ADELAIDE ZOO:

PALM OIL CAMPAIGN

Research Project - Sustainable Design GRAP 2011
Sonia Zanatta
Adelaide Zoo - Palm Oil Campaign
Sonia Zanatta
PALM OIL RESEARCH
As of 2019, 80% of
Orangutan habitats
have been destroyed 2
WWF
What is Palm Oil?
Palm oil is sourced from the fruit of palm
trees which grow in tropical regions. The oils
are extracted from the fruit and used in foods
and other products that we find in items in
our everyday supermarkets .
1
What is the Problem?
Wildlife Extinction
The high demands for palm oil result in land
deforestation, robbing homes of local wildlife,
including the orangutan and tiger species, as
well as the Indigenous people’s land. The affected
animals’ numbers have decreased, causing an
endangerment to the species as they are being
inadvertently killed or forced into unfamiliar
areas. Orangutans, as of 2019, have lost 80%
of their natural habitats 2.
Climate Change
Deforestation is also an exacerbator of climate
change, as greenhouse gases are released into
the atmosphere when palm trees are cut down.
An increase in greenhouse gases contributes
towards the warming of the Earths’ temperature.
1. ‘‘What is Palm Oil,” The Orangutan Project, accessed
30 March, 2020, https://www.orangutan.org.au/what-is-
palm-oil/ .
2. “Palm Oil,” WWF, accessed 30 March, 2020, https://
www.wwf.org.au/what-we-do/food/palm-oil#gs.27quij .
Hidden Foods
Australia imports roughly 130,000 tons of palm
oil each year. These oils are disguised as vegetable
oils or other oils in the products we buy, making it
difficult to understand what contains palm oil and
what does not. Items including wraps, noodles,
and even lipstick can contain palm oil.
There are some benefits to palm oil which makes
it a favourable product for producers. It has a long
shelf life compared to other vegetable oils, does
not go rancid as easily as other oils, is known to
reduce cholesterol levels and slow the progression
of heart disease 3. But these benefits do not
outweigh the resulting environmental impacts.
Producers should be sticking to growing certified
sustainable palm oil (CSPO).
3. “Red Palm Oil Benefits the Heart & Brain but is it
Bad for the Environment?,” ExcelVite, last modified
January 29, 2018, https://www.excelvite.com/red-
palm-oil-benefits-the-heart-brain-but-is-it-bad-for-the-
environment/ .
What can we do to Help?
Thoughtful Shopping
Shopping sustainability is also important to
practice. This can be done by familiarising
yourself with the various names palm oil is
written as in ingredients on packaging. These
include: Palmate, Elaeis Gunieensis, Palmitic
Acid and vegetable oil. Turn to products that
contain safer oils, such as canola oil.
Pressure Government
Pressuring the government and manufacturers to
help achieve mandatory labelling of Palm Oil is a
step in the right direction. This would also have
a CSPO label. Consumers have a right to know
what is in the products they use to allow them
to make better choices 4. The labelling system
is a way to raise awareness of which products
contain palm oil, and in term, this system would
put pressure on companies that partake in the use
of Palm Oil to consider another environmentally
friendly alternative to use. We must continue this
pressure in order to push the rule of mandatory
labelling on products.
4. “What is Palm Oil.”
Adelaide Zoo - Palm Oil Campaign
Sonia Zanatta
SUSTAINABLE PRINTING
76 countries had
already lost all
their original forest
cover in 1997 5
Green Graphic Design
What are the Effects?
In an attempt to continue supplying demands
for paper, much of the world’s forests have been
stripped, leading to a devastating loss of habitat
and a release of greenhouse gases. Recorded by
WRI in 1997, it was stated that 76 countries had
already lost all their original forest cover 5. On top
of this, high levels of energy are consumed by the
paper production process.
How can we Help?
There are multiple environmental issues that
have to be discussed when it comes to print jobs.
These are:
Energy
Paper production require large amounts of energy,
contributing to a high greenhouse impact. Wind
and water energy are environmentally friendly
alternatives.
Materials
Sourcing paper from sustainable resources, such
as places that are not involved with deforestation,
species extinction and global warming is important.
Use post-consumer recycled fibre, sustainably
5. Brian Dougherty, Green Graphic Design (New York:
Allworth Press, 2008), 123.
harvested virgin fibre and tree-free alternatives. I have chosen to source post-consumer fibre paper
The Forest Stewardship Council assess forest from Created 2 Print, and use their water, vegetable
practices and ensure sustainable management based inks. Their binding methods are Eco-friendly
is taking place 6. as they use materials from recycled resources
that can be recycled again. This company is able
Set-Up Consideration to produce 100% recycled and 100% solar energy
Communicating with the printer is important products 7. They are local which reduces energy
to create an efficient piece to avoid unnecessary for transportation costs, which in turn also helps
waste. Consider the set-up to maximise the paper support local businesses.
usage per sheet, and the finishing and binding
to see if waste can be re-used or reduced.
Inks
Low-VOC inks are beneficial as lower level of
chemicals are involved in the printing process.
Vegetable-based inks are better then petroleum
inks as they too have low VOC levels. Water-based
inks are environmentally friendly as they eliminate
The paper industry
the need for solvent-based cleaning agents.
accounts for 9%
Created 2 Print is an Australian company that use
recycled, alternative fibre and reclaimed papers.
of greenhouse gas
They operate on 100% solar power in pre-press emissions 6
and print production.
Forest Stewardship Council
6. “We Are the World’s Most Trusted Sustainable Forest
Management Solution,” Forest Stewardship Council, accessed
31 March, 2020, https://fsc.org/en/page/about-us .
7. “Sustainable Printing,” Created 2 Print, acessed 31 March,
2020, http://created2print.com/environmentally-sustainable-
printing/ .
Adelaide Zoo - Palm Oil Campaign
Sonia Zanatta
IDEA GENERATION
I initially brainstormed the first ideas that came
to mind then narrowed them down to creating
an Eco-friendly shopping list. This seemed to be
a relevant choice as it can be a fun and handy
little souvenir to receive.
This would be aimed at all age ranges. It can be
used as a shopping list, but also something to
jot quick notes down or draw on. The information
relating to products that contain palm oil, and other
names for palm oils, would be displayed on the list.
This would encourage users to easily check if the
product they are buying does contain palm oil.
This simple piece of information is able to engage
the users to make a little change for the better
in what they buy as the information would be a
constant reminder of what they should avoid. Even
once the shopping list is finished, a website is still
available for their use.
There would also be an option of a QR code on
the shopping list, which would send the user to
a website, where they are able to search for items
that could potentially contain palm oil.
The shopping list would initially be setup to fit
on A3 sheets of paper. To maximise the fit of the
design onto the stock paper, the dimensions would
be 70mm x 297mm per each sheet of paper. This
would be equivalent to 6 double sided pages from
the shopping list as it would be folded half way.
The shopping list will have no bleed, therefore,
there is no need to include bleed lines. Any images
added will stop just short of the outer edge. This
enables there to be no paper waste created.
The shopping list would be made from post-
consumer fibre paper, which has been recycled and
can be recycled again once the page has been used
up. Side stitch binding is an Eco-friendly technique
for the joining process, which enables the shopping
list to easily be re-assembled for easy recycling.
Side stitching from sustainable hemp farms can
be brought into Create 2 Print, as mentioned in
sustainable printing, to be used to bind the pages.
The orange and black inks used for printing are
water-based inks.
Adelaide Zoo - Palm Oil Campaign
Sonia Zanatta

