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Palm the Palm: the high cost of the cheap oil

Let’s get one thing straight: palm oil is not evil. However, the unsustainable production of the cheap vegetable oil leading to deforestation, loss of natural habitats and greenhouse gas emissions is.

The rise in demand for palm oil since the 1980s was due to the products multifunctionality making it the world’s most versatile raw material. Palm oil and palm kernel oil based ingredients are found in approximately 50% of products on supermarket shelves, including food and non-edible items. At present, it has become the second most traded oil crop in the world, after soy, with Malaysia and Indonesia as its main producers.

The calamity begins with forest fires as means of deforestation to create plantation land emitting heavy amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Unique and fragile ecosystems such as rainforest and peat swamps found mainly in South America and South East Asia are disrupted. Animal species dwelling in these habitats like the Sumatran tiger, the Sumatran orangutan, rhinos, elephants and several gibbon species are endangered. This is topped with the predicaments of mono-cropping: soil erosion, loss of groundwater, pollution of waterways. The industry is also linked to indigenous rights abuses in the countries where it is produced, as they are forced to abandon their land for extensive plantations.

Why so popular?

Palm is one of the most productive crops on the planet, with the ability to grow in a remarkable range of places. It offers a far greater yield at a lower cost of production than other vegetable oils. Such factors coupled with large profit margins, an incredible diversity of uses for palm oil and a lack of economically competitive substitutes result in the industry growing exponentially.

Employment

Many products that use palm oil avoid clear labeling. Palm oil and its derivatives can appear under many names including Vegetable Oil/Fat, Palm Kernel, Palmate, Palmitate, Palmolein, Glyceryl, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, etc. It is widely used in:

  • Food items like chocolate, ice creams, margarine, instant noodles, cookies
  • Cooking oil
  • Animal feed
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Cosmetics like soap, lipstick, shampoo
  • Detergents
  • Biofuel – biodiesel as alternative to crude oil

Companies using palm oil

 Palmolive, Coca-Cola Co, PepsiCo, Colgate, McDonalds, Nestlé, Procter, Gamble, General Mills, Hershey, Kellogg’s, Kraft Heinz, L’Oréal, Mars, Mondelez, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever

Alternatives

Sweet Almond Oil                                                  Cottonseed Oil                    

Coconut oil                                                               Rice Bran Oil                                               

Hemp oil                                                                   Safflower Oil

Olive Oil                                                                    Grapeseed Oil

MGEcoduties offers palm-free bath soaps using coconut oil as a healthier lather agent. Coconut oil has antimicrobial properties and contributes to skin care by moisturizing and reducing inflammation.

What can you do?

Boycotting products containing the ubiquitous palm oil is the simplest and most effective action you can do! Ultimately consumers have a greater impact in decreasing the demand to a reasonable degree in the long run than laws and treaties. This will incentivize the existing plantations to be focused on sustainability rather than meeting the ever escalating market of palm oil. Avoid buying palm oil based products and turn your shopping expedition into an active power of change.

 

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PROBIOTICS HOUSE TIP SERIES # 32 – Probiotics: your skin summer friends!

Increases in temperature and humidity encountered most frequently during the summer months can develop uncomfortable skin rash and also Intertrigo (intertriginous dermatitis) that is an inflammatory rash that occurs between skin folds—areas of the body where skin touches skin, such as the armpits, the groin, under breasts, or within fat folds—as a result of friction, moisture, and lack of airflow. Because these folds are warm and moist, they provide ideal conditions for Candida albicans (yeast), other fungi, or bacteria to take hold, infecting the rash and worsening symptoms. Patches of redness on babies can also be connected with the development of candidiasis of the skin, especially on the buttocks. A diaper tends to provide an ideal environment for Candida.

Activities such as bicycle riding or running, which produce repetitive movements, produce frictional forces which may injure the skin. Men are predisposed to intertrigo of the groin because of the occlusion produced by the male external genitalia.

Probiotics offer a Safe and Natural remedy to help on this kind of skin condition. Probiotics can also be used as a natural body odor control; body hitching relives and natural anti-fungal and cooler.

Apply Probiotics undiluted with a spray bottle to the skin area that you need to treat. It will relive and alleviate the skin condition.

For bathing, add 30 ml. of Probiotics for every liter of water, on a full body bath for adult and baby, or foot bath, or hand bath, etc. The natural fermented odor of the Probiotics vanishes after the application on your body.

Available in Probiotics House in Reve opposite to Aroma Garden in Auzolan compound. Please bring your clean bottles.

PROBIOTICS HOUSE

Guidelma & Margarita

MGEcoduties – Reve.

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PROBIOTICS HOUSE TIP SERIES # 31

PROBIOTICS FOR FRUITS & VEGETABLES WASH

Some foods are actually pretty safe to buy inorganic: carrot, cabbage, onion, However, some products as grapes, salad, tomatoes, or really anything you don’t have to peel, are still rather full of pesticides, wax, and other chemicals. If you have no other option of buying inorganic produce, try soaking them in 100% ALL-NATURAL PROBIOTICS 4WASH for fruits and vegetables!

