Sunday, August 19 was World Orangutan Day—a day set aside to encourage the public to take action in preserving this spectacular species. At Friends of Animals, we know the best way to do that is to shun the palm oil industry, which is pushing orangutans to extinction.

In Borneo and Sumatra, their last remaining homes, large parts of the old growth rainforest have disappeared, ripped up for farmland, palm oil plantations and urban development. Compounding the issue is the fact that when orangutans become trapped and isolated in any small fragments of just a few trees, they become vulnerable to poachers who want to supply the exotic pet trade.

You can act today by uploading an app such as PalmSmart, which will tell you whether a product your shopping for contains palm oil as soon as you scan its barcode. Install the Twitter app and you can use PalmSmart to send a specially tailored tweet mentioning each manufacturer’s palm oil usage. Whether urging them to stop using palm oil, or encouraging them to live up to their palm oil commitments, getting involved couldn’t be easier. Another option is the Buycott App. You can choose Palm Oil as a campaign. Then when you scan a product and it will tell you if there are conflicts with the product you are considering purchasing and your campaign.