A GEOGRAPHY topic turned into a campaign for Year 8s at Haslingden High School and led to them launching an online petition.
The students were learning about food companies using palm oil in products and how the use of unsustainable sources can lead to deforestation in South East Asia.
They created their own website http://rhysmorton.wix.com/palmoilcampaign and contacted many of the leading companies including Heinz, Colgate, Ferrero, Nutella and Johnson and Johnson to raise awareness of the issue.
Minnie Penwill, 13, said: “I emailed Heinz and the company has added a link to their website explaining that they only use sustainable palm oil.
“The rainforests are being cut down to make way for palm tree plantations and this it removing the habitat for the orangutans.”
Other companies that responded to the students’ inquiries explained they had signed up to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
Rhys Morton said: “We want to raise awareness of the issues about using palm oil. It is cheaper to use and grow but there are alternatives out there.”