Blog - Playa Viva Luxury Eco Resort, Mexico

Hotel Waste Streams and Permaculture Principles

We jumped feet first (literally!) into our own trash!

We decided that 2020 was high time for Playa Viva to revisit our own waste streams inside the hotel. Using one of the most important permaculture principles, apply self-regulation and accept feedback, I spent three consecutive days sorting our waste with the intention of understanding what we were producing, in what quantities, and thinking deeply about how we could reduce and reuse some of the things we were throwing away.

Permaculture is about evaluating what is already in place so that it can be made more efficient and effective for all involved parties. So where does our trash come from? First, the kitchen. As a regenerative hotel, we want to provide our guests with a food experience that meets both their values around farm to table and their dining expectations. Sometimes that means we buy ingredients to enhance our local production and offer the tropical flavors our guests are looking for during their stay. But at what cost? Does the vegetarian option of Mexican-grown oyster mushrooms mean we ignore the truth that a dinner portion serving requires three square feet of styrofoam packaging? When local milk production is running low, do we sacrifice our ethos and buy the mass-produced milk that comes in a non-recyclable Tetra Pak? These decisions force us to strike a balance between service expectations of tourism and conscious decisions regarding regeneration.

So, let’s evaluate. What did we find in our trash, and how can we apply a second permaculture principle, produce no waste, to our attempt to reduce our footprint? First, as recently as late 2018, purchased kitchen ingredients were coming into the hotel in your typical plastic grocery bag. This one was easy. We pulled reusable bags out of our kitchen “bodega” (pantry) and asked our vendors to bag food products only when we arrived using our own bags. Sure, it added five minutes to the delivery time, but who doesn’t appreciate the opportunity to move a little bit slower in their day sometimes?

One of the biggest contributors to our waste stream is alcoholic beverages. Now, you’re on vacation, we’re not saying don’t endeavor. As a regenerative resort, we take on the responsibility to find a new use for the glass bottles left behind from a relaxing sunset dinner or a beach bonfire. So, we bought a glass cutter and have started to turn wine bottles into glasses to be used at the hotel. Square glass bottles, from libations like local Mexican tequila, are stored on the permaculture farm to be used in future natural building projects.

The cardboard in which these products arrive is also destined for the farm where it is used to line paths between garden beds as a means of weed suppression and soil development. In our climate, the cardboard breaks down in three months and helps add nutrients to our otherwise sandy soil. When and if you try this in a temperate climate, throw lots of leaves and grass clippings on top of the cardboard (making it a bit less unsightly) and expect the decomposition process to take closer to 9 to 12 months.

Moringa powder produced at Playa Viva’s Farm

As you may know, our permaculture team heads to Eco Tianguis every Saturday. This gathering space is a farmers market, a local craft market, a small concert and so much more. It is also a space where community members can drop off recyclable materials and trust they will find their way to the correct distribution center. Dedicated Playa Viva volunteers sort through our hotel recyclables and are responsible for seeing that glass, plastic and aluminum move to the market each Saturday. Volunteers also sort through what others drop off at the market to see what we can bring back to Playa Viva to be reused, instead of recycled. (If you’ve purchased farm-produced moringa powder in the Playa Viva boutique in recent weeks, you’ve helped to reduce the amount of waste that stays here in Mexico. Please try to reuse the glass bottle several times over once you return back to wherever you call home.)

From a western perspective, it is sometimes hard to understand that the whole world does not recycle, but more often than not, recycling services are not available to the communities that want them the most. In Juluchuca, key members of our community are working tirelessly to move plastic from the landfill to a distant recycling center through the Juluchuca Limpio program. Our internal efforts to creatively reuse waste products diverts some of what cannot be recycled. But there are still limits.

So what can’t we recycle?

Broken glass, which unfortunately accumulates substantially at the hotel – about 10 gallons of broken glass every two weeks. We are storing it for now, with the hopes that an artsy volunteer will use the clay and glass pieces to do some mosaic work with the school children in town.

Toilet paper and other waste from guest rooms at Playa Viva. This one is a bit harder to reduce and/or eliminate, but we are making efforts to collect the waste from all rooms in just one plastic bag, instead of producing a partially filled plastic bag from each room separately. Tetra paks are not recyclable in Mexico yet, and until they are, it is the responsibility of our kitchen team and our food production team to think through ways of growing or processing local ingredients into the products we would otherwise have to purchase in this non-renewable resource.

