The “Totoco” Project, an example of true Sustainability

The Irish writer Robert Lynd stated in “The Blue Lion and Other Essays” “There is

nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build

and yet leave a landscape as it was before ….. We as humans are contributing to the

mutilation of our planet due to the unsustainable ways in which we live.

Advancements in modern technology and the waste it generates can and will have

detrimental effects to our planet. Our motor industry and the way in which we

distribute/transport food world wide increase the production of green house gases that

contribute to the greenhouse effect. One would wonder how much would it cost (from

an environmental perspective) to transport a pineapple from Costa Rica to Ireland?

There is a fundamental need globally to introduce sustainability; from a cultural,

social, economic and environmental point of view.

One may ask what does “sustainability” really mean? In the field of Ecology

“sustainability” can be defined as how biological systems continue and remain diverse

and productive. The Brundtland Commission of the United Nations states that:

“sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The

Brundtland Commission has set down the primary elements of sustainable

development to include environmental protection, economic growth and social

equality. The Three Pillars of Sustainability are shown below (Adams, W.M. (2006).

"The Future of Sustainability: Re-thinking Environment and Development in the

Twenty-first Century." Report of the IUCN Renowned Thinkers Meeting, 29–31

January 2006)

Three Pillars of Sustainability

In March 2014, I travelled to a unique place in Central America called Ometepe

island. Ometepe island is located in Nicaragua in Central America. This stunning

island is formed by two volcanoes rising from the fresh water Lake Nicaragua. The

volcanoes “Concepción” (Active) and “Maderas” (dormant) are joined by a low

isthmus to form an island that is hourglass in shape. Ometepe island has a wide

biodiversity and contains unique habitats and species. Lake Nicaragua is home to a

species of shark; The bull shark (C.Leucas).

Prior to our visit, we had to find lodgings on Ometepe. We booked accommodation in

a Rainforest Alliance verified Eco Lodge called “Totoco”. Non-governmental

organizations like The Rainforest Alliance, founded in 1987 is an invaluable asset in

the role of sustainability. They work hard to conserve biodiversity. They award

various certifications for implementation of sustainable practices that include carbon

offset verification, sustainable tourism, sustainable forestry certification. Totoco

operates on an “environmentally” and “socially conscious” level with breathtaking

views of Concepción & Maderas volcanoes and Lake Nicaragua. It is important when

travelling around the world to support, participate, add to and learn from sustainable

practices adopted by different cultures. It’s a well known fact that unsustainable

practices and policies contribute significantly to climate change.

When we arrived to the Eco lodge I was overwhelmed by the volume of different

environmentally conscious initiatives Totoco have in place. Their philosophy and

sustainable environmental and cultural practices provide us with a unique opportunity

to consider how we could live within our communities in a way that minimises the

effect on the environment while enhancing well being, health and education for

humans.

The concept for the Totoco project was developed by Mr Martjin Priester in 2005 and

was progressed into a business plan by him and two friends; Mr Johnathan Rogiest

and Ms Rosyln Winstanley. Funding was secured by different 11 Investors in 2006

they initiated the search to find a suitable site to start the project. The site they choose

is located at the foot of Maderas volcano. One of the Owners/Manager; Martjin

Priester conducted a tour of Totoco that demonstrated to us what exactly “Totoco”

was all about…. Totoco’s philosophy can be summarized within this triangle

Totoco’s philosophy demonstrates the importance of the intrinsically linked

relationship between Environment, Society and Economy to achieve true

sustainability.

Totoco operates under three entities:

1. Eco-Lodge

2. Farm

3. Foundation

Each entity works independently trying to create value in its specific area of focus.

These three areas of focus relate to the triple bottom line practice of recognizing the

importance of measuring an organisations impact on the environment and the local

community in addition to the overall financial performance. Each entity has adopted

various environmental enhancements, environmentally conscious and

environmentally sustainable practices where both people and the Environmental reap

the benefits:

1. Eco-Lodge

Sustainable Waste Management:

Different types of waste are generated at Totoco. It is divided into 7 categories (3

distinct types of organic waste / 2 types of plastic waste / metals / glass). It allows the

business to identify responsible methods of disposal and if necessary storage. Proper

use is made of the Waste Management hierarchy at Totoco. The purpose of the Waste

Management Hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products

and to generate the minimum amount of waste.

Sustainable Water Management:

The local community of Omotepe already have a functional water system that

sustainably collects water from a natural source high up the volcano Maderas where

Totoco is located.

The Sanitary accommodation used in Totoco is the Dry (water free) composting

toilets. The toilets operate as follows:

Faeces drops into a bucket that has a layer of leaves or sawdust on the bottom

and the user throws at least 3 scoops of sawdust in after every use

A funnel is placed so that it collects urine and sends this to a separate

receptacle

Twice a day a staff member removes both receptacles and composts the faeces

in a large compost container while the urine is immediately released onto the

farm (near the base of different fruit trees).

