Asheboro, NC - Where can you see giraffes, zebras and ostrich in front of you, then walk a few hundred feet and buy a ruler made out of old "Yellow Pages," toys made out of recycled milk jugs and "shade grown/bird friendly" coffee? Answer: The Leopard Spot at the North Carolina Zoo.
There are also pencils pressed from lumber-mill shavings, T-shirts colored with Carolina red clay and trinkets carved from "elephant friendly ivory." The latter are actually made from the tagua nut. This "vegetable ivory" is sourced from a small nut grown on a palm tree in the rainforests of South America.