Great app, just wish for improved functionality to contact companies!
I’m so very very grateful for the folks championing this important cause. This app does a fantastic job of making an extremely complicated issue easy and actionable for the everyday person. I love the function of contacting a company of products using unsustainable palm oil, but it doesn’t work for me. When clicking the button for the action to contact companies, the app tries to open the Apple mail app, which I don’t use. Can y’all please build in some other mechanism of completing the action for users that don’t use the Apple mail app? Thank you!
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Good 👍
I love the overall idea of this app however I wish there was a way to call out companies on this and save this information for other users to see.
Inaccurate, but a good resource nonetheless
EDITED (from first review, titled “Inaccurate”): I like the purpose of this app, but it labels may to many companies as “Excellent”. It is largely based on companies commitments, but not actually what they are doing. It is also mostly based on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). This may sound good, but it is actually not. For starters, the RSPO fails to enforce its own regulations. For example, Procter and Gamble (P&G) is a member of RSPO, yet it is linked to intense destruction of natural wildlife habitat and severe human rights violations. However, the app lists them as “good”! Actually, many companies in the RSPO are like that. The rating algorithm should take into account studies done to measure the company’s deforestation and human rights abuses, not just the purchases of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO). Also, the RSPO is dominated by businesses and they are making the majority of the decisions at this point. RSPO is not driving necessary change. This app needs a place for other certifications, including Fair Trade and Palm Done Right. In addition, membership in POIG should be considered as well.
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Great app!
Great user friendly app! Easy to use and an incredible resource
Top tier app
This app is great, it helps shop in a more sustainably, and eco-friendly way and allows me to send a message to automatically send a message yo companies to show them that I care about the sustainability. Would recommend for anyone trying to love more sustainably
Great App!
The App is easy and quick to use and has lots of Australian products on there! It is now much easier for me to identify which every day products I use containt Sustainably Source Palm Oil. Would reccomend!
Inaccurate
I like the purpose of this app, but it labels may to many companies as “Excellent”. It is largely based on companies commitments, but not actually what they are doing. It is also largely based of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). This may sound good, but it is actually not. For starters, RSPO fails to enforce its own regulations. For example, one company is a member of RSPO, yet it is linked to intense destruction of natural wildlife habitat and severe human rights violations. Actually many companies in RSPO are like that. Also, RSPO is dominated by businesses and they are making all of the decisions now. Companies can use many different certification types. Identity-Preserved: This is the best form of certification. It is 100% sustainable and traceable to the mill. This may sound good but remember RSPO doesn’t enforce whether or not the producer is actually obeying rules and regulations. Segregated: 100% sustainable but from a variety of different sources, not traceable. Mass Balance: Most companies use a lot of this. It is a mix of certified and uncertified palm oil, but nobody really knows how much. The company is free to call ALL of it sustainable, though. Book and Claim: All the company has to do is support sustainable palm oil, not actually use it! RSPO is heavily criticized by environmental organizations. RSPO is not driving necessary change. Don’t trust this app. You should boycott all palm oil or just use palm oil certified by Palm Done Right, the palm oil strictest certification system.
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Response from developer
Thank you for your review. We are always happy to receive feedback on how we can improve our app. From our research and field experience, we believe that boycotting palm oil is not the right choice, and in fact, sustainable palm oil can be the best edible oil for the environment. Oil palms are 4-10x more productive than other edible oil crops, and use significantly less fertilizer, pesticides, water input, and energy input. This means that palm oil, when grown according to the RSPO's rigorous standards, has less environmental impact than other oils like soy, sunflower, coconut, rapeseed, etc. Additionally, boycotting palm oil would put millions of people at risk of poverty, as it is the main source of income for many people in Malaysia, Indonesia, and other tropical countries with little to no other means. To address your concern about too many companies being rated as "Excellent," we have developed a comprehensive formula that we use to rate every company based on these components: membership to the RSPO, completion of an Annual Communication of Progress to the RSPO to transparently report their palm oil activity, RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) usage out of a company's total palm oil usage, and whether or not they have a public statement declaring a goal to use 100% certified sustainable palm oil within the next five years. We recognize that IP and Segregated supply chains are the best for the environment, and that buying credits is not the same as buying CSPO, so our formula weights those differently. If you would like to discuss any further concerns, please email palmoilscan@cmzoo.org.
