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Saturday, December 21: Both Franklin Park Zoo and Stone Zoo will open at 12:00 p.m. to allow time for snow cleanup. Please travel safely!

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Welcome to the Kids' Corner

Conservation & You

Shop Smart to Save Forests

  • products with palm oil

    There’s something sneaky in your shopping cart.


    There's a secret ingredient hiding in many of the things you buy at the store, like toothpaste, pizza, chocolate, and more. It's called palm oil, and it's in nearly half of the stuff you find in the supermarket. 

    What is it?

  • oil palm tree

    What’s palm oil?


    Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil that comes from the fruit of oil palm trees found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Africa.

    So what's the problem?

  • orangutan in a tree

    Animals in trouble


    Huge areas of rainforests are being destroyed because people are making palm oil plantations to grow more and more oil palm trees. This is causing serious trouble for endangered species like elephants, orangutans, rhinos and gorillas. They're losing their homes because of these plantations, and if we don't do something about it, these animals might disappear forever. What can we do?

  • product with RSPO label

    You can help!


    Only buy products made with sustainable palm oil. Farmers who grow sustainable palm oil follow strict rules that protect animals, the environment and people. How do you know? Look for products with the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) label on them to support companies committed to being more forest-friendly.

Did you know that popular candies like Tootsie Rolls, Junior Mints and DOTS, contain the not-so-sweet ingredient, palm oil? You can help by sending a letter to Tootsie Roll Industries urging them to use RSPO-certified palm oil in their candies instead. Take action for forest-friendly candy by printing and sending the petition below, or get creative and create your own.

Print Petition

 

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