Being able to recognize positive and negative feedback loops within a system is crucial within project development. There is no real end to this type of self-regulation. To date, the work to evaluate and reorganize our wastestreams has fallen to the Permaculture Team and our Executive Chef; and now, it is the responsibility of the leaders of each of these departments to discuss, inform and work with other team members at our hotel. In creating a collective consciousness around the waste being produced at the hotel, and the ways in which we can reuse some of the materials coming in, we carve out opportunities for this information to permeate into the communities where we live.

Amanda Harris is the Permaculture Manager at Playa Viva. Originally from Maryland, she made her way to Juluchuca by way of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Southeast Asia, and most recently, a beautiful, diversely planted “holler” in West Virginia.

Proof of Impact Works

Data Collection Leads to Proof of Impact

For those who have had the chance to visit La Tortuga Viva’s sanctuary, you will surely remember the little blue signs that designate each individual nest. Each marker includes data about:

the quantity of eggs in the nest,
each nest is assigned a number,
the name of the volunteer who collected it and
the date of collection.

When the turtles hatch and emerge to the surface, the volunteers write down in a notebook the date and how many were successfully released into the ocean.

La Tortuga Viva has been collecting this data for years. Many of the volunteers ask why it is necessary since it often seemed like a lot of extra work for nothing. This season, however, we are starting to see the fruits of our labor through a new partnership with Proof of Impact (POI), an online marketplace connecting people who are making a difference on the ground with people who want to be part of the solution.

I initially heard about POI through a Playa Viva guest, David Cooper. He had a contact in the organization and put us in touch. We began chatting about Playa Viva’s Social and Environmental Impact work and La Tortuga Viva (LTV). We decided that LTV would be an opportune project since we had already data about nests collected and turtles released. I sent POI all the data that LTV had been collecting over the years, demonstrating the thousands of nests relocated and the hundreds of thousands of turtles released.

This past fall, we came up with additional “Proof Points” to ensure donors from POI that we are indeed releasing the turtles that we say we are. This includes photos and videos of the turtles making their way into the ocean and a signed witness form from the person leading the release.

La Tortuga Viva Coordinator Lorenzo Locci

Lorenzo Locci, our LTV Coordinator, often works around the clock to help collect as much data as possible since some members of the LTV team do not have phones or know how to use a camera. Lorenzo also compiles all of the data into an Excel sheet and sends it off to POI, who in turn “sell” the released turtles as impact events on their marketplace.

As of January 2020, we have received $1700 in funding from POI for the hard work LTV does. Some of these funds have already been used for the operating costs of the LTV. Funds are mostly for materials for the sanctuary and food stipends for the volunteers who are generally individuals who most need these basic food items.

If you would like to support our work through POI, you can find us on their new website. Each turtle released has a market cost of $3. POI ensures that you receive all the proof points associated with your donation.

Today, the volunteers at LTV recognize that data collection can be challenging and tedious, but now truly understand the benefits of their hard work. We all owe Lorenzo a huge thank you for coordinating the data collection with the team, and of course the Playa Viva community for continually supporting LTV in their mission to conserve endangered sea turtles.

Colleen Fugate is the Social and Environmental Impact Manager at Playa Viva. She lives in Juluchuca. Learn more about her work engaging our local communities through our social impact programs.

Prized Experiences at Playa Viva

What Will You Remember?

When we first purchased Playa Viva, I remember distinctly walking the land and coming across the volunteers of the Turtle Sanctuary located on a corner of the property. The leaders of the group approach us and asked, “now that you own the land, will you be kicking us off?” Wow! The question shocked me. “Of course not!” I answered, “If our hotel is Disneyland, the baby turtles are Mickey Mouse.” Wow! How naive of me.

Inevitably, they will turn to me and say, “Wow, this is a life-changing experience!”

Sure, the baby turtles are our mascot, attracting guests interested in the wonders of the ocean. I can’t tell you the number of times a guest, visiting probably from some landlocked city in the the US or Canada, stands next to me on the beach in the morning, watching the baby turtles instinctively charge into the ocean. Inevitably, they will turn to me and say, “Wow, this is a life-changing experience!” Yes, “life-changing”. The first time I heard that exact phrasing, I was surprised. Then, I came to expect it and life-changing became normal.

The same was true about walking down the beach on any given October or early November night, within minutes, spotting a mother turtle laying her nest. Normal. Watching baby turtles return to the sea, normal.

So when a guests arrives and experiences these wonders for the first time, it reminds me of how exciting it was the first time I experienced these life-changing events myself.

When those volunteers approached me all those years ago, I didn’t appreciate all the work and resources it took to keep their operation running smoothly and effectively. Their work and outside resources are what made these life-changing experience happen every day for our guests.

