Tell Pizza Hut to stop slicing up the rainforest. It is killing our Apes

Pizza Hut's headquarters in Dallas, T.X. recently got a visit from a live orangutan. OK, so it wasn't a real ape — it was a guy sporting an orangutan costume. The fake ape provided a very real message, though: Pizza Hut's use of unsustainable palm oil is killing Indonesia's rainforests and the animals that call these regions home.
The "orangutan" and his human accomplice showed up at Pizza Hut's headquarters courtesy of Greenpeace. The non-profit has been running a campaign for the past several months asking major food providers to switch from rainforest-killing palm oil to certified sustainable oils. The pressure pushed Nestle, Burger King, Kraft, and other major purveyors to ditch Sinar Mas, an unsustainable palm oil provider, and start sourcing their oils from eco-friendly operations. Pizza Hut, however, seems to be sticking to the status quo.

The orangutan and his Greenpeace buddy didn't make it any further than Pizza Hut's lobby before they were stopped by security. The two hoped to deliver — in pizza boxes — more than 7,000 signed petitions from folks who want the pizza purveyor to switch to sustainable palm oil. The two were even asked to stop filming the event, but you can check out the duo's unsuccessful attempts at petition delivery here.

The real issue here is Pizza Hut's reliance on Sinar Mas, an unscrupulous supplier that dominates the world's palm oil industry. The majority of global palm oil comes from Southeast Asia — namely, Indonesia. The country is home to pristine rainforest ecosystems, and the islands of Borneo and Sumatra are some of the most biologically diverse habitats on earth. The palm oil trade threatens to destroy these sensitive regions and send their native flora and fauna spiraling into oblivion.

Though Sinar Mas is the most popular global palm oil supplier, it's also the most environmentally destructive. Clear-cutting rainforest and bulldozing peatlands in order to plant oil palm plantations is regular practice in Indonesia. Sinar Mas sources much of its oil from these unsustainable operations. Not only do plantations like this destroy rainforest ecosystems and contribute to global warming, they threaten the existence of the plants and animals that live in these habitats. The situation is especially dire for species like the orangutan and Sumatran tiger, which teeter on the brink of extinction. A little spike in the popularity of stuffed-crust pizza could move these species' statuses from "endangered" to "extinct."

Certified sustainable palm oil providers certainly exist, so there's no reason that any company should continue to rely on Sinar Mas. Consumer pressure already pushed Burger King, Kraft, Nestle, and Unilever to ditch their unsustainable palm oil providers. Let's help Greenpeace get Pizza Hut to do the same. Sign Greenpeace's petition asking Pizza Hut and Dunkin Donuts to immediately drop Sinar Mas and switch to using sustainable palm oil.
Story credit here and to sign the petition please