Brazilians Buy Local: Amazon Condoms

The Amazon rainforest is a victim of deforestation.  Yes - that’s OFN (see urban dictionary if you don’t know that acronym).  In an attempt to provide some economic incentive to keep the forest intact, the Brazilian government is opening a condom factory.  The government is trying to get people to “buy local” and displace about 100 million condoms that the country currently imports.  They currently give away condoms for free as part of a national program to combat HIV/AIDS. 

According to Reuters, the latex comes from the Chico Mendes reserve, named after a conservationist who was killed in 1988 by ranchers.  More than 550 families will earn a total of $1.3million annually from producing condoms.  That’s a good income in that part of the world.  The Brazilian government, the single largest buyer of condoms, also says that these will be the first condoms produced from latex harvested in a tropical forest.  Maybe that will add some extra passion to your action…or give a new meaning to “jungle love.”  I have to imagine that just because they are from the Amazon, they aren’t all “amazon” sized. 

The Time - Jungle Love

Source: Grist, Reuters