To make that work efficient, we need vehicles to patrol the beach. The volunteers head out every night to get to those nests before poachers and predators. These are very real threats and time is of the essence. On a recent outing, as guests marveled at the mother turtle laying her eggs, a volunteer pulled me aside and beamed his flashlight into the brush just over the edge of the dune. Two red eyes reflected back at us, a tejon (coati mundi – in the raccoon family), just waiting his turn to come dig up the eggs and have dinner. The urgency is right over the dune staring back at us.

To keep these experiences special, memorable, life-changing, we need your help. Due to generous contributions from folks like Michael Franti, Kelly Slater, Patagonia and many more, we have assembled a collection of wonderful auction items to raise money to purchase of new vehicle (4×4 ATV) for the turtle sanctuary. The current vehicle is in the shop being repaired for the last time and we need to keep doing the work.

Work and resources comes in many forms. Thanks to 109 World and their social impact yoga retreats, we once again were able to make significant improvements to the turtle sanctuary infrastructure. With their funds for supplies and group of volunteers, they rolled up their sleeves and together as a community we accomplished what few could do alone.

109 World Retreat Group and Turtle Camp Volunteers

It does take a community, and while I prefer that our newsletters and our blog posts not be requests for money and I hate feeling like we are walking around with our hand out, like a panhandler on the corner, it does take a community outside of just Playa Viva to get the greater work done. What I have come to realize is that we, at Playa Viva, are not the panhandlers, we are the broadcasters, spreading the word of the great work being done by volunteers who don’t have the same voice, the same access to like minded people like you. While the local team of volunteers know how to find the turtle nests before the predators find them, these same volunteers have absolutely no idea how to find donors like you who can make sure they get to the nests before the tejones do.

In that spirit, please spread the word of what all these great organizations are doing: La Tortuga Viva, Whales of Guerrero and Playa Viva’s Regenerative Trust. Please bid on one of these great items. Please make a tax deductible donation via our fiscal sponsor The Ocean Foundation. Please help us get to the turtle nests before the tejones. Please help us raise the funds necessary for a new ATV for the turtle camp.

Thank you for your support. Your help keeps these prized life-changing experiences alive for the next person. David Leventhal and the Playa Viva Family.

Inspiring Young Ocean Conservationists

Bringing Marine Conservation Workshops to Juluchuca’s Youth.

It’s no surprise that Juluchucans love the ocean. Whether it’s fishing, swimming, or just hanging out, the local beach is a popular place on evenings and weekends. Residents have a deep knowledge of their local marine ecosystem. They easily recognize subtle changes that occur in the water over the span of a few days or the broader, sweeping effects of climate change.

…sometimes all it takes to harness that inner conservationist is providing an experience with one of the ocean’s most majestic creatures, the humpback whale.

I often wonder how we can harness this love and connection with the sea to inspire more people to become conservationists. I look at the kids we work with and wonder what their relationship with the ocean will be when they reach their parent’s age. As we learned last winter, sometimes all it takes to harness that inner conservationist is providing an experience with one of the ocean’s most majestic creatures, the humpback whale.

In partnership with Whales of Guerrero, a community-driven conservation NGO in Barra de Potosi, Playa Viva sponsored both a classroom workshop and a whale-watching experience for the kids of Juluchuca for the second year in a row. Raul Ramirez and Andrea Garcia, both trained biologists with Whales of Guerrero, led both of these experiences, first visiting the classrooms to teach the elementary school students the basics of marine biology, then moving onto the specifics of what species of whales we find on Costa Grande and their threats due to human interaction and climate change.

We want them to be delighted when they discover that they have amazing animals as neighbors, right in front of them on their own beach

While the workshop engaged all of the students at the elementary school, there was room for only 17 students on the whale watching excursion. Students were selected based on their performance in school and interest in marine biology. Along with Raul, Andrea and Ariel, Playa Viva’s Education Coordinator, the kids embarked on a full day ocean conservation experience, beginning with a 3-hour whale watching tour during which they saw several humpback whales. During this time they observed how Raul and Andrea collected data and learned how that information contributes to whale conservation.

Afterwards, the group visited a nature refuge in Barra de Potosi to see otters, birds and other terrestrial wildlife before closing out the day with a chance to swim in the ocean and let all their new knowledge soak in.

