We proudly support the preservation of all life. This has led us to contribute to various causes, one of them being to help save the Orangutan. As a thank you, the kind and wonderful folks at Orangutan Foundation International named one of their baby orangutans Banda! We are so glad that he shares a name with our ethical fashion bag!
The Plight of the Orangutan
There's some disturbing information in that Facebook post from Orangutan Foundation International. Banda was orphaned at a young age. The fires that rage through Indonesian rainforests are killing Orangutans at an alarming rate. Experts have determined that the orangutan will be extinct in only TEN YEARS if we don't do something. Support ethical brands that don't do business with people who are pushing the orangutan to extinction. Support an ethical fashion bag like Banda Bags, and help adopt more orangutans!
Some Alarming Numbers
Orangutan populations are sharply declining. The IUCN reports that the population of orangutans declined by over 60% from the 1950s to 2010. What's scary is that this decline will rapidly increase as people destroy orangutan habitat. The WWF estimates that there are a little more than 7,000 orangutans left in Sumatra. That's a shocking number. There are still over 100,000 orangutans left in Borneo, yet this is a huge decline from the over 230,000 orangutans that lived in the area one-hundred years ago. Here are some quick facts you should know:
- The Sumatran and Bornean orangutans are different species.
- Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered.
- Bornean orangutans are endangered.
- The WWF says 230,000 orangutans roamed Indonesia a century ago, but the IUCN estimates 288,500 were around in 1973!
- Orangutans average only one offspring every six to eight years.
- It takes 254 days for an orangutan to give birth after getting pregnant
These facts all add up to a grim future for the orangutan. This means their population won't bounce back right away.
Deforestation for All Our Stuff
The main cause of all the orangutan's problems is a huge loss of habitat. Many things we use today depend on land that was once a rainforest. Companies and individuals are burning down rainforests in Borneo and Sumatra. They do it for things like palm oil plantations. Palm oil is in tons of products we use every day. Companies use palm oil because it is cheap. We want cheap goods, right? We have to ask ourselves if we want cheap junk food or a biodiverse planet. We probably cannot have both!
Palm Oil is the Big Baddie Here
Even Fortune magazine has noticed that the orangutans are disappearing. They report that corporations are illegally burning down rainforests in Indonesia. Clearing the forest gives corporations plenty of room to plant palm oil palm trees. Consequently, orangutans have nowhere to live when that happens. It's really sad that everything from our cosmetics to our food contains palm oil that came from what used to be a rainforest. It's hard to avoid palm oil, too. It often hides under the guise of "vegetable oil." Honestly, take a look at some of the products you have in your kitchen and see how many of them have palm oil. This blog post from the Union of Concerned Scientists shows that the writer found twelve (twelve!) products she used every day that contained palm oil!
What We Can Do
We should try to use products that sustainably source their materials. Seriously checking out the things we use every day is a must. This palm oil score card from the WWF is a great place to start. You can also donate to various charities like Orangutan Foundation International! Remember though, just giving money to make a problem go away won't work. Ethical choices for the planet start with our choices as consumers. We vote with our dollars every time we buy something. Supporting ethical companies and denying our purchasing power to corporations that don't respect Mother Nature can make a difference.
An Ethical Fashion Bag for a Change
Every single product that you find in the Banda Bags collection, from the weekender bag to our women's wallets and clutches, has been made with ethical choices in mind. Being an ethical fashion bag brand means not using leather or any animal products. So much deforestation comes from the cattle industry. That means leather also contributes to the plight of the ecosystem! Being an ethical fashion bag brand also means having a fair-practice setting for all of our artisans. Honestly, many people in these areas have very few economic opportunities knocking at their door. Burning forests for palm oil plantations seems like a great way to make money for many people. We believe our company can be a positive change away from that kind of mindset. We want to spread love everywhere and watch it grow.