7 Ways Our Coconut Bowls Can Help Save the Environment

There’s a reason why a lot of people today are starting to opt for eco-friendly products. As our world becomes more and more technologically advanced, it also produces more and more waste. This situation gives rise to a plethora of environmental problems, including acid rain, poor air quality, water pollution, ozone layer depletion, and—the most widely known and controversial issue—climate change. Given all these problems, individuals, organizations, and businesses alike are now considering how they can help restore the planet. These environmentally aware businesses include Rainforest Bowls.

In this day and age, the world’s system lives and thrives on production and consumption. The problem with this is that this system does not take environmental well-being into account. Nowadays, an abundance of natural resources are being exhausted and unsustainable levels of pollution are being produced. That’s why at Rainforest Bowls, we believe that we should take on the responsibility of advocating for a healthier and more sustainable environment, and we are doing so through our all-natural, eco-friendly products, including coconut bowls.

Not only can our coconut bowls go well with Instagram-worthy smoothies and other dishes—they can also help save the environment. But how can these bowls alone promote a greener Earth? 

Reduce Waste

Each year, 50 billion coconuts are produced around the world. However, 85% of these coconuts’ shells are treated as mere waste. While some people use coconut shells for making charcoal, most of them are just thrown away. They are often discarded by open burning, which greatly contributes to carbon dioxide and methane emissions.

In order to have a greener planet, each of us must strive to reduce our carbon footprint. Rainforest Bowls does this by repurposing discarded coconut shells and turning them into usable bowls. Reclaiming these shells helps lessen coconut waste and reduces the amount of trash sent to landfills and incinerators. As a result, our coconut bowls help diminish the toxic greenhouse gas emissions that bring about climate change.

Unlike regular bowls and dishes, coconut bowls do not require the collection of natural materials. Because they’re made from discarded shells, they eliminate the need to collect and consume new raw materials, which, in turn, helps conserve natural resources. Reclaimed and repurposed, these coconut bowls are unquestionably ideal for those living a zero-waste and sustainable lifestyle.

Promote Sustainability

95% of the 50 billion coconuts grown annually are owned by 10 million farmers, most of whom live in Southeast Asia. Also, most of these coconut farmers choose to throw the coconuts’ shells away as they cannot find value in them. For this reason, Rainforest Bowls has decided to reclaim the previously unwanted shells from local farms in Vietnam. Since ecological balance is our top priority, the shells we reclaim are sourced from coconut farmers who practice sustainable farming techniques. That’s why our coconut bowls are, in a way, also promoting sustainability in coconut farming.

Leading sustainable lives means avoiding the consumption and depletion of natural resources. In addition to advocating for sustainable farming, our coconut bowls promote sustainability by repurposing waste rather than consuming new natural resources. By using discarded coconut shells instead of ceramic, metal, plastic, and other materials, these coconut bowls avoid depleting raw resources. Thus, these bowls perfectly suit a sustainable lifestyle as they give a new purpose to coconut waste.

Apart from this, we believe that producing coconut bowls is a form of social entrepreneurship. Since coconut farmers have an average income of less than $2 per day, making coconut bowls is also a viable way to support their livelihoods. So not only can these coconut bowls encourage sustainability, but they also help promote the livelihoods of people in a rural community in Vietnam.

Crafted by Hand

Our coconut bowls did not just come out of the blue. Thanks to the amazing talents of artisans in Vietnam, discarded shells are turned into beautifully handcrafted coconut bowls. These bowls went through an all-natural process of cutting and sanding. Then, they are polished with natural coconut oil, which results in their gleaming appearance. 

Because all of our coconut bowls are completely crafted by hand, they do not make use of any chemicals. That means they are completely safe for holding food. That also means making these bowls does not involve the harmful process of producing toxic chemicals, which has a damaging impact on the environment in itself. 

Another advantage of making coconut bowls by hand is that the process uses significantly less energy than the process of mass-manufacturing other types of bowls. Mass production has led to the exploitation of raw resources and has generated harmful levels of pollution. It also continues to exhaust huge amounts of energy sources, which results in more pollution, global warming emissions, and other environmental issues. With handcrafted coconut bowls, on the other hand, there’s no need to worry about any of that.

Encourage Sustainable Eating and Eco-Friendly Living

Sustainable living is by no means easy. As we’ve gotten used to purchasing plastic items and other products made from artificial chemicals, it tends to be difficult to live a life without these purchases. However, there’s one way to make living sustainably easier, and it starts with choosing sustainable products, just like coconut bowls. By surrounding yourself with sustainable choices, you can transform your environment into a more sustainable one. This results in a change of your identity and, in turn, your lifestyle. That is because your environment can influence the decisions you make and the habits you create. When your home environment is filled with eco-friendly products like coconut bowls, you can be a lot more motivated to live a totally eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle.

That said, having coconut bowls in your kitchen might change the way you eat as well. Because of the lifestyle changes that coconut bowls can bring about, they might also inspire you to start eating sustainably. Add that to the all-natural look of these bowls, and you might be more inclined to select locally grown produce and to eat more mindfully. Again, it all starts with choosing sustainable products like coconut bowls, and the rest of your life can easily adapt to your choices and the changes that these choices bring.

Biodegradable and Compostable

One of the best things about coconut bowls is that they’re made from coconut shells. Coconut shells are known to be so durable that some of them are pulverized and are used for making coconut shell powder (CSP) concrete. When you own a coconut bowl, you can rest assured that it’s extremely durable and bump-resistant. Also, it’ll last years of use, especially with the right care and maintenance.