DESIGN SOLUTION: Shopping List

FRONT BACK

AVOID PALM OIL IN YOUR FOOD

SHOPPING LIST
Palm oil is sourced from the fruit of palm trees. High
demands for palm oils result in land deforestation,
robbing homes of local wildlife, including the
orangutan and tiger species, as well as the
Indigenous people’s land.

Palm oil is hidden in foods you eat. Please make a

conscious decision to a
avoid purchasing products
that contain palm oil by knowing the names palm oil
is disguised as in the ingredients list.

148.5mm
The most common namess for palm oil are:
Azelaic Acid •Cetyl
Cetyl Acetate
Cetyl Alcohol •Elaeis Guineensis
Glyceryl •Steatic
Steatic Acid
Palm Fruit Oil • Palm Kernel Oil
Palmitate
te • Vegetable Oil

Please recycle this paper

INGREDIENTS CONTAINING PALM OIL: Scan the QR code to find

Please recycle
this paper outt which products contain
Azelaic Acid -Cetyl Acetate - Cetyl Alcohol
Elaeis Guineensis - Glyceryl - Steatic Acid palm oilil & SIGN THE PETITIO
PETITION
ON
Palm Fruit Oil - Palm Kernel Oil - Vegetable Oil

Scan the QR code to see which foods contain

Palm Oil and to SIGN THE PETITION

70mm
Adelaide Zoo - Palm Oil Campaign
Sonia Zanatta

DESIGN SOLUTION: QR Code

Adelaide Zoo - Palm Oil Campaign
Sonia Zanatta
RATIONALE
I have chosen to use a post-consumer fibre
shopping-list as an item to hand out at the Adelaide
Zoo. This shopping list is informative and useful, as
well as cheap to produce. The practicality of writing
lists down as you remember them will encourage
The shopping list can people to use the shopping list. All ages can
be used by anyone, engage with the item, as young children are able to
use it as a drawing pad/writing pad and adults are
which encourages able to use it when they shop.
different age groups
I chose to use an orangutan on my shopping list
to learn and website as it is an animal that is directly
affected by the process of palm oil production.
Orangutans share a 97% similarity with humans,
therefore, it is used to encourage the audience
that we are not that different from them, yet we
are taking their land away.
The expression of the orangutan is used to portray
a kind and caring animal. The baby shows that this
orangutan is a mother, and without it, the baby
would not be able to survive, especially if their
homes are being torn down.
The list of substitute names for palm oils are
narrowed down to the most popular used names
in products. These few have been printed as to not
overwhelm the customer, as this would result in the
The mother & baby
user not making an effort to identify the palm oil. orangutan are used to
encourage users to
The QR code enables the customer to accurately
see whether the product they are considering feel empathy
buying contains palm oil or not, in order to avoid
them having to physically look through the
ingredients themselves. The customer would scan
the ingredients list or type in the brand and type of
product into the app to identify whether it contains
palm oil. The QR code would also encourage the
customer to sign the petition, as this is what they
would have the option to fill out before being taken
to the page to see if their product contains palm oil.
By entering details and pressing submit, the action
automatically adds a digital signature to the petition
created by Sarah Young, a sustainability leader,
whom which once reached 200,000 signatures
on the petition, will be able to send it off to the
government for review.
The QR code
encourages users
to sign a petition
for mandatory food
labelling in Australia