Corozo nut buttons
Buttons on the market today are usually made of plastic, bone or wood. A good alternative is buttons made from nuts. Yes, you read that correctly!
What is Corozo?
Corozo is a natural material that comes from the nuts of the Tagua palm. The palms grow in rainforests in Central America, and Ecuador has a long tradition of using these nuts for various handicrafts.
A Tagua palm tree needs 15 years to grow before it begins to produce nuts, and can then produce close to 2,000 nuts each year. Which makes Corozo a highly renewable resource.
Corozo is often called vegetable ivory. The materials look very similar, but since the nuts are not an animal product, Corozo is therefore a vegan and ethical alternative to ivory.
Corozo buttons can also be dyed in the same way as plastic buttons, and are durable and machine washable. Thus, they are also a solid alternative to plastic buttons.
Why choose nut buttons?
Corozo is a renewable resource and is biodegradable.
In contrast to wooden buttons, less energy is used to produce corozo buttons, the trees do not need to be cut down, and ancient rainforests are preserved.
The nuts fall from the palm when ripe, eliminating the need for workers to climb and harvest, and the trees remain undisturbed.
Harvesting and exporting Tagua nuts for button production creates jobs for local people in Ecuador, and ensures that the palms have an economic value so that the rainforest in the area is preserved.
Courtney & Co.
The buttons in our range are made of corozo from Ecuador, and are produced in England by Courtney & Co. Button Makers. The buttons are unbleached and undyed, and have natural variations from the nuts.
Courtney & Co. focuses on sustainability and traditions when producing buttons. They took over machinery and history from several centuries of button history in Great Britain. And now working to continue this history of the British button industry with natural fiber buttons.
This video tells more about how important
Corozo production is for the rainforest in Ecuador