Charlotte Amelines, MSN Environment Contributor

The world's most unlikely eco-saviours

How condom production actually preserves the rainforest (Image © Getty Images)

Environmental champions can come in all shapes and sizes. And while some headline-grabbing eco-miracles may turn out to be more hype than real help, genuine aid can arrive from the most humble of sources.

And so, in a spirit of hope, we present a handful of the more unlikely eco-saviours to have made recent news.

Condoms

Safe sex is one thing, but whoever heard of condoms saving the rainforest? Well in one corner of northwest Brazil, our little rubber friends have indeed succeeded in silencing the chainsaws.

Brazil claims to be the world’s biggest buyer of condoms. And while this might smack of a little Latin bragging, it is backed up by one of the world’s biggest AIDs programmes to distribute free contraceptives.

Until now, most condoms were imported from Asia. However, the government recently opened an unusual condom factory in northwest Brazil, which aims to produce 100 million annually with latex derived from the Amazon rainforest.

Kangaroos could reduce our carbon dioxide emissions (PA Photos)

Rubber is a natural product of the rainforest, and can be extracted manually by small-time rubber tappers without any unnecessary disruption of the natural eco-system.

So in one clever move the government has succeeded in giving Amazonian peoples jobs and an economic stake in preserving the forest. Not to mention drastically cutting their own reliance on imports.

Kangaroo

In Australia, they’re viewed as more of a nuisance than a source of nourishment. But scientists now claim that by eating kangaroo burgers instead of beef or lamb, Aussies could dramatically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The reasoning is simple. While sheep and cows are busy belching and farting out large quantities of methane, kangaroos emit next to no methane thanks to their unique mixture of gut microbes.

Given that methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, about 25 times more potent than CO2, the government is taking this new research very seriously. They hope to implement a scheme phasing out a large proportion of the country’s cattle and sheep farming in favour of kangaroos by 2010.

Don’t feel too sorry for poor Skippy though. It’s thought that farming his meat – which tastes similar to venison – could reduce Australia’s carbon footprint by an astonishing 11%.

Local bitter cuts down on many of the carbon emissions of mass produced alternatives (Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/PA Photos)

Beer

OK, so this unlikely saviour might seem a little too much like wishful thinking. But its proponents argue that the burgeoning microbrewery industry is right at the forefront of sustainable business practices.

As larger breweries continue to merge into ever-bigger global corporations, small-scale ‘craft beer’ producers in the US and the UK are fighting back with new ecologically friendly techniques, including innovative closed-loop systems that minimise waste, pollution and oil-dependence.

Microbreweries are also increasingly using more regional produce and green power sources, while cutting back on packaging and shipping.

And while many ethically motivated local industries struggle, the sustainable beer business is booming. The number of small-scale breweries in the US has skyrocketed over the past 20 years.

So even if beer can’t single-handedly save the world, it certainly seems able to soothe our troubles a little – in more ways than one.

Chocolate

It sounds too good to be true. But could reaching for your secret chocolate stash really help to conserve the rainforest and fight climate change? Well yes, and no.

We know that the biggest threats to the rainforest are cattle farming, logging and oil. So any less-destructive alternatives to these industries have to be taken seriously. And growing sustainable cacao is one viable way for local people to exploit the forest without destroying it.

While most chocolate derives from unsustainable large-scale cacao plantations that actively promote the clearing of rainforests, traditional cacao farming is quietly being encouraged in the shade of the rainforest itself.

This method is less profitable, but is also less prone to disease and pests, and more importantly helps to preserve the forest by putting money into the local people’s pockets – and giving them an incentive to keep the chainsaws at bay.

So before you reach for the nearest bar, check on its origin. Chocolate brands made from sustainable cocoa include Green & Black’s Maya Gold, Denman Island Chocolate, Plantations Arriba Chocolate and Rapunzel’s.

Sugar

Perhaps the biggest surprise in our line-up of unlikely saviours is sugar. Long criticised for its vast plantations, intensive use of water and a terrible record for pollution, how can sugar now be hailed as a key ingredient in combating global warming?

Could algae power our cars in the near future?

The answer is that it is slowly revolutionising the plastics industry, and reducing CO2 emissions, landfill and our reliance upon petroleum in the process. New forms of plastic are now being developed using corn syrup and sugar cane by-products the world over.

One example is ProcuraSell’s range of home-compostable ready meal and food cartons, made from a by-product of the sugar industry called bagasse. These cartons compost down in three months or less, and release no toxic gases in the process – unlike current plastic containers, which take centuries to decompose or large amounts of energy to recycle.

Algae

As opinion turns against the current crop of biofuels, researchers are now looking to another unlikely new hero in the search for renewable fuel sources: algae. Yes, that’s right - pond scum.

While the cultivation of conventional cropland biofuels needs vast swathes of arable land, often at the expense of forest and rising food prices, algae can be grown anywhere where there’s sunlight. And new research suggests that it could yield as much as six to 10 times more energy per hectare than first-generation biofuels - meaning substantially less area is needed to cultivate it.

But that’s not the only reason that scientists are excited by algae’s eco-friendly potential. Recent studies have shown how Microalgae are capable of mopping up large amounts of CO2, raising hopes that it could be employed to reduce industrial emissions.

Further Reading

Earth’s seven biggest mysteries

Ten environmental campaigns you should know about

Extreme Environmentalists

Tips for a greener home and garden

Video: Who is Ed Miliband?