Episode 4 - Festive Footprints: Making Holidays Count

Get into the festive spirit with our special Holiday edition of The Palm Pod! This holiday season, we’re diving into the world of consumer choices and buying behaviour, exploring why it’s crucial to make informed decisions—especially during the most wonderful (and busiest) time of the year.

With host, Fara Rom, joining us is Yasmina Neustadtl, Senior Manager of Market Transformation Americas at RSPO, who shares insights on how our purchasing habits can support sustainable palm oil, reduce our environmental footprint, and make a global impact. Whether you're shopping for gifts, planning your holiday menu, or just curious about the impact of your choices, this episode is for you!

Tune in to learn how your holiday cheer can align with sustainable living, and let’s make this season one of meaningful change. 🌱✨

Learn more about sustainable palm oil at www.rspo.org.

*The views and opinions expressed on The Palm Pod are solely those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of The Palm Pod or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

You are now listening to the Palm Pod, brought to you by RSPO, a global partnership to make palm oil sustainable. Hi, I'm Faro, and you're tuning in to the holiday edition of the Palm Pod. Listen in for engaging discussions, expert insights, and industry updates on sustainable palm oil, guiding consumers and businesses to make better choices for the planet. The holiday season is finally here, and with it comes the joy of delicious rose. I can't wait for the sweet treats and plenty of holiday preps. As we get ready for the festivities for many people out there, there's a lot of shopping to do. And as today's title suggests, festive footprints, making holidays count. It's the perfect time for us to rethink about how our purchases can make a positive impact. And to chat more about this, we are joined by Yasmina Neustadt, Senior Manager of Market Transformation Americas at RSBO. Welcome, Yasmina. How is your holiday preparation going?

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Hi, Bara. Thanks so much for having me on the Palm Pod and with such an interesting topic to cover. Super excited and so cool. My holiday preparation is hectic. As a mother of two young children, the holidays have now become more of a responsibility for them to live in that sort of holiday magic and enjoy it. So, yes, I'm going through a lot of planning, a lot of organizing, lots of Christmas shows, and of course, um, you know, a lot of work to get done before the holiday itself.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

That's really, really exciting, and holidays are, I think, um, almost everyone in this world are anticipating holidays. And for myself, and I'm in Malaysia, we love festivities so much because it's not just the Christmas, it's also different festivities. Eid or Hari Raya for the Muslims. Chinese New Year, the Pavoli so there's a lot of a lot of celebration that took place in Malaysia in particular. It's almost similar with other festivities as well, where we are living in a really hyper-consumerism era. So sometimes when we do preparation for the celebration, we don't really think about our holiday shopping behavior at the same time as um of recent times, there's a lot of conversation that talks about the impact um on how we purchase our items during festivities. So to start, um, I want to ask for your point of view, um, how do our holiday shopping behaviors actually impact the environment?

SPEAKER_01 2:52

That's that's a great question to start. Um, thanks for that. I think um kind of to kick off this topic, our holiday shopping behavior impacts the environment, I think, as much as our daily actions do. So, as the holidays approach, as you mentioned, society takes on a very consumerist mentality because we're purchasing gifts for so many things, um for work parties, for gatherings, for family events. To me, it feels like December is sort of that never-ending month of gift buying and event hosting. And it's really our responsibility as consumers, I think, to shape our consumerism to have less of an impact on the environment itself. It can make such a difference, for example, to pause before we buy and think of a few key elements that can simply change our buying choices immediately. And in turn, they have less of an impact on the environment itself. And I think we'll delve into this further on, but just to mention some impacts, because I think some people might not be that aware of them. And you know, you go shopping and you say, well, you're you're just so excited, as you mentioned, about the holidays and seeing family and friends that you haven't seen for a while, that you get lost in that moment of buying details and surprises for people that you love. So some of these impacts, you know, I read some statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency that shows, for example, that in North America, people increase their solid waste during the holidays by 25%. So to me, that was crazy. That's a lot. So this waste is obviously increased through packaging, boxes, gift wrapping, and of course a ton of food waste as well. There's a journalist that I really like, uh JB McKinnon. He said in an article for The Guardian that when people buy less stuff, you get immediate drops in emissions, immediate drops in resource consumption and pollution. And it's unlike anything we've achieved with green technology. So this idea just blows my mind because it's an example of how intensely shopping can really affect the environment.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

And um, for yourself, after becoming like a uh the mother of two and also living in this yeah, 2024, right? Have you noticed if consumer behaviors have evolved towards sustainability um in the recent years?