PROBIOTICS 4WASH is strong with the dirt and completely save for human and nature, it will definitely extend the shelf life of yours stored fruits & vegetable by keeping them very fresh and ready to be used.

Thanks for saving water, because product washed with PROBIOTICS 4WASH NO NEED TO BE RINSED, and no need refrigerator to.

Usage: Shake gently before using.  Add 20 ml. 4WASH per half litre of water. Remove labels and stems. Add uncut items to water.  Soak for 10 minutes. No rinse requires, drain and store as appropriate.

We strongly promote Refilling system to reduce plastics so this product is available in PTDC for the cooperative members only and in PROBIOTICS HOUSE in Reve for every body.

Probiotics House

Reve – Auroville.

Phone: 0413 – 2623774

Email: mgecoduties@auroville.org.in

www.probioticshouse.com

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PROBIOTICS HOUSE TIP SERIES #30

Happy Diwali! From MGEcoduties and EcoFemme.

MGEcoduties and EcoFemme have joined hands to do, as always, something different with the mission of assist consumers with the right selection of products that do not harm our Mother Earth.

This time, and with the occasion of Diwali, we are promoting a combo of products, that includes the EcoFemme cloth-pad and the special formulation of a handmade Probiotics “Cloth-Pad-Soap”. It’s a limited-edition prototype, designed by MGEcoduties – Auroville, to specifically match the needs of cleaning washable cloth pads. Try it out and let us know about your experience!

EcoFemme has designed a menstrual product with care for your health and the environment in mind. Evidently, the products you use to care for your cloth pads should follow the same focus.

This soap offers a combination of cleansing and skin loving ingredients with anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties in composition with eco-friendly stain removers like sodium bicarbonate, white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. It is 100% natural, handmade with organic ingredients, cold pressed and naturally hardened. This soap is FREE FROM palm oil, parabens, phthalates, phosphates, sodium laureth sulphate, synthetic fragrances, colours, additives, stabilizers, preservatives; VEGAN – no animal derivative product, nor associated with animal cruelty.

You can find the Diwali combo promotion from EcoFemme in www.ecofemme.org/shop

Later on, you can find the Cloth-Pad-Soap in Probiotics House in Reve.

MGEcoduties

Margarita and Guidelma

Reve – Auroville

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PROBIOTICS HOUSE TIP SERIES #29

The Re-filling of Probiotics Cleaning Products in Auroville – The Story GO ON…

In 2013, MGEcoduties – Probiotics House and Pour Tous Distribution Centre (PTDC) – Auroville, started to offer all the Probiotics Natural Cleaning products without packing, but in re-filling system, promoting Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Since 2013 till now, we do have saved 35,120 plastic bottles go to the landfill or to Plastic Ocean, it means bulk chain is proud of its contribution to reducing waste, as we have diverted 2.1 tons of plastic from landfill.

And we continuing counting, as HERS Team in Kottakkarai, has joined the campaign of Probiotics Cleaning products under re-filling system.

CONGRATULATIONS to HERS for this important step towards reduction of plastic packaging in liquid cleaning products.

Guidelma and Margarita
MGEcoduties – Probiotics House

Executives

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PROBIOTICS HOUSE TIP SERIES #28

MGEcoduties New Packaging

MGEcoduties takes responsibility for the products that we produce, market and distribute; but also, the Packaging of our products is for us a serious matter.

It is our daily duty to provide products, that are All Natural and 100% biodegradable from the ingredients to the packaging. And for that reason, we have changed entirely all our Packaging, making us a producer that provides to all our customers products FREE of plastic. The latest and last packaging was for the Probiotics Ceramic Rings, that now has a new look and goes to zero plastic. It looks nice standing in our shelves in Probiotics House.

Visit us in MGEcoduties – Probiotics House in Reve. And please, do not forget to bring your recycled container, clean and tidy, for the refilling products.

Guidelma and Margarita
MGEcoduties – Probiotics House

Reve.
Phone: +91 413 2623774
E: mgecoduties@auroville.org.in

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PROBIOTICS HOUSE TIP SERIES #27

WHAT MORE YOU WOULD WANT OUT OF A PACKAGE?

GLASS IS PURE. Glass is made of all-natural, sustainable raw materials. It is one of the widely preferred packaging materials, as it does not involve any health hazards and is also environment friendly.

Glass is the only packaging material rated “GRAS” or “generally regarded as safe” by the US Food & Drug Administration.

GLASS IS 100% RECICLABLE and can be recycled endlessly with no loss in quality or purity. Glass recycling is a closed loop system, creating no additional waste or by-products. Glass is a mono-material, meaning it is not made up of several different materials.

GLASS IS SUSTAINABLE. Recycling glass reduces consumption of raw materials and saves energy. Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a 60-watt bulb for 4 hours, a computer for 30 minutes or a television for 20 minutes.

