Tagua, the vegetable ivory!

On Thursday night after Sneaky Dees a few of us went for a walk through Little Italy and of course being girls we had to stop at a vendor with jewelery. It was very beautiful and original. We talked to the vendor named "Auto" from Columbia to find out more about the materials used. It was then that we first heard of the Tagua nut from Tagua trees. These trees are much like the palm tree and they can be found in rainforests in South America. You will also hear it called the vegetable ivory as it really does look like ivory. This use for tagua has helped both the enviornment and the wildlife. The demand to kill elephants for their tusks is much less. Thankfully this also encourages protection and reforestation in what otherwise would be destroyed rainforests. Not to mention this has created much needed jobs. Auto's jewelery also used materials such as coconut, turquoise and leather.