If you go to an Asian grocery, they sometimes have green coconuts (at least that;s what I call them. Very little meat and full of water. You can tell them apart from the "regular" coconuts because their is a white fibrous material around the nut shell. it is carved in a cylinder, with a pointy end. They are also wrapped in plastic wrap to keep the white from getting too gross looking.

I don't know whether this is the same as the packaged product, or if it is more environmentally freindly, but it sure is delicious! The shell is much easier to peirce than the ripe coconuts. I opened mine up and there is a thin layer of meat, with a very delicate texture, similar to custard. I would suspect that it is cheaper in an ethnic store than in a natural foods market. I think I paid one dollar for a coconut maybe it was one or two years ago. And unprocessed, since it hasn't been cracked open. The repackaged stuff probably at least needs heat treatment to prevent spoilage.

I had always assumed that these coconuts were probably unhealthy to eat, because of the "evils" of tropical fats. So, I've only bought them rarely, as a guilty treat. Though the fluid doesn't seem oily, so this is just may just be a baseless prejudice.