Today, we enjoyed a tour of Life Monteverde and learned all about their sustainable practices to growing coffee. The Tico farmers at Life Monteverde prioritize sustainability and education in everything they do. Their lives involve a lot of physical labor with planting, harvesting, taking care of animals, and more. They find lots of joy in educating their community and others from around the world about how to live and constantly consider sustainability.
Some challenges they have to deal with are climate change and prioritizing economic success while also maintaining sustainable practices. However, Life Monteverde is an establishment that is willing to pay the extra money and put the effort in to be sustainable. For example, they put forth the finances and labor to create and use a bio fertilizer in their soils. Also, they make their own compost using recycled materials from their animals’ waste and plant scraps.
One way that engineering and technology play a role in creating a sustainable farm is through their use of charcoal and bio fertilizer. They source their own charcoal from compressed plant leftovers. The charcoal then includes the bacteria necessary for the plant and is mixed with the compost and put in the soil. The charcoal is basic, so putting it in the acidic soil helps bring the pH up which is better for the coffee (around 6). Additionally, the charcoal works to absorb the water in the wet season so that the plants aren’t overwatered. Furthermore, during the dry season, the charcoal slowly releases the water so that the plants do not dry out.
If I was the child of a Tico Farmer, I would want to specialize in finding a better solution to plastic use. As we saw today, there are many places in our world where plastic is a necessary material. Even though the creation and use of plastic isn’t necessarily sustainable, there are many aspects of life and engineering that only exist due to the use of plastic. This makes me think back to when I attended a conference about sustainability in engineering back in March. While there, I learned about this company that works to revert plastic back to its original oil form. I would look into expanding this and using it on the farm and other places around the world.