When your coconut bowl does crack or break, you won’t have to worry about discarding it. Since our coconut bowls are made from 100% natural coconut shells, they are biodegradable and compostable. After they’re disposed of, they will break down into organic materials naturally. 

If you’re thinking of using the discarded bowls as compost, you might want to consider that coconut shells will take months to decompose. You can throw them onto a pile of compost, and they’ll eventually decompose, albeit a longer time than other compostable items. A better option would be to use them as eco-friendly, biodegradable pots. Using coconut bowls as biodegradable planters won’t only make your plants look nice, but it’ll also save you money from buying new pots. Plus, coconut bowls can eventually serve as healthy compost for plants. 

Hence, coconut bowls are not only sustainably made, and they don’t just allow you to have a more sustainable lifestyle⁠—they also continue to play a role in sustainability after they have fulfilled their purpose. Before, during, and even after use, coconut bowls provide the environment with a number of everlasting benefits.

Help Replant More Trees

Since 1990, forests around the world have shrunk by over 502,000 square miles⁠—an area wider than South Africa. Every minute, our world is losing forests as vast as 27 soccer fields. Usually, the reasons behind our global deforestation are to clear the area for agriculture and use trees as timber for fuel, construction, and production. 

Forests have been providing over a billion people with food, medicine, and fuel. They also serve as natural habitats to 80% of terrestrial biodiversity and as watersheds for three-quarters of freshwater in the Earth. In spite of this, humankind has been taking the world’s forests for granted and destroying more and more of them. And as a consequence, deforestation has resulted in worsening droughts and higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

At Rainforest Bowls, we strive to create a greener environment through our eco-friendly and sustainable products⁠—but we’re not stopping there. We aim to restore the forests by planting trees through an environmental charity called One Tree Planted. For every 10 coconut bowls we sell, we will donate to this environmental organization to have a coconut tree planted. 

A single coconut tree can produce an average of 75 coconuts every year, and every coconut shell that gets discarded can make two coconut bowls. That means every tree can produce 150 coconut bowls each year. Plus, one coconut tree, which we don’t even need to cut down, can produce the right amount of bowls for us to plant 15 new coconut trees per year. So aside from having sustainably sourced, handcrafted, biodegradable, and sustainable coconut bowls, you can enjoy the fact that you’re helping restore the Earth’s forests with every purchase of our bowls.

Support Proactive Environmental Strategies

As was previously mentioned, we have partnered with the environmental charity One Tree Planted to have a coconut tree planted for every 10 coconut bowls we sell. That, however, is just part of our first plan. With every purchase of our bowls, you can also have peace of mind knowing that you’re helping us reach our goals for the environment in the coming year.

One of these goals is to work on restoring forests in Vietnam at a more personal level. In the past, coconut prices had gone down in the country’s famous coconut growing province. Local farmers then had to chop down coconut trees to replace them with more profitable fruit-bearing trees. Today, Vietnam’s economy has shifted its focus back to the coconut industry and has even signed the New York Declaration on Forests. The country also plans to end deforestation by 2030 and begins to restore its forests. Be that as it may, there’s still a lot to be done. That’s why we plan to work hand in hand with local environmental charities in Vietnam and help replant trees.

Next year, we’re not planning to plant one tree for every 10 coconut bowls we will be selling; we’re planning to plant one tree for every coconut bowl you’ll be purchasing! Our main goal is to plant at least 1 million trees in the next few years or so. Of course, we cannot do this alone. We need your help too.

Lastly, we intend to donate to more environmental charities in addition to One Tree Planted. We believe that joining forces with like-minded organizations and helping further their causes can bring a huge positive impact on the environment.

As an eco-conscious brand, Rainforest Bowls is committed to putting great efforts into giving back to the environment, helping replant forests, protecting biodiversity, and creating a more liveable and healthier world.

17 Choices of Eco-Friendly Coconut Bowls

Using coconut bowls is not just a way of life but also a way to sustain life on Earth. That might sound a bit too dramatic, but all things considered, these coconut bowls do have the ability to help save the environment. They help reduce coconut waste, promote sustainable farming, and encourage an eco-friendly lifestyle. Plus, they are biodegradable, compostable, and completely crafted by hand, and they avoid the depletion of natural materials. Lastly, purchasing these coconut bowls from Rainforest Bowls can help restore trees in tropical rainforests. 

Here at Rainforest Bowls, you can find 17 styles and sizes of these bowls. There are coconut bowls that are polished inside and out, bowls with naturally rough outer surfaces, art bowls with hand-carved designs, and coconut bowl variety packs to boot! Take your pick from our eco-friendly products and help us fulfill our mission of planting 1 million trees.

References:

1. https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=132101&org=NSF
2. https://www.bioenergyconsult.com/tag/uses-of-coconut-wastes/
3. https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/five-forest-figures-international-day-forests
4. https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation
5. https://vietnamnews.vn/agriculture/226220/ben-tre-farmers-lose-interest-in-coconuts.html
6. https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/10/deforestation-threatens-mekong-new-trees-are-growing-surprising-places

Author Profile

A mother of succulents, various indoor plants, and a white mini Chewbacca, Diet Immarie Salazar simply adores living closer to nature—literally. In her home nestled in the mountains, she frequently writes about how and why people should enjoy a more natural and eco-friendly lifestyle.