Do you know we can obtain ivory without killing elephants? Yes, we can. Corozo nut, or known as tagua nut, is remarkably similar to animal ivory which is made from the dried and polished nuts of several palms in South America, Ecuador being the leading producer. The only difference is: elephants do not have to die. An elephant yields its ivory only once, however, a female tree continues producing 20 pounds of nuts year after year.
The idea of using palm nuts as ivory substitute dated back to 1865. Between the mid-nineteenth century and the turn of this century, large quantities of palm nuts had been exported to the industrialized countries for the manufacturing of buttons. After the World War II, plastic has almost completely replaced palm nuts as the raw materials for button manufacturing. With the growing consciousness on the environmental problems, the use of tagua nut has been renewed.
Using vegetable ivory, you not only can avoid killing elephants and destroying the rain forests, but can help conserving the biodiversity and the eco-system. Tagua nut is a 100% natural product.
