Sometimes, life leaves scars, and this accomplished tattoo artist from Hecker, Illinois does an incredible job of covering them up and helping people love their bodies again. Although the first fingernail tattoo started off as a joke, the results were amazing and, as the image spread throughout the internet, this artist started gaining popularity across the world.

A Reconstructive Tattoo Went Viral

A man named Mark Bertram lost two fingertips in a workplace accident in 2018. In an effort to make light of his situation, he went to Eric Catalano to get new fingernails tattooed on the two fingers. Although it started off as a joke, the final results were so realistic that Bertram decided to share images of his new fingernails online. As the images reached millions of people around the world, Catalano was drawn deeper into paramedical tattooing, as people with life-altering scars started traveling from different cities, states, and countries to have appointments in his parlor.

The Parlor Now Offers “Wellness Wednesday”

With flesh-toned ink and a steady hand, Catalano continues to help people with scars feel comfortable with their bodies once more by covering up the scarred tissue. Another one of his clients, Leslie Pollan from Oxford, Mississippi, got a scar on her lip back in 2014 when a puppy bit her face. She had undergone plastic surgery to correct it originally but to no avail. Catalano’s tattoo artistry camouflaged the scar and gave her a new outlook on life. Catalano helps clients who have undergone important surgery procedures, cancer survivors, and others with his precise and realistic tattoos. He sees up to 8 clients on “Wellness Wednesday” and the restorative tattoos are free. Catalano says that, even though this doesn’t make a lot of financial sense for his business, the emotional response of each client reassures him that this is a path he has to remain on. The artist has a GoFundMe page where people can donate to help him continue his altruistic work!

This year, in an international climate summit, three states and nine enterprises have announced their new coalition, called LEAF. The foundation aims to mobilize and raise $1 billion in 2021 to protect tropical rainforests and enable sustainable development. Among the states participating in the initiative are the US, Norway, and the UK. The coalition also includes companies like Amazon, Nestle, Unilever, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Airbnb.

Enabling sustainable practices

LEAF or Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance is an enormous effort shown by global companies to save tropical rainforests. Its goal is to make businesses, governments, and NGOs pay for high-quality emissions reductions from forests, verifying against an independent standard. The coalition brings a new approach that will protect rainforests by offering countries financial assurance to push sustainable environmental policies. According to Manish Bapna, the CEO and Interim President of the World Resources Unit, “With local-level involvement, this approach can be a triple-win: for the climate, tropical forests and for people that depend on them.” 

Preserving the tropical forests

The new organization is expecting more participants to join in the coming months. Senior VP of Environmental Defense Fund Nathaniel Keohane said, “This is a game-changer in the fight to save tropical forests—a new model for catalyzing finance, at a scale that is truly up to the challenge.” Keohane also feels that the LEAF will set high standards for corporates to cut down on their emissions by investing in an additional reduction of emissions from tropical rainforests. It will also ensure that “the rights of indigenous peoples who have and who continue to protect these forests are respected and fulfilled,” said Keohane. 

This new financing model is likely to channel billions of dollars’ worth of investments to protect nature on a large enough scale and counter the climate crisis by meeting world climate goals.