GLASS RECYCLING BENEFITS. Every 10% increase in recycled glass is equal to:

  • 10% decrease in sulphur dioxide (SO2)
  • 6% decrease in nitrogen oxide (NOx)
  • 17% reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2)
  • 2.5% reduction in electricity and natural gas

We, in MGEcoduties – PROBIOTICS HOUSE, have changed the packaging of our products that we were using for PROBIOTICA DRINK SUPPLEMENT and for PET SUPPLEMENT. Now you find them in glass jars. Additionally, our new product “TOOTH POWDER” is packaged in a hexagonal glass jar, and you can get it in PROBIOTICS HOUSE – REVE and in PTDC.

GLASS IS SAFE FOR YOU AND THE ENVIRONMENT!

PROBIOTICS HOUSE

Margarita & Guidelma

Reve – Auroville.

Phone: +91 413 2623774

Open Tuesday to Saturday

9:30 – 11:30 am & 2:00 to 4:30 pm.

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PROBIOTICS HOUSE TIP SERIES #26

BREAKING THE HABIT!

What is the hardest thing to break?

Surprisingly The answer is: HABIT!

If you break the H, you still have A BIT.

If you break the A, you still have BIT.

If you break the B, you still have IT!  

Even after you break the T in IT, there is still the ‘I’.

And that (I) is the root cause of all the problems!…

Yeah, we know about HABIT, like after years using X or Y soap/shampoo/cleaner, etc., all is wonderful for me, or my wife, or my husband, or my children, or my parents, or my great parents, or my mother in-law, or my father in-law, or my amma, or my gardener, or my watchman, or my boss, or my assistance, or my guests, or my manager, or our Executives, or my neighbour, or my…God knows!

Also, we know, that was a moment that we did put in a side of a Scale Of Justice the HABIT (along with plastic + phosphates + parabens + additives + preservatives + palm oil + sodium lauryl sulphate + triclosan + chlorine + phenol + TV propaganda + newspaper propaganda + radio propaganda + price + more…), and in the other side of the Scale Of Justice the HEALTH OF OUR PLANET (along with sustainability + environment + eco-friendly + zero waste + bio-degradable + recycling + reusing + reducing + decreasing + lowest price + more…); and that moments were not easy, as the HABIT side of the scale was the heavy one.

But our Planet, our India, our Tamil Nadu, our Pondicherry, our Auroville (the City that the Earth Needs), our villages, our communities, our wastewater treatment plants, our septic systems, our water sources, our buildings, our pipes, our animals, our children next generation, ourselves, our landfill, our ocean; know that (OUR) is the option to the (I) option.

Years ago, we did not have much options to break the HABIT, but today we have options. Now, all what matter is YOU and your HABIT!

Join is, share with us, be a game changer, be a HABIT breaker.

See our video in You Tube and share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KfY2RyYI8c&feature=youtu.be

PROBIOTICS HOUSE

Margarita & Guidelma

Reve – Auroville.

Phone: +91 413 2623774

Open Tuesday to Saturday

9:30 – 11:30 am & 2:00 to 4:30 pm.

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PROBIOTICS HOUSE TIP SERIES #25

Pets & Summer

Especially in the hot summer, animals like humans, go through a difficult time that bring stress to their bodies. Probiotics for cleaning and food supplement will be a good help in these coming months.

Probiotics liquid for cleaning and regular bedding treatment, results in colonisation by positive microorganisms, which prevent bad smells, fly infestation and decomposition, and at the same time release stress.

Probiotics Food Supplement for all your animals; pets and husbandry.

Pass by for PROBIOTICS HOUSE in Reve, with your containers, and we will provide you with our re-fill system with all what is needed to make more enjoyable summer for animals too. 

P.S. Please note, that we do have a very short week summer break, therefore we are closing from May 13th till May 21st, with both dates included.

PROBIOTICS HOUSE

Margarita & Guidelma

www.probioticshouse.com

Reve – Auroville.

Phone: +91 413 2623774

Open Tuesday to Saturday

9:30 – 11:30 am & 2:00 to 4:30 pm.

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PROBIOTICS HOUSE TIP SERIES #24

Especially in the hot summer, animals like humans, go through a difficult time that bring stress to their bodies. Probiotics for cleaning and food supplement will be a good help in these coming months.

Probiotics liquid for cleaning and regular bedding treatment, results in colonisation by positive microorganisms, which prevent bad smells, fly infestation and decomposition, and at the same time release stress.

Probiotics Food Supplement for all your animals; pets and husbandry.

Pass by for PROBIOTICS HOUSE in Reve, with your containers, and we will provide you with our re-fill system with all what is needed to make more enjoyable summer for animals too. 

P.S. Please note, that we do have a very short week summer break, therefore we are closing from May 13th till May 21st, with both dates included.

PROBIOTICS HOUSE

Margarita & Guidelma

www.probioticshouse.com

Reve – Auroville.

Phone: +91 413 2623774

Open Tuesday to Saturday

9:30 – 11:30 am & 2:00 to 4:30 pm.