“Our intention is always to incentivize the curiosity and interest in nature amongst the children,” explained Raul. “We want them to be delighted when they discover that they have amazing animals as neighbors, right in front of them on their own beach. Humpback whales are usually good ambassadors for this since it is difficult to forget an encounter with giants. These are brief experiences that will hopefully mark something important in the lives of these children and inspire them to conserve their ocean.”

Humpback whales are usually good ambassadors for this since it is difficult to forget an encounter with giants.

A year later, many of the kids still talk about the day they went to see the whales. A few of them want to grow up to become marine biologists. The rest have taken steps to conserve their ocean ecosystems in Juluchuca, participating in beach clean-ups and turtle releases with La Tortuga Viva. Sometimes during these experiences at home, we are even lucky enough to spot a whale out in the water, reminding us all of the important role we play in conservation.

We are incredibly grateful to Whales of Guerrero for their continued work in education, research and conservation in Barra de Potosi and beyond. We are currently looking for sponsors to help finance another whale watching workshop and boat trip this Feb. The total cost is 400USD. Donations can be made through our fiscal sponsor, The Ocean Foundation.

Colleen Fugate is the Social and Environmental Impact Manager at Playa Viva. She lives in Juluchuca. Learn more about her work engaging our local communities through our social impact programs.

109 World + Playa Viva = A Priceless Experience

A Retreat That Prizes Service as Well as Mindfulness.

This past December we were thrilled to welcome back 109 World to host a second retreat at Playa Viva and to continue their volunteer work with La Tortuga Viva. 109 World is dedicated to “Retreats that improve your happiness and fulfillment through caring for oneself and our planet”, and we are happy that they found Playa Viva to be the perfect partner to realize their vision for purpose filled mindfulness retreats.

On their first trip last year they financed and helped build a new sanctuary structure, this year they came back with participants new and old to build a palapa for our environmental education work, and a tool shed to store materials for the sanctuary. Participants again worked alongside local volunteers and experienced the magic of morning turtle releases and the excitement of night patrols on the beach in search of nests to rescue. That was in addition to their regular yoga and mindfulness practices. Thank you, 109 World for you continued support of La Tortuga Viva and for your vision on how to make both lasting memories and positive impact on all of your retreats!

Colleen Fugate is the Social and Environmental Impact Manager at Playa Viva. She lives in Juluchuca. Learn more about her work engaging our local communities through our social impact programs.

Nature is Awesome!

Experience the Humpback Whale Migration at Playa Viva!

The word “awesome” is probably overused but sometimes there’s just no better way to say it. Nature has a way of leaving us in awe, and never more so than when she makes us feel small in the face some natural wonder. Getting up close to a migrating Humpback Whale is one of those times. It is truly AWESOME. Something to add to your bucket list, and something to remember forever once you experience it.

Imagine waking up and looking out to sea, or looking up from your morning coffee only to see a humpback whale and her calf swimming past.

Part of the wonder is that you never quite know if you will see this magnificent sight until the moment that you see these massive mammals breach the vast surface of the ocean. There are no guarantees. But what is certain is that when you come to Playa Viva you are in one of the best places in the world to check this off your list! There are 2 ways you might encounter these wonderous creatures at Playa Viva.

It’s the stuff of dreams, but at Playa Viva it happens in real life

1) The first chance to check the whale migration off your bucketlist is right off the beach just outside your room! Imagine waking up and looking out to sea, or looking up from your morning coffee only to see a humpback whale and her calf swimming past. It’s the stuff of dreams, but at Playa Viva it happens in real life! Guest Ben Horton captured the incredible video above just off the beach at Playa Viva.

When The Whales Win, Everyone Wins from Katherina Audley on Vimeo.

2) The second chance requires a little more time and intention on your part, but it’s well worth the effort. The second video above will give you a taste of an adventure offered along with one of our partners in conservation, the Whales of Guerrero Research Project. The one and only Johnny Adventure will take you on a short ride from Playa Viva to Barra de Potosi and go out to sea with local fishermen and citizen scientists in order to try to see these amazing creatures up close. See the video below to for a taste of what that might be like. Even if you aren’t lucky enough to see a migrating whale, it’s guaranteed to be a memorable journey that takes you past major Pacific wetlands and pristine virgin coastline with plenty of sightings of both terrestrial and marine wildlife, including birds, sea turtles, rays, and dolphins! This excursion is offered seasonally from January to March.

If you are inspired to check this off your list there’s still time to book this year, or else plan ahead for next year from January to March!

There’s still time to book this year, or else plan ahead for next year from January to March!

When The Whales Win, Everyone Wins from Katherina Audley on Vimeo.

