Why Guayule is good for the environment and your wallet
The daily message we receive from the media is that green is good. Green cars, green buildings, green plastic and now even green rubber should be the focus that we, as consumers, maintain. This is proving easier and easier to do; especially with products such as latex rubber made from a desert plant called guayule becoming more common.
Most rubber is derived from hevea, a product of the para rubber tree. Para rubber trees, native to Brazil, were transplanted to Southeast Asia where they have been carefully bred to increase hevea production. Today, most rubber comes from this region of the world, with the balance synthetically produced from petroleum. While it’s true that most rubber is inherently organic, it’s not necessarily “green”-at least not as green as guayule.
Beginning with proximity, the benefits of using rubber derived from environmentally-friendly plant guayule are simple to see. Whereas hevea must be grown overseas in tropical climates, the other natural source of latex rubber, guayule, can be grown in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The cost to the environment is lower than importing hevea-based rubber from overseas because of reduced fuel usage, since guayule is grown so close to home.
A second green benefit presented is guayule’s location. Unlike the common hevea rubber produced from para rubber trees grown in tropical areas, guayule is a tremendously hearty plant. To keep its health it does not require any chemical pesticides because it’s naturally resistant. To remain healthy para rubber trees require chemical pesticides because they are tremendously susceptible to leaf blight. Guayule’s natural pest resistance is significant since chemical pesticides have been associated with various health and environmental risks.
Guayule can be used as an ethanol feedstock; a third green attribute. Guayule is not a food source, unlike corn, which is commonly used to make ethanol, and therefore does not impact the world’s food source in availability or price. The food supply in the market, in some situations, has been impacted by the demand for corn to produce ethanol. Since guayule is not a food source, that’s not an issue.
Guayule is an excellent source of hypoallergenic natural rubber latex, finally. It’s estimated that 10 percent of the U.S. population has a latex allergy; hevea latex allergies are a serious issue. Most hypoallergenic latex is derived from petroleum-based synthetic rubber, currently. A natural source of hypoallergenic rubber is fundamentally superior to rubber synthesized from petroleum, obviously.
Guayule gained popularity throughout the 20th century because of import restrictions, leaf blight decimation, and common latex allergies among health care providers. Although a single para rubber tree can produce more rubber than a guayule plant, the locale, energy-producing potential, hypoallergenic qualities, and overall greenness of the guayule plant is unbeatable.
Now the question is how do green-conscious consumers support this product? Local farmers in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, along with the Yulex Corporation, are working to produce the crop and manufacture latex products from it. Finding ways to support these entities is a sure way to invest in the success of the environment and the affordability of guayule produced rubber products.
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