EcoZeal

Eco-friendly buttons come in a dazzling array of colors, shapes, sizes and materials.

In Little House on the Prairie, Ma gives Laura and Mary a special treat one day: she allows them to rummage through her button box and create a string of bright, beautiful buttons.

Buttons are fascinating, as anyone whose mother or grandmother kept a box full of buttons will agree. There’s something about sorting through the colorful little objects – admiring the shapes, arranging them into patterns and imagining where they came from -that’s both soothing and inspiring.

Most buttons today are made of plastic, but there are plenty of more sustainable button options out there.

One excellent choice is the tagua button, made from the inner nut of the Tagua palm. Tagua is also called “vegetable ivory” because it resembles elephant ivory, so much so that the plant’s genus name, Phytelephas, means “plant elephant.” When the nut is dried, it can be carved just like ivory, and even dyed a rainbow of colors. Buying tagua nut products does more than just reduce plastic consumption; it also helps keep South American rainforests intact by supporting the economy of this vital ecological zone.

Tagua is exceptional, but it by no means ends the list of sustainable button materials. You can get buttons made of seashells, naturally-dropped antlers, coconut, bamboo, recycled glass, wood, coconut shell and stone.

Here are some sites to check out for interesting natural buttons:

Camilla Valley Farm Weaver’s Supply - a variety of interesting buttons, including some of cast pewter.

Near Sea Naturals  – natural buttons of all shapes, sizes colors and materials, including buttons made of peach pits!

Island Sea Glass – sea glass buttons

Ecobutterfly – buttons made from recycled glass and other materials.

Don’t forget to scour antique and resale shops – if you’re lucky you may find a button box just like Grandma used to keep!