You recycle, you save energy, but are you interested in ways you can help protect the rainforest? The rainforests are incredibly important to the ecological balance of Planet Earth, but for so long we have abused it. Our arrogance has stripped away masses of this amazing natural resource and we continue to do so, albeit at not such an alarming rate as previously. The ways you can help protect the rainforest are more than donating to charity or sponsoring an endangered animal. Check these out ways, but be warned – this might touch on some sensitive and controversial issues, but please make up your own mind as to what’s right or wrong.
This is one of the simplest ways to protect the rainforest and no country has an excuse as to why they cannot switch (except maybe the Brazilian people). America has a massive beef industry and doesn’t need beef from Brazil, and Europe and Australia can all easily provide their own. There is no reason why any country should not switch their beef supply. This especially includes things such as corned beef, even when most countries have laws stating that the beef must be labeled so that people know where it comes from. If you cannot convince your local butchers and stores to stop selling it, then you need to stop buying Brazilian beef and make sure you stop as many other people from buying it as possible. The beef from Brazilian sources is not regulated, which means that not only is the rainforest cut down to feed them, but they may also be riddled with mercury and other heavy metals from the contaminated water and nobody can say a word.
There are some that have the rainforest alliance logo on them, but read the small print and they say they are only a certain percentage certified. This is better than not being certified at all, but the companies that have 100% certification are the best. And it applies to other products too. For example, Dairy Milk chocolate advertises it only uses cocoa that is certified, yet it uses palm oil in its manufacture, which most certainly isn’t (see next point).
Palm oil may be found in a lot of packaging and is also used for cosmetics, cooking oil, cereal and much more. Creation of palm oil is being done at the expense of our rainforests. Companies such as Nestle, General Mills and Unilever have done a lot to buy from rainforest safe sources, but Cargill uses a massive amount of rainforest-unsafe palm oil in the USA and they have done nothing to change their ways. That is why we need to write to them and join pressure groups. It is why we need to boycott their products until they change their ways, or the splinters of the rainforests are on our hands.
This is one of the ways to protect the rainforest I didn’t think about until I researched this article. We need to use FSC certified paper and we need to make sure that our local schools are using it. We should also make sure our workplaces or own businesses use it. Books may also be printed with rainforest safe paper, so make sure you are selective about the books you buy.
Tropical woods are used all the time for furniture, whereas there are renewable woods everywhere, including oak, cherry, ash, walnut, beech and many more. You can even make floors out of bamboo wood instead of rainforest woods.
They do need your money, but you can also affect change by getting involved. They often have the addresses of important people you can write to in order to affect a change in some way. Giving money helps, but filling the offices of politicians' email inboxes with emails about a certain issue is also going to be helpful too. We don’t have to be Sting or Sigourney Weaver to have a voice on this issue.
Even if you do not run the business, you can still affect change. One of the ways to protect the rainforest is to give its salvation a monetary benefit. If your company has started to be a rainforest safe company, then make sure many people know about it. It is a green edge that you are going to have over your competitors. It buys you its weight in gold’s worth of positive publicity and often results in your competition rushing around trying to catch up.
As an individual, our power to affect change is limited, but when we come together and support these ways to protect the rainforest, we can be a positive force. Is this something you feel passionate about? Are you environmentally conscious? If you want to understand the reasons the rainforest is important please read my post, 7 Reasons the Rainforest Is Important to the World.