Here's How To Help The Brazilian Rain Forest

One typically watches the Olympics opening ceremonies for the spectacle and the celebs, but the 2016 event also has a bigger purpose: teaching viewers how to help the Brazilian rain forest. The whole Rio opening ceremony has featured important shout-outs to the environment and global warming, and anyone tuning in can get a sense of just how crucial this issue is, and how necessary it is for everyone to do their parts in helping out. But just how can you make a difference in keeping the Brazilian rain forest strong?

To start, you can pay attention to the words of the poem "Flower and Nausea," by Brazilian writer Carlos Drummond de Andrade, which was read by Dame Judi Dench and Fernanda Montenegro during the opening ceremony. The poem describes a flower reaching through a concrete street to see the sun, and it speaks to the way that humans have, unfortunately, destroyed ecosystems and forever changed environments. You can also follow the example of the Olympians featured in the opening ceremony who were all given seeds to plant as they walked into the arena, all of which will go towards planting a forest.

And outside of the Olympics, there are a lot of small changes you can make in your life that'll help benefit the rain forests. You can conserve paper, wood, and oil, and you can also donate to organizations that help rainforest communities. According to Adventure Life, RAN's Protect-an-Acre Program is an organization that aims to provide "funding to help forest peoples gain legal recognition of their territories, develop locally-based alternative economic initiatives, and resist destructive practices such as logging and fossil fuel development." There is also the Rainforest Action Network, an organization that has led effective boycotts against companies that they felt had damaging environmental policies.

So, whether you're just trying to make a small change in your diet or donate money to a great cause, there are numerous ways you can help the Brazilian rain forest and the environment as a whole.