was another turning point that forced them to really leave the palm oil.

A lot has happened in the past year, and our Czech effort has become an example for other countries. We managed to bring the issue of palm oil to minds of two-thirds of the Czechs. A number of companies have phased out the palm oil use completely from their products, while others have been looking for alternatives. Not just the producers but the restaurants, schools, and zoos have also completely eliminated palm oil and its derivates. Moreover, they joined in to inform their customers about this pressing issue. A significant part of the Czech people is now avoiding the products with palm oil.

A year later, leading representatives of POWI met the organizer of the event and the result was an agreement that we will try to organize this event on a regular basis and it will be called the Palm Oil Free Day.

In 2017, we reach through social networks more than 300,000 users. In the press release, we have written that the ambition for the coming years is to extend it to an international level. But we succeeded in achieving this soon after its release. Slovakia, Poland, Portugal and the Netherlands joined to the movement and so it became an International Pal Oil Free Day. On this day, at the same time, the Czech-Slovak Coalition against Palm Oil was reorganized into the international coalition of Palm Oil Watch International. Among its first members was the movement not only from the Czech Republic, but also from Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Canada, Australia, and even from Nepal and Brazil, and others are still joining!

Thanks to this reaction, the Palm Oil Free Day was upgraded to Palm Oil Free February, during which 28-day challenge “Ditch the palm oil” was launched.

	Who We Are
	Visions, Values, and Goals
	Members
	Contacts

	International (English)Palm Oil Watch International
	DetuschPalm Oil Watch auf Deutsch
	PolskiPalm Oil Watch Polska
	ČeskyKoalice proti palmovému oleji
	FrançaisPalm Oil Watch Français
	TürkçePalm Oil Watch Türkçe

	The range of palm oil free cereals has broadened significantly during the past year. You can even buy a chocolate spread without palm oil. Also, there are some palm oil free bread and pastry products available. However, many other products, like donuts, pies, some Christmas cakes remain to be made with palm oil. Let's start with making your own breakfast using basic ingredients. Unless you're a vegan (which is the most environmentally friendly option), you drink milk or eat eggs, try to use those that have been produced by local eco farms, providing animals with natural living conditions and feed without palm oil derivates.
	After breakfast, you are ready to start the duties of a new day. Leave your car at home (especially the diesel one since bio-fuels can be added into the conventional diesel) and go on a bike, on foot or by public transport. Stop by in your favourite bakery and ask which of the products contain palm oil and note that you would prefer those next time, too.
	Try to talk about Palm Oil Free Day with people around you and try to persuade your parents, friends, and colleagues to stay palm oil free for at least one day of the year. And now, let's prepare a palm oil free lunch together.
	If you are not able to cook lunch at home, fortunately, there are more and more restaurants that don't use palm oil. Try to ask at a few and then decide which one would be worth visiting with your friends. If you don't find any, avoid the fried foods at least - after all, it's a lot healthier. And as it's not just the issue of palm oil - how about choosing the today's meal without meat. That's just because animals in conventional farms are mostly fed with mixtures containing palm oil or soybeans - the main culprit of a massive deforestation in South America. Talk to your friends and set up a target to repeat palm oil free lunch more often than just once a year.
	Let your friends, on social networks as well as those you meet in person, know that your today's lunch was palm oil free and that it was important for you. Ask them to give a Like to this campaign. The more followers we have, the stronger signal we send to the producers and politicians. They will take notice that we are determined to put an end to the destruction of the nature and of our health. After lunch, don't forget to enjoy only the sweets without palm oil. And beware of the desserts -even though there already are the candy stores that do not use palm oil, the vast majority still do. Let your favourite candy store know that you want them to change it.
	While shopping in your local store, buy only palm oil free goods. If you already boycott palm oil, try even a harder step: only buy the most environmentally friendly stuff, the one of local origin, from organic farms, in friendly packaging (the most environmentally friendly packaging is no packaging or the one that can be used repeatedly).
	What about a really healthy dinner in the form of fruit or vegetable meal, preferably from a local farmer or even better, from your own (organic) garden?
	Now, we can all fall asleep, being completely satisfied with having spent this day in a very responsible way. And we can start planning for how to improve the next day. If only other days were the same or even better! :)