Common Products

Look at the chair you are sitting on now, the paper in your hand, look at your beautiful furnished table. Most likely they are made of wood such as teak, mahogany, rosewood, balsa or sandalwood, all found in the rainforest. The rainforest yields some of the most beautiful and valuable woods in the world, such as those mentioned above and countless lesser-known species. These woods are used in our homes, in the shopping centres, and in the offices around us. Woods from the rainforest are used in doors, doorframes, windowsills, flooring, subflooring, paneling, veneer, cabinetry, joinery, dressing drawers, drawing boards, salad bowls, toys, garden furniture, packing cases, insulation, plywood and in general construction. There are just to many uses of the rainforest woods for us to state them all.

Besides providing us with the woods for construction and furniture, the rainforest also provides us with many other common products. Before coming across this site, you may not even know that these products which you use every other day are made with substances from the rainforest. For example, suntan lotions, cosmetics and soaps use the oil from the cacao seed. The kapok tree in the rainforest produces silky, water resistant fibers which are used as a filling for a number of products, such as insulation, upholstery and life preservers and pillows. Latex,from the rubber tree, is used in making tires for motor vehicles and heavy equipment. Other products may include cough drops, perfumes, disinfectants, detergents, confectionery, beverages, flavoring,  fuel, varnish, wood finishing, crepe-soled shoes, rain boots, coats and even golf balls. So you see, almost everything you come across in your daily life comes from or are made of products from the rainforest. After all, a healthy forest can provide a lot more than wood.

But manufacturing these common products have also created a headache for many environmentalists. This is because rainforests have to be actually cut down to make most of these items. This is especially the case for products made of wood. In many rainforests cleared, it is due to the valuable and useful woods that they possess that lead to their deforestation. Mahogany and teak for example are valuable woods that are used to make furniture. It is really a dillemma for people worldwide, as deforestation would have to occur if such products were to be produced and this could lead to the rainforest disappearing, threatening our future and yet if deforestation was stopped, many products that are necessities in our lives would be missing and there would be no paper for us to gain and transfer knowledge. The world would come to a complete halt.

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