After 1 year of accumulating more fresh manure the compost pile is left to

decompose for 1 year (no fresh faeces is added during this time) before being

used on the farm

Composting toilet within each lodge (to right back)

Totoco have an in house water treatment system

This system collects, filters (using a bio filter) and reuses every drop of grey-water

that is produced by the laundry services, restaurant and the guest lodges. The United

Nations (UN) environmental report GEO 2000 stated that our global water shortage

represents a full-scale emergency where “the world water cycle seems unlikely to be

able to adapt to the demands that will be made of it in the coming decades” (UNEP,

1999). Thus one can see the advantages of using this type of sustainable system.

Part of the water treatment system (grease removal) at Totoco that filters grey

water from Laundry, Restaurant and Guest lodge

Sustainable energy management:

Totoco is 100% off-grid. They use a decentralized solar energy system with over

6KW of panels providing all of the energy needs for the project. They keep a

gasoline generator available in case of emergencies but as they continue to expand

their solar energy system the need for the generator will be reduced further. This type

of renewable energy satisfies the requirements of the present without compromising

the requirements of the future.

2. Farm

Totoco’s farm has developed a model of diversified agroforestry:

They have planted selected fruit and nut trees on the majority of available land at

Totoco (+/- 1.8 hectares of the 6 hectare total property size). They only plant fairly

drought tolerant trees that do not require irrigation during the 6 month dry-season (for

example citrus / mango/ avocado / coconut and cashew). To date they have planted

over 2000 trees (approx. 500 selected fruit& nut trees and 1500 faster growing non-

food producing species. This model will allow local flora & fauna to flourish while

still providing an economic return to the farmer.

Agroforest at Totoco

Totoco have developed a model for a diversified home garden:

This can be practically applied by local people around their home. The model

incorporates elements such as drip-irrigated and crop-rotated herb & vegetable

gardens, composting toilets, animal husbandry, crop processing, production of

different organic fertilizers and pesticides, etc.

Totoco are also experimenting with modern techniques such as Aquaponics:

This is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising

aquatic animals such as fish in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water)

in a symbiotic environment. The waste from the fish is used to give food to the plants.

A continuous fertilizer is produced. The plants grow and are used in food production,

this adds to business/local economy. There are many advantages of introducing this

system; significantly less water is used and two different type of food are produced

together for example: fish and vegetables that give good nutritional balance.

Part of aquaphonic system in construction (aquaculture part)

3. The Foundation

Education

At Totoco they believe that education is the key to triggering the necessary paradigm

shift to a more sustainable society. Specific projects include a local library, remedial

classes and subsidized transport for university students.

Health

In Ometepe and indeed around the world an adequate health service is a pre-requisite

for any community that wants to focus efforts on sustainable development. Specific

projects implemented at Totoco include the installation and ongoing operation of a

clinical laboratory.

Loans

Totoco provided access to financial credit to people traditionally denied these

financial services. This allows communities to independently invest and develop in

their own future. Totoco Foundation supports loans during the process of developing

their business.

Domestic dwelling and business could practically apply many of the sustainable

practices adopted by Totoco:

- The introduction of the dry toilet/composting toilet on a larger scale globally

would provide major benefits. It is a fine example of sustainable design. It is

low maintenance, saves energy and money and prevents environmental

pollution. Fresh water is now becoming scarce, dry toilets do not require water

thus huge amounts of water is saved. The dry toilet is at one with nature in a

lot of ways! The compost produced provides a valuable fertilizer that is used

to grow crops while being put back into the earth.

- Engineers should be challenged to produce affordable in house water filtration

systems large enough to sustainably treat and reuse grey-water that is

produced from every day practices from both business and the domestic

dwelling. This would decrease the over amount of water used and the cost of

water treatment within communities and reduce the amount of chemicals used

when treating water

- Businesses should become 100% or even 50% off- grid like Totoco. This

could be achieved by use of renewable energy such as solar or wind energy.

Projects of this nature would be especially effective in Countries that receive

higher levels of sunshine or wind. Governments could introduce financial

packages to incentivize this on a broader scale

- Everyone could introduce the concept of creating a diversified home garden to

include herbs, vegetables and fruit. This would empower and influence people

to start enjoying living in a more sustainable manner while creating satisfying

food for their families and save money at the same time

- Businesses and indeed everyone could introduce new sustainable

environmental concepts like that of Aquaphonics; this would provide in house

food produce which would have many benefits like consumption of home

grown food free of herbicides/pesticides and a reduction in overall costs. This

would display a “green” business image which would attract more customers.

Impoverished/ developing countries would benefit immensely from the

introduction of Aquaphonic type systems as less water is required and at least

two edible products are produced with one being a protein.

Finally, I believe it is up to government, key stakeholders, schools and parents to

explore what is the best way to introduce clearly the concepts of Sustainable living to

the world. This could be introduced on different scales depending on the level of

development within each country. There needs to be change from the top down.

Governments need to introduce meaningful legislation, policy and educational tools

that explicitly concentrate on true sustainable environmental, social and economic

practices. As Mr Theodore Roosevelt put it: “To waste, to destroy our natural

resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its

usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity

which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.”