Nature Air

Nature Blog is pleased to welcome Stephen Brooks. Stephen is living proof that one person can make a difference. We asked him to write a bit of his story and how he became so involved in environmental and ecological issues in Costa Rica. He has chosen an entrepreneurial path for his work and has developed a series of interrelated enterprises that promote the betterment of Costa Rica, with lessons for all of us, regardless of our own location. He is also a contributing correspondent to Planet Green G Word. 

“I grew up in the suburbs of Miami, Florida and from a very young age became passionate about the ocean and frequently traveled to the island of Bimini, the closest island in the Bahamas. My family was super into fishing and diving and I watched as the big trawl netting and long line fishing began and nearly wiped out the fish off Miami and in Bimini as well. It felt so wrong and certainly helped me realize how much we were a part of this incredible web of life on Earth.

In 1995, I went to visit a girlfriend in Costa Rica and it was this trip that jolted me from my deep slumber and completely altered my path drastically even to this very day. I loved the touristy parts of Costa Rica that we visited, but it wasn’t until I arrived on the southern Caribbean coast that I really started to feel some powerful force calling me there. It’s an unusual area and if you didn’t know you were in Costa Rica you would certainly think you were in Jamaica. Afro-Caribbean, Indigenous Bribri and Cabecar, Costa Ricans of Spanish decent, Nicaraguans inhabit the small Caribbean towns, and a great mix of eclectic foreigners and then in the younger generation a beautiful mix of all of the above. The lush rainforest extends right to the edge of beautiful white and black sand beaches with coral reefs, and the towns have gourmet restaurants, cute bed and breakfasts and a raging nightlife.

I was hooked! I absolutely fell in love with the area, especially the town of Puerto Viejo and the small towns south along the coast. After several days of exploration, we decided to visit the town of Bribri, the administrative center of the Indigenous people. On my way there I was totally floored by the gorgeous landscape and beautiful thatch huts that dotted the hillsides.All of a sudden I came around a jungle-clad mountain and as far as my eyes could see, well beyond the horizon were banana plantations. I couldn’t believe my eyes. At that very moment out in the distance I watched a small yellow plane crisscrossing the plantation spraying toxic fungicides over this gigantic sea of green. I then decided that I wanted to get a better look at the plantation and began to drive through the heart of it. It was then that I witnessed what changed my life forever. This small yellow plane sprayed right over my car and right over the playground full of indigenous children playing right there in front of my eyes. I was shocked! I thought we could zip across the world in just a few hours, we could have a video chat w/ Australia from the middle of the jungle and we spray these beautiful children with poisons.

I began to think,  “How did things get this bad and who is responsible for it?” And then I realized that everyday that I sliced my Chiquitas into my Cinnamon Life cereal in the morning that I was helping pay for this type of atrocity. At first I felt deep, deep anger and I began to turn all that energy I was putting into anger into thought towards solutions. I immediately thought that everyone needs to experience this and witness this after first seeing the beauty of this country and its people.

At the age of 21 I started Costa Rican Adventures, with the support of my parents and my sister Lisa began bringing high school students to Costa Rica and created an experience where they got to see the magic of Costa Rica but also learn about and witness the rainforest destruction, the annihilation of the indigenous culture and the sheer destruction that multi-national corporations were bestowing on this peaceful nation. I did not want to make the experience depressing, I wanted to make it inspiring and to demonstrate solutions, and that is how Punta Mona began. I was seeking a place to bring the groups where they could experience off the grid living for a day where sustainable solutions could be exhibited. Punta Mona is a 3-hour hike or a 25-minute boat ride and has no road to get there. Punta Mona used to be a thriving Caribbean town with over 60 families but they all left as the road never made it there. Padi, who is now 80 years old, is the last remaining resident and continues to fish and farm there as his ancestors did before him. We bought the property next to Padi and began trying to figure out how to live off the grid.

Over the years we built our homes from fallen trees, got electricity from solar panels, produced methane from our septic and fueled our stove with it and just continued to seek ways to live sustainably, yet comfortably in the jungle. My personal passion was seeking useful plants that would improve our lives there. I began to travel all over the world seeking exotic fruits, medicinal plants and quick growing building materials. From the jungles of Borneo, to the deepest depths of the Amazon, I become totally obsessed with seeking plants that made life better and began to spread them. Meanwhile Punta Mona became a thriving educational center and Costa Rican Adventures continues to bring thousands of students on these life changing journeys.

In May of 2003, I was sitting with a friend in Punta Mona and he began to tell me how great the place was: the solar, the gardens, and the buildings. He the asked me how many times a year I flew back to the States and I told him around 3 or 4 times a year. He went on to tell me that every time I flew for 3 hours each seat on the plane used the fuel as if I was driving a car for 800 hours without stopping. I am not sure how accurate the statistic was, but 5 months later I organized 26 people living in 2 retrofitted school buses and a truck to drive from San Francisco to Costa Rica on recycled vegetable oil. It was an epic journey and we made major news programs and were on the front page of newspapers all over Mexico and Central America. We gave away 1000′s of packets of seeds and spread the eco-mission all throughout our trip.

In 2004 we did the trip a second time this time only with one bus and eleven people. After arriving in Costa Rica we met John Mackey, founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, and several members of his team, which inspired the creation of Kopali Organics . Along with my dear friend Zak and my Dad we were determined to change the way food was being sourced. Precious little of the final price food actually made it the farmers, the true artists in the equation. So we set out seeking the most righteous and organic products produced by small producers that we could find. We now sell products from farming cooperatives from around the world to every Whole Foods store in the US.

As we began Kopali Organics, we simultaneously, began Kopali Communities and raised a bit of capital and bought abandoned farmland in ideal climates with clean water sources with the vision of creating ecologically balanced communities. This project is now in full steam and we will begin selling lots shortly. We still have a Veggie bus  that travels the US promoting sustainable solutions as well as our products and other brands that we align with.   Last thing I want to say is to vote with your dollars (or your colones) and support companies that do good things, like Nature Air!”