Cheyenne Mountain Zoo launches app to further palm oil use awareness

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is helping you save the rainforest by just using your phone.

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo along with the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums launched the app PalmOil Scan. It allows you to know if the company you're buying from uses sustainable palm oil.

"Palm oil is an ingredient that’s found in about 50 percent of the products you can buy. It’s found in soap and cosmetics. It is also found in food products like candy bars, frozen meals. It's even used in the manufacturing of toilet paper," said Chelsea Wellmer, the PalmOil and Conservation Coordinator for the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

After opening the app, you can scan a product or search a keyword and it will calculate how a company is when it comes to using sustainable palm oil.

"We rate them on a scale of no commitment to poor to good to excellent, so consumers can shop confidently knowing that when they support companies that are doing the right thing. They’re helping protect wildlife in wild places," said Wellmer.

Wellmer says the problem with using unsustainable palm oil is that it's ruining the homes of endangered species like orangutans.

"The problem historically has been that it was manufactured and produced in Southeast Asia and it’s causing a lot of deforestation," said Wellmer.

However, when produced sustainably, palm oil is the most abundant edible oil available. Oil palms – the trees that palm oil comes from – produce four to ten times more oil than alternatives like soy, olive, canola, and coconut.

Switching to these alternatives would cause even more deforestation in tropical areas, which is why consumers must demand sustainable palm oil. For more information, click here.

The app is free to download in the Apple App Store and Google Play.