Early Monday morning a bunch of awesome people and orangutans decided to pay PepsiCo, Colgate-Palmolive and Johnson & Johnson a little visit to their Australian headquarters in Sydney.
© James Alcock / Greenpeace
The plan: to deliver the 30,000+ Australian signatures calling on each of these brands to come through on their “no deforestation” promises. We went to show those companies that Australian consumers demand better, adding pressure on global executives to take the urgent action required to break the link between deforestation and palm oil.
© James Alcock / Greenpeace
The first company on our list: PepsiCo. Our orangutans were clearly the stars of the show, holding banners reading “Forests not Fires: End Deforestation Now,” and handing out leaflets explaining the issue to company staff and members of the public.
© James Alcock / Greenpeace
Meanwhile, two of us went inside to physically hand over the petition and communicate our demands to the PepsiCo Australia executives. We delivered those 30,000 names straight to the CEO!
Our next stop was Colgate-Palmolive in the centre of Sydney city. We weren’t able to get into a meeting room this time but we were still able to hand over our demands. There were heaps of people on the street stopping and asking what the deal was with the orangutans!
© James Alcock / Greenpeace
The last brand on our list was Johnson & Johnson and we just couldn’t resist making use of a nearby zebra crossing. Looking good everyone!
© James Alcock / Greenpeace
© James Alcock / Greenpeace
Taking our message direct to company headquarters, plus talking with people on the streets of central Sydney about this critically important issue, made for a great morning. Although, some of the orangutans got a little confused (yep, that’s a statue)…
© Ben Solity / Greenpeace
© Ben Solity / Greenpeace
The Indonesian forests are in desperate need of our protection and brands like PepsiCo, Colgate-Palmolive and Johnson & Johnson who use palm oil must start delivering real change. Together, we’ve put pressure on these brands and held them accountable – which as citizens, consumers and activists, is exactly what we need to do.
You can join the growing movement of people protecting our forests by adding your name here.
Thanks for all that you do, that’s a wrap (for now)!
© Ben Solity / Greenpeace
