Blog 9:  Sustainability

            My experiences at Life Monteverde Sustainable Farm were interesting, especially since I live on a small farm in Missouri. The sustainable farm grew coffee plants, various fruits, and trees. The farm also had two pigs, a calf, goats, dogs, and chickens. A sustainable farm in Costa Rica is similar to a farm in Missouri, yet very different. They were similar by means of producing food and animals. They were different because the sustainable farm in Monteverde was much more conservative. They stored all the manure from the pigs and used it to created methane gas. They would then later use the methane gas to create fuel for cooking. I also thought it was really interesting how the farm tried to stick with plants that were native to Costa Rica. For example, our tour guide said they would cut down the Cypress trees in 5-10 years because they are making the soil too acidic. They will then be replaced with native trees.

            One important life lesson I learned while we were there was reduce, reuse, and recycle. This is something I feel like nearly all of Costa Rica abides by. The United States very rarely reduces, reuses, and recycles. In Costa Rica in general they constantly reduced things, such as water, electricity, and spacing in houses. They reuse things such as food (left overs) and laundry (towels). I saw tons of recycling bins while I was in Costa Rica. There were bins for paper, plastic, and glass. Also my second family always gave our half eaten food, such as the leftover food on our plates, to the dogs. In America we throw away left overs and use electricity and water as if it were free. After my experience in Costa Rica and on the farm I would like to be much more conservative in American and follow the reduce, reuse, and recycle rule. Another important lesson I learned was that growing your own fruits and vegetables can make you feel like you are a part of the community. At Life Monteverde Sustainable Farm, they grew crops that went straight into the community. In the United States I would really like to do something like this. Even if I can just grow some tomato plants and zucchini for my family, I would feel like I was doing something to contribute to my family.

            These lessons will definitely impact my teaching in the classroom! I would love to have an outdoor classroom in my future classroom. The students could plant some fruits, veggies, or other plants and watch them grow throughout the year. Once the plants are ripe they could sell them in the school. They would then be providing for their classmates and other students in their school. Another thing I would like to do would be to have the students Skype a guide from the farm. The students could structure interview questions to ask the guide about sustainability, planting, harvesting, and how they could improve their own community by adding plants here and there.  I will definitely implement reducing, reusing, and recycling in my classroom. We will reduce the amount of paper we use and when we do have scraps of paper leftover, we will have a scrap paper box for reusing. I will also have a plastic and paper recycling bin in my class and make it the students’ job to turn it in each week. This will get them involved in the reduce, reuse, and recycle rule and help them acquire responsibility. Overall the trip to Life Monteverde Sustainable Farm was a great experience and has helped me to alter some things I will do in my classroom in the future.