10 Reasons to Love the Tagua Nut!

We thought long and hard about the best way to make an impact with our ethical jewellery business and alongside giving 10% of our net profits to charity, we make every product from ethically-sourced tagua nuts, a.k.a. ‘vegetable ivory’. Here are just a few of the fascinating reasons why we love this magical nut:

1. It is not actually a nut at all!

It is technically a seed, so allergy-sufferers needn’t worry about missing out.

2. It is famed for its resemblance to animal ivory…

…in both its stunning appearance and remarkable durability.

3. It has essentially taken away any need for carvable animal products.

Meaning it is a step in the right direction in the fight to end animal poaching.

4. The hard tagua seeds grow at the top of palm trees, 20-40 feet in the air.

The botanical name for these is “Phytelephas Aequatorialis”.

5. They grow in the rainforests of Ecuador, South America.

And then we have them shipped and sent over to us in batches ready to be cut.

6. A tagua palm can take up to 15 years to mature.

But once it gets to this stage it can go on producing vegetable ivory for up to 100 years.

7. In any given year a tagua palm can produce up to 20 pounds of vegetable ivory.

That’s the same amount of ivory a female elephant produces in a lifetime!!

8. Tagua seeds are harvested straight from the rainforest floor…

… then air-dried for 2 months to increase their already-impressive resilience.

9. Vegetable ivory can easily be dyed different colours.

We do this ourselves in our Brighton workshop.

10. Every nut is completely unique - just like our customers!

We want every single Life Less Ordinary customer to feel extraordinary and there is no better way to spread this love than with a piece of ethical jewellery you won’t be able to replicate anywhere else. Your travel bracelet will be completely unique to you - what’s not to love about that?