People’s Movement to Stop Haze, known as PM Haze, is a non-profit focusing on outreach, research and advocacy on the transboundary haze crisis. Their mission is to drive a global movement to stop the haze by empowering the community with the knowledge, means and values. Steering consumption patterns towards sustainable palm oil.

In 2015-2016, Singapore and neighbouring countries suffered the worst haze causing more than 100,000 deaths. Deforestation and forest fires that causes the haze in Southeast Asia can be directly attributed to 4 companies that employ unsustainable methods to produce palm oil. Past campaigns and even interventions from the government have failed to curb their slash-and-burn methods of agriculture as demand for unsustainable palm oil as large commercial brand continues to fuel their business. It has been impossible to fully regulate these companies as efforts have failed due to corruption on the ground.

This devastation to the environment is expected to get worse as the demand for palm oil is expected to increase to 240m tonnes by 2050, with 3 billion people in 150 countries using products containing palm oil everyday.

So how can we convince these companies to stop their unsustainable means of producing palm oil?

Palm oil is one of the most efficient oil that is used in more than 50% of products we buy in supermarkets. Given the expected rise in consumption, worldwide production of palm oil has been climbing steadily for five decades. Between 1995 and 2015, annual production quadrupled, from 15.2m tonnes to 62.6m tonnes. By 2050, it is expected to quadruple again, reaching 240m tonnes. This makes the industry extremely lucrative and people are also investing in palm oil companies either directly through buying their shares or when our banks and financial institutions invest in these companies.

This prosperity is driving the demand to produce palm oil faster hence the slash-and-burn method which causes the haze and further deforestation of the forests. Efforts from the government has little impact due to corruption and greed in rural places where these plantations are burnt. The farmers there are uneducated and basically doing this for livelihood and is purely responding to the demand the world wants.

Most people are unaware that more than 50% of products in our kitchens contain palm oil and most are produced with unsustainable agriculture methods, fueling the burning of the forests. Even for those who may be more aware of this issue, checking every product we purchase can be too tedious.

Hence we created EcoCart, a Google Chrome extension that educates and intercepts purchases at the most critical time.

All they have to do is install the plugin and when a user visits an eCommerce website, every product selection they make is checked by the plugin against a database combined from RSPO, WWF Scorecard and other NGO sources.

Once an unsustainable product is detected, the plugin will alert the user and alternative brands are recommended. Every click to switch is tracked by the plugin and users are encouraged to share their action and new-found knowledge on their social network.

Global grocery eCommerce—specifically online food and beverage sales—expects sales will rise from the current S$130 million (US$91 million) to S$500 million (US$350 million) by 2020.

Online grocery buyers currently skew toward young, affluent and urban households that are pressed for time and value convenience.

It’s with this in mind that we believe we can make a dent in the demand for unsustainable brands in almost daily frequencies in starting in Singapore and eventually scaling to any country.

Since the idea would be hard for a retailer to adopt, because they cannot be seen as overtly promoting or de-promoting a brand, we decided to develop it as a Chrome plugin that could cut across any eCommerce websites and puts the control back in the hands of the users. A simple click is all users need to do to start making an impact by switching to more sustainable brands immediately.

EcoCart is programmed by analysing the URL structure of every eCommerce site and how products and brands are categorised. Then our database is structured similarly to reflect that so an alternative brand and product can be recommended.

Beta version of EcoCart was launched on 15 March and subsequently updated with enhancements. As there are thousands of products on shelves, we launched with first set of database covering main categories like milk, drinks, noodles, choclates, biscuits and others which are consumed on a daily basis.

The databse continues to be updated with other product categories and new products entering the market.

Campaign assets ran in targeted media space such as bus-shelter ads in the central business district and also office lift lobbies. PR and trade engagement will take place on 28th April followed by influencer engagement and social media amplification.

EcoCart can be scaled easily and efficiently beyond Singapore.

Given the recent launch, results of the plugin has not been aggregated but media results to raise awareness through messaging are as follows...

Lift lobby screens:

363,066 UNIQUE individuals / week (based on AXA benchmark: 726,132 unique individuals / 2 wks)

879,840 DAILY UNIQUE reach across 520 buildings (est. 1,692 DAILY UNIQUE reach per building)

Bus-shelter ads:

Based on footfall of 264,199, an estimated view of 180,983 can be expected.

The main outcome we want to achieve is significant numbers from plugin to show switches of each brand so that PMHaze can leverage this information to encourage more brands to use sustainable palm oil and get their brands to become recommended ones instead.