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Oh, that's tough. I mean, I think so. I think newer generations are way more conscious. I mean, the term sustainability itself didn't exist till you know the late 1980s, so we're more conscious than our ancestors were, especially um ancestors that were living in the wake of the industrial revolution where there was such a shift in producing and consuming goods. But then again, um, you know, we have access to so much more via online purchasing and platforms that even though the consciousness is there, I think our our ancestors, I the ancestors sound so so way back, but like our grandparents, you know, had way more difficulty in buying gifts than we do. So for me, it's hard to say. I think online buying has really been the tipping point in consumerism because it allows us to have anything at any time. There was this great article that I read by the David Sasuki Foundation that said that online shopping revolutionized consumer habits and that it influenced broader societal trends, including, you know, how we how humans understand convenience, how we understand consumerism and the global economy. And it mentioned that just alone in Canada, there were 27 million digital buyers. So, with like our access to smartphones and online stores, I think this has increased our purchasing power by so much in recent years, in the past, you know, 20 years. So it, you know, it's hard to say. But having said that, I do see peers of mine at least being more focused on buying local, supporting local brands, buying artisanal products, and paying attention to certain details when buying. So going back to what I mentioned previously, by simply asking yourself a few questions before buying something, it can make such a difference. And you know, some of these questions are is this gift something the person will make use of for a long time? Or, you know, what's the quality of this product like? And of course, um, I couldn't skip this because you have been in RSPO for nine years, but of course, are the materials or the ingredients in this sustainable? Are they certified, etc.? So I think these questions can really make an impact on our purchasing rather than just picking up the first thing we see for a work party. It's kind of having that mindfulness when we purchase whether it will serve the person, is it good quality, and is it sustainable? And that really makes a difference for me at least when when buying.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

I do agree with you. I also observe there's a lot more, especially in where I live, a lot more pop-up bazaars that sells artisanal products and things like that, and people are actually demanding for more of that sort of uh items, but also there's a thought that artisanal products are like so exclusive because it's expensive, right, compared to like normal products out there that is factory produced. Okay, so at the same time, you were mentioning about certification and sustainability. So I think we it's it's a really good segue to talk a bit about the industry that we're in for the audience. Can you explain how or where palm oil may be prevalent in the items that is sold out there? Our everyday holiday purchases, like food and gifts.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Yeah, of course, of course. And and I do like what you say because you know, price is a consideration. Um, and but buying it, yeah, it's always like what is the price that we pay? But um, going back to uh the you know, palm oil and and where it's at or where it can be found, you know, palm oil is in over 50% of the products that we purchase at the supermarket. And we know that during the holidays there's a lot of hosting, a lot of eating. So evidently palm oil will be, you know, present in the products that we use during the holidays. I think some examples that people just don't think about are the cookies that we leave out for Santa or the cookies that we bake with our kids, or the hot chocolate that we drink at Starbucks, which is an RSPO member, by the way. Um, the chips that we serve at our dinner parties. I mean, there's so many things that we eat that contain palm oil, but also palm oil is probably present in most of the gifts that we give, certainly in cosmetics, in soaps, creams, in paints that we could be giving our children or our friends. So I dare to say palm oil will be present in many of our gifts this holiday season and definitely present in our meals and parties. Um, as a woman, I love gifting soaps. This to I this is to me the most timeless and lasting and useful gift. I usually gift from companies like L'Occitane and Natura, which are actually both RSPO certified. Um, and you know, this is a gift for me. I'm like, this has palm oil, but also who doesn't love a lush, sustainable bar of soap? Um, so that for me is one of my favorite gifts to give, is just a really nice bar of soap.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Um, from that, can you tell us what's the most surprising thing people not know about sustainable palm oil?

SPEAKER_01 10:23

I think usually when people think of palm oil, at least the sentiment that I hear the most is they immediately think of frying oil or like food, food-related stuff. So for you know, when I when I talk to people, I think the most surprising thing for consumers that they might not know about sustainable palm oil is that it's found in cosmetics and creams and makeup and soap bars. So it's it's found in so many things that we use daily. I mentioned before the percentage of palm oil in the supermarket, but you know, there's other stats. So stats that say, for example, that out of 10 bathroom products that you own, seven will have palm oil derivatives in them. And you know, through those stats, we know that about two of the seven are RSPO certified. So we have we still have a long way to go, but we're making progress. I think for Latin America, the most surprising fact for a consumer will be that 35% of the region's palm oil is certified sustainable, which makes Latin America the leading region in certified sustainable palm oil. Um, and I also think consumers here might be surprised to find out that most of the palm oil that we consume in Latin America is grown here. So it's not important, imported, sorry, from elsewhere. And, you know, oftentimes a lot of my friends and when I'm we're talking about palm oil, they ask, like, oh, is it all coming from Southeast Asia? And they're shocked to hear that most of the palm oil we consume in Latin America is grown here, and that almost half is certified RSPO.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

