2019: A Look Back

In 1987, a group of young Hondurans outside the capital city formed COEAS (Ecological Committee of the Aldea de Suyapa) to mitigate the increased demand for local natural resources from the growing urban population. Named after the patron saint of Honduras, Suyapa’s residents are the descendants of Indigenous Laborers, who in 1745 recovered their lands from the Spanish colonists who held them as slaves. They are now working to designate their forest as a National Biological Reserve, to protect their primary source of water and biodiversity.

In 1998, the TWP story began with the development of the “Justa” cookstove, named after Suyapa community member and co-designer Doña Justa Núñez. Over time, the Justa became the flagship cookstove in the region, with roughly 300,000 units installed in Honduras alone since the late nineties. This TWP stove’s open-source design and high adoption rates led to numerous spinoffs by dozens of organizations, and various research studies that have validated its efficacy and bolstered its reputation.

The strong bond between TWP and the Aldea de Suyapa has grown for more than 20 years through these cookstoves and continues to grow through our new partnership with COEAS’ forestry work. Despite the challenges 2020 has brought, COEAS has managed to plant more than 12,000 native trees, install educational signage throughout their reserve, employ a team of forest rangers, and involve more than 1,000 people in the project, including state institutions, universities, volunteer groups, and local children. When COVID-19 hit, TWP donors helped COEAS deliver 200 bags of emergency food supplies to families living on the edge of their reserve, as a show of solidarity.

The deep roots of TWP’s relationships, like this one with the Aldea de Suyapa, show that we’re in this work for the long haul, and that persistence leads to results. Truly, thank you for supporting TWP and making these long-term partnerships possible and fruitful.

Creating a global standard for sustainable forest product consumption, PrintReleaf guarantees to certifiably ‘releaf’ all paper products consumed by its customers. Their patented software measures paper consumption from corporate printers all over the world, and allows companies to offset their paper use by planting trees with certified reforestation partners like TWP.

To date Positive Legacy has offset 27,072 tons of CO2 from music festivals by helping plant trees and build cookstoves through TWP. Given the challenging times for the live music industry, Positive Legacy and Cloud 9 Adventures launched a COVID-19 Relief Fund to benefit music industry workers and artist crews currently out of work, as well as a back to school program for low income youth.

As a responsible and activist company, Avocado Mattress donates a portion of all their revenue through their 1% for the Planet membership, where they first found TWP. With various sustainability and climate certifications under their belt (including a pending B-Corp certification), their environmental and social responsibility goes beyond organic.

Since 2010, The Green Team Real Estate has supported TWP by donating after every home sale or purchase. In addition to helping home-buyers reduce their carbon footprint through energy-efficient homes, The Green Team has partnered with TWP to help fund our various projects in Central America and U.S. Tribal Lands.