http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/265804

Coconuts Make Car Parts, Give Ultimate Salute to Going Green

Posted Jan 23, 2009 by Carol Forsloff
Now we have a new direction, a change, a way to solve our environmental problems. Some clever people are coming up with some very interesting ways of solving issues related to waste. How about car parts made from coconuts?
Coconut
Kulmalukko
The lowly coconut can change the lives of many, serve as food, help the poor and help the world in going green
In the don’t-you-just-love-it category of wonderful, you can eat your coconut and have it too. It will not only be good for the environment, if it works, but it will provide some island nations and people with less to have a little more use for their coconuts, according to the innovative ideas of people who have come up with this idea. This idea can help the poor, provide food, give alternative ways of using materials, and help the planet in its efforts towards going green.
Baylor University scientists have figured out a way to make trunk liners, floorboards and the interior covers of car doors from the fibers of the outer husks of coconuts as opposed to polyester fibers normally used. This allows the use of renewable resources in places like Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Ghana, and the islands of the Pacific. This could help poor coconut farmers because in many places some of the discarded husks create a health hazard because they invite mosquitoes that cause malaria. Coconut husks also don’t give off toxic fumes.
Something that in part is food and part utilitarian for cars and other uses seems like a good idea. In Hawaii coconuts have already been made for different uses, like bowls, eating utensils, and carvings. To expand the use will likely help a good many people.