Background
A growing number of products use nuts, leaves, and other natural materials that can be harvested from rainforests without threatening their survival. It’s up to us to provide the market for these products.

Trees of Life
– More than 1,700 species of birds inhabit the rainforests in Columbia alone, compared to the 700 species on the entire continent of North America.
– More than 25% of prescription drugs are derived from rainforest materials. Rainforest plants and animals are the sources of drugs that lower blood pressure, treat Parkinson’s Disease, treat glaucoma, inhibit cancer cell growth, etc.
– Massive deforestation, combined with the spread of disease, threatens an estimated 1,000 tribes of indigenous people with extinction.
– Stainability pays. Scientists estimate that the sustainable bounty of the forest is worth twice as much in the long run as the timber that can be logged or the cattle that can be raised there.

What You Can Do
Shop around.
Check out stores and catalogs. Look for products that come from the fruits of the rainforest, but don’t depend on cutting down trees. As you find them, spread the word.

What’s Available?
– Nuts: Brazil nuts are one of the major cash crops that grow naturally in the rainforest.
– Oils: The Body Shop, a British based cosmetics company, is developing a line of skin and hair care products made from herbs and plants gathered in the rainforest.
– Hats: When many of his admired, and even coveted, his Latin American straw hat, made from the leaves of rainforest plants.
– Buttons: Made from the nuts of the Tagua palm, 10 million buttons in 1990 alone. Useful as a substitute for ivory or plastic, they support a cottage industry in Ecuador.
– Land: Several organizations make it their business to protect rainforests. Some buy land and protect it from logging, burning, and ranching. Others help local residents replant the forest and take care of it. You won’t get a product to put on your head or in your mouth, but it’s still satisfying.

From: 50 More Things You Can Do to Save The Earth, The Earth*Works Group