University of Pannonia Nagykanizsa

Is zero waste, sustainability, ecological footprint, climate catastrophe, global warming only a hot expression or a problem of real dangers, preoccupying dedicated researchers, professionals, civilians and seriously affecting our everyday lives and our future?

In recent years a lot of newspaper articles, blogs, videos, podcasts, websites, associations, festivals, NGOs, educational materials, publications, scientific articles, international collaborations, UN resolutions have been made on the topic. Getting to know, processing and hosting these organizations and content seem to be an almost impossible mission. But there is one thing we can count on if we dig into this topic. The realization that everything is connected. An everyday activity or user behaviour that seem irrelevant to us but still has a butterfly effect affects not only our immediate environment but also those living in more distant parts of the world.

Let’s look at a consumer product that looks quite ordinary through the example of palm oil.

Oil palms arrived in Southeast Asia from West Africa at the beginning of the 20th century thanks to the Industrial Revolution. At that time, the annual production was 250 thousand tons. This number has now risen to 60 million tons, representing 30% of the world’s vegetable oil production.
By the middle of the 20th century, Malaysia became the world’s largest palm oil producing country. Since the 1970s the Indonesian government has also invested heavily in the industry, thus taking the lead in 2007. According to WWF data, 300 football fields of rainforest are destroyed every hour due to palm oil production. Deforestation drives animal species towards extinction: if nothing changes, the orangutan and the Sumatran tiger will die out within the foreseeable future. Currently, a third of Indonesian mammalian species are at serious risk because unsustainable developments have invaded their habitat. Over the past 20 years, 90% of the orangutans’ habitat has been destroyed, which has been declared an environmental emergency by the UN. It is estimated that 1,000 – 5,000 orangutans fall victim to these developments every year.
This is also a problem because the orangutan is a key species, i.e., it plays a vital role in the health of the ecosystem. For example, the seed of many tree species can only germinate if it first passes through the orangutan’s intestinal tract, so the animal has a very important role in spreading the seeds and regenerating the forest.

But what are we going to use all this oil for?

One of the biggest buyers is the food industry as it can be used in many ways. It is found in a lot of products including almost all chocolates.

So we come to the context mentioned in the title, that is, what does Santa Claus have to do with the Sumatran tiger?

A conscious and sustainable lifestyle requires a lot of planning and a lot of attention. It is much easier to ignore all this, as we do not always see it as solvable and adaptable to our everyday lives. It is too much trouble and the problems will not be solved on an individual level – we think in a situation like this. In many cases, the comfort aspects win or we acquit ourselves as we pay attention to sustainability in other areas of life.

However, one thing should not be forgotten. Freedom of choice is the sole prerogative of the human race, so responsibility rests solely with us.