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Palm Oil Scanner
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Palm Oil Scanner app has been quite useful in helping me decide products to buy. I’ve even stopped buying some items learning that the manufacturer doesn’t care about the environment nor animals nor the rain forest. If we don’t start caring, who will?
Brilliant App
Hello
I am a volunteer at Chester Zoo. Chester Zoo are promoting this app on their website and social media so I need to download and check it out. I don’t do shopping but I ran around the house scanning random products. So far everything we use is Excellent. One of the things we use is rated as Good but that’s the lowest I gotten.
This app would be brilliant when shopping. We need to support companies that are using sustainable palm oil in their products, helping to increase demand for items that support wildlife.
I am a volunteer at Chester Zoo. Chester Zoo are promoting this app on their website and social media so I need to download and check it out. I don’t do shopping but I ran around the house scanning random products. So far everything we use is Excellent. One of the things we use is rated as Good but that’s the lowest I gotten.
This app would be brilliant when shopping. We need to support companies that are using sustainable palm oil in their products, helping to increase demand for items that support wildlife.
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Good but needs improvement
I love the idea of this app but it’s not quite finished. It needs a redesign (it looks like it was designed for iOS 6) and the lists feel incomplete.
BEST APP TO SAVE THE EARTH!
My boy maverick showed me this
Back button?
If you browse the app’s links there’s no way to get back to the app’s Home Screen where the scanner is. I don’t see where this app is expressing any affiliation to POIG chartered RSPO palm oil, which is important!
Decently Helpful
This app has provided me with some peace of mind as i shop, it does offer decent range of products in their database but wish it had even more. It is a shame that there aren’t more apps like this which isn’t a diss on this app. We need to demand more apps like this! Excited to see more from this app!
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Deceiving the public
This app is a hoax! It lists many brands like Hershey, Mars and Nestle that actually use palm oil in their products. Read the reports from Greenpeace or The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) to have a better idea of the actual situation. Shame on the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for not doing their homework.
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So much potential, so little functionality
Where to begin? I love the idea of this app but it’s usefulness just isn’t where it needs to be...
1) when you do a product search and drill down to one product, the back button does not return you to your search list and you have to do the search over and over to check multiple products
2) brand names are not complete e.g. Flora margarine has a different brand name in other countries, that would be helpful to know. It would also be helpful to include unrated brands so we can press those companies for their engagement
3) where to buy information is not included. It doesn’t help to say a brand is rated green if it cannot be sourced for purchase. This is my biggest weakness assessment
4) this is a global platform, you need a truly global app
1) when you do a product search and drill down to one product, the back button does not return you to your search list and you have to do the search over and over to check multiple products
2) brand names are not complete e.g. Flora margarine has a different brand name in other countries, that would be helpful to know. It would also be helpful to include unrated brands so we can press those companies for their engagement
3) where to buy information is not included. It doesn’t help to say a brand is rated green if it cannot be sourced for purchase. This is my biggest weakness assessment
4) this is a global platform, you need a truly global app
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Use this app!!
This app is helping the orangutans! Use this app whenever you can. When you first get on the app it takes to a home page, then you push scan a barcode. It’ll ask to access your camera click “allow”. Before you buy an item, scan the barcode and it’ll tell you if it is RSPO approved. If it is then you can definitely buy it. This app is amazing, definitely use all the time.
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Helpful
Really nice that there is an easy app to help you shop more conscientiously! Love it
😍
I love this it is very helpful and it’s good to know that I can make a change in the world helping adorable monkeys😘 it’s very simple but sooo reliable
Perfect
#in your palm
Does it work in the UK?
Not been recognising anything on my phone