That's actually really interesting, and it's actually the first slide that I heard that too. So um, it is somehow like sustainable palm oil, it's not just about growing the oil palm sustainably, but also if you think about sustainability, it's about sourcing it from the region, right? So it's cool to know that. Um, but like you mentioned, there's from the bathroom products, seven out of ten has palm all derivatives, and two of the seven is specified. So if someone, for example, like me, um, an average consumer that wants to make a better purchases, like how can the average consumer tell if a product is sustainably sourced, and especially with palm oil being such a common ingredient, and like you said, you know, in seven out of ten of the bathroom products, yeah, such a common ingredient, but also such a hidden ingredient, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:53

Because a lot of our products that contain palm oil derivatives, they don't actually are they're not they're not actually labeled as palm oil. So as with any product, I think you can tell if it's sustainable, mostly through its labeling and obviously a little prior research. In the case of RSPO, um many of our members have the RSPO label on products, which makes it super easy to just grab a product and see if it's certified sustainable on the packaging itself. But having said this, many companies choose not to label because of space or for other reasons. So another way is you can go onto the RSPO website and see if the company is an RSPO member, are they certified, etc. Also, some regions have apps that they've developed or that have been developed by RSPO members, which are great. These apps, you know, rate companies who have palm oil in their products and rate the company on how well they're doing with their sustainable sourcing. So, for example, if a company is a member of the RSPO, they'll have a higher rating than a company that isn't. So I think that what this does is, you know, it encourages the consumer to try and buy from companies who are rated well and they're committed to like a stricter standard, such as the RSPO. So these are just a few ways I think that you can tell if a product is certified sustainable.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Going back to our conversation about how easy things are these days, about us being able to purchase digitally, how can we balance convenience um and sustainability when shopping for the holidays? And why is it important for us to actually think about the long-term consequences or impact of our purchases, especially when we want to um lead our life towards more sustainable ways?

SPEAKER_01 14:39

This is this is a tough question for you know, I'll answer in two parts because I think that you mentioned two components, you know, convenience and then long-term impact, which I think are both central to our holiday shopping. Um so starting with the convenience, you know, some convenience sometimes gets in the way of sustainability, right? It's more convenient, for example, to sit on a chair at home and order things online that are maybe traveling a very far distance and aren't local. Of course, if there's like a delivery truck delivering a hundred packages instead of a hundred cars on the road going to the local mall, you know, the delivery truck is in fact more environmentally friendly. But the problem there lies in the fact that I can be in Ecuador, where where I am right now, and order a jacket from any retailer in Malaysia, where you are. And the package will travel from Malaysia to Ecuador, usually by air or by sea, to some Ecuadorian port. You know, it'll then be sorted and sent to a distribution center and put onto a vehicle for home delivery. So just the journey from its origin, which is far in this example, has immense emissions. But it's convenient, right? I didn't have to do anything except to browse from my computer and click on a button. So I do think the balance comes again, and and I've been, you know, very repetitive on this, but I'm I'm very passionate about this. It's the balance comes when we're thoughtful about what we purchase. You know, being mindful of buying local is an easy way to be more sustainable and support local economies. You mentioned the the new, you know, Christmas fairs or the more pop-up shops. And I think every city and town has that, especially in the holidays. So going to your local city or town Christmas fair, researching the policies that companies you purchase from have prior to your purchase. So all these things may sound inconvenient to an average consumer, but in the end, that's the extra push that you need in order to be more sustainable, because it's not just a matter of saying, well, is it convenient to be sustainable? Well, not necessarily always. It takes an extra push, but it can be convenient. Um, and I think regarding the second part of the question, which was the long term, um, this is extremely important because material things don't necessarily last forever as an experience might. And I personally love gifting experiences, such as like an online course or you know, a massage or a ceramics class. Like I love that. Um, but when you are buying material things, just by doing a quick mental life cycle assessment of the thing, for lack of better word, that you're buying, you immediately become more aware of the impact that it has. So for example, am I buying a plastic toy for my child that will break after three uses and end up in the recycling bin? Or am I buying a wooden toy that has multiple uses, it comes from certified wood, and I think it will last them over five years? Or am I buying an article of clothing from a fast fashion brand that comes from the other side of the world and throughout its supply chain potentially has child labor? Or am I buying a garment made with organic fabrics that it's made that is made locally by an artist? Of course, and you mentioned this, price is something to take into consideration. Um, but I think I always ask myself, what price are we really paying by purchasing things that will break or stop working in the very short run? I think it's important to think ahead when we're purchasing, otherwise, we're making choices based on impulse and not on logic. And, you know, if we be if we view buying during the holidays in the same way that we view other choices that we make in our daily lives, I think that would really make a difference long term. And and you know, it's an important thing to to just have in mind um ultimately because we have become very compulsive buyers and and we're, you know, maybe buying, yeah, like buying, you know, very cheap things, but buying hundreds of those cheap things rather than paying a higher price from you know for a better quality object or etc.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Yes, and I'm actually guilty of this as well. And one thing for me personally, what has shifted in terms of like my purchasing behavior is when we purchase a clothing and then we wear them. Sometimes we feel like if we keep on wearing the same clothes, this is me personally. When I wear the same clothes like almost 10 times, like when I want when I go out, especially going to the same place that I go every week, I kind of felt like, oh, do I as a as a human myself, I kind of get affected by that at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

Same. I mean, yeah, we have to shift that. We have to shift that mindset. And and it, I think it happens, I mean, to all of us, you know. I have it happens to me at least. If I have like a very nice work outfit um that I've worn like for five times that I've met, you know, with the same member, RCO members, and I get self-conscious and I'm like, I need to switch this outfit up. And I think that's just that again, that consumer's mentality. I think that is exacerbated during the holidays for sure.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

I agree, I agree. Um, okay, we had a really great conversation today. Um, but I think I want to wrap our discussion up with a really simple takeaway message. Uh, if, for example, if it's me, I wanna I wanna do better in terms of okay, um, make a different purchasing uh decisions. What advice would you give me?

SPEAKER_01 20:20

You're asking me to be concise, and I'm not the most concise person, but um I'll I'll try to wrap this up with a few ideas I think that have come up throughout the conversation. So I'm by no means an expert on this topic at all. I did do my master's in sustainability, so I'm very passionate about responsible sourcing of like food and clothes and toys. So, you know, I've given you my two cents, but I think if someone were to start from scratch to make better purchasing decisions, the easiest way, in my opinion, is to make sure your products or whatever you're buying is certified. Um, and I'm not just saying this because I work for the RSPO. You know, certification schemes are such an amazing way for the consumer themselves to not have to do that much extra work because you know that the certification has led the company to go through checks and balances. And so, yes, there are so many certification schemes. So, of course, if if I'm buying food and cosmetics, I make sure that the palm oil in my product is deforestation free. It has super high labor standards, and so therefore I look for the RSPO label. So that's that's like my first thing because that's something that you don't have to change for. You can simply just look at the label and labeling is important and certification schemes are important and you know that they're there for a reason and and they've gained all this strength and reputation because you know they're providing the checks and balances. Um, but there's other things, right? So, for example, I make sure that I stand by the brand's ethos and their policies. So usually policies are outlined on their website. You know, I like to research a little bit about the brands I'm buying. In the past, when I was way younger. And I started studying sustainability when I was 20. So that was 20 years ago. Um I've made the mistake of, you know, buying things that later I've read articles about that company that made me really uncomfortable that I was supporting that. And so I think just researching is important. And also, and to close, I like to keep a simple rule and follow it as much as I can. So it's the 80-20 rule. And I think a lot of people know this. It's the 80% of the time I'm able to, and 20% I'm I'm I know that I can sway from this because of convenience or lack of availability, etc. So for clothes, that looks like 80% of the time I try and buy secondhand or from local retailers and artists. 20% of the time I can sway. For food, you know, I try and buy organic and certified, as well as go to the farmers markets. And for my kids, for example, I try and swap with friends, I try and swap with family members that have older children in order to minimize the amount of buying. So I think that would be sort of my closing in some of the things that a consumer can do to start off.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

Thank you so much for that. And yeah, this is something that is easy. It's an easy uh idea that we can we can start our sustainability journey with, uh, especially during the festivity season. And it and it doesn't have to stop there, it can start there because we are already in the holiday uh period. Um, but yeah, we can continue it even after the holiday. So thank you so much, Jasmina, for the amazing advice and also your um perspective on sustainability uh and uh consumer behaviors uh and all the discussion that we had. And thank you so much for spending your time at the Pump Pot.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

Thank you, Farah. This was such a nice conversation. I'm I'm so happy to have been able to share a bit more of my personal, you know, side to holiday shopping. It's not the usual like technical RSVR-related content that I'm used to sharing. Um, but I think it was super enriching for me too. Um and happy holidays to everyone.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Thank you. Likewise, and happy holidays to everyone. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the palm pod on your favorite podcasting platforms. And feel free to share your feedback for our next episode. Have a wonderful holiday, everyone. I was speaking to our guest, Yasimina Neustadt, Senior Manager, Market Transformation America's RSBO. I am Fararum and this is the Palm Podcast.