As hard as it might be to leave Playa Viva, you’ll be glad you made time for this amazing experience.

A Place to Come Together

Building A New Community Plaza In Juluchuca

What unites a community? What brings us together? These are questions we all ask ourselves at holiday times, and something I’ve thought about often since moving to Juluchuca a little over a year ago. With roughly 500 residents, Juluchuca is certainly a small, close-knit agricultural community. Residents are brought together by their common roots, familial ties and community-wide celebrations throughout the year.

We recently celebrated 2 of our largest holidays here in Juluchuca, the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Dec 12 and the patron saint of the town, San Martin, on November 3. All four schools in the town also recently organized a celebration for the Day of Guerrero, our state day. These festivities are full of music, dance, food and traditions that are passed down from generation to generation.

If you have been to Mexico you likely know that these types of celebrations are usually held at a central plaza, or zocalo. In Juluchuca, we don’t have that central community space where we can come together as a town…YET. In response to this need, the Juluchuca Plaza Project was born.

In September 2018, a group of Juluchucans in the US, most of whom live in Portland, Oregon, raised money for the initial building phase of the project. With their donation, we were able to clear the space for the plaza and build the overarching structure.

Since then, however, funding has run out for the project. Juluchuca is a vibrant community, but without a central space for all residents to enjoy, it is harder to come together for celebrations and meetings. The unfinished plaza has also become an eyesore in town and is a project residents wish to finish as soon as possible.

With the support of Playa Viva’s international community, we are hoping to raise enough money to finish the Juluchuca Plaza. So far we have raised $650. We hope to reach our $2000 goal to complete the project, and make sure Juluchucans can celebrate the next holiday season in the new zocalo.

The plaza will benefit the entire community – it will be a space to host school productions and weddings, traditional festivals and town hall meetings; it is where people will sit to enjoy ice cream on a hot day or where kids will get together to play on the swing set we hope to install.

In October of this year we started a GoFundMe campaign to facilitate raising money for the project. If you would like to contribute, please follow this link. If you would like to find out other ways to get involved in the project, you can always email Colleen Fugate at colleen@playaviva.com.

On behalf of all of Juluchuca, thank you for your support!

Colleen Fugate is the Social and Environmental Impact Manager at Playa Viva. She lives in Juluchuca. Learn more about her work engaging our local communities through our social impact programs.

A Season of Impact at Playa Viva

Playa Viva’s Season 10 Social Impact

As 2019 comes to a close, it is a wonderful time for all of us to reflect on the past year and Season 10 of Playa Viva. We want to take the chance to share with you some of our key achievements in the community in 2019 and thank you for being part of these programs, for your continued support, and for helping to make Playa Viva much more than a hotel.

As the Social and Environmental Impact Manager at Playa Viva, my job is to work alongside local leaders to design programs targeted at education, health, and economic empowerment, ensuring that Playa Viva is truly having a positive community impact. This also includes overseeing our work with La Tortuga Viva, the local sea turtle sanctuary, making sure that we are the most effective conservationists that we can be.

Read Playa Viva’s Full 2019 Social Impact Report

What did we do in 2019? I encourage you to read the full Social Impact Report for Season 10, but here are some of our key accomplishments we would like to highlight:

In Season 10, we were thrilled to provide English classes to over 120 children and teenagers, collectively receiving over 350 hours of English classes. This involvement in the schools inspired our current Adopt a Student Program to help kids in need to stay in school.

We formed Juluchuca’s first youth soccer team! With two co-ed teams comprised of 25+ kids, together they played in 16 games and had practice three times a week throughout 2019. A big thank you to Ariel and Johnny for being the teams’ dedicated coaches.

With La Tortuga Viva, we released 87,200 sea turtles in 2018 alone. We were also able to build an entirely new sanctuary with the support of 109 World. To support our conservation initiatives, we began the Adopt a Nest Program to allow guests to give the gift of a sea turtle nest while providing much needed funding to La Tortuga Viva.

Through our Juluchuca Limpio Project, we successfully recycled over 675 kilos of plastic from our community. Our goal for 2020 is to reduce our plastic consumption while still recycling the plastic that we do consume as a community.

Juluchuca hosted its first spay and neuter campaign. Over the course of two days, we sterilized 113 dogs and cats and raised awareness about animal welfare in our community. Our GoFundMe campaign is live for our next spay and neuter clinic which we hope to host in March 2020.

In November 2018, we completed three environmental murals outside the Juluchuca elementary school. We hope to continue to unite and beautify our community in Season 11 through additional murals and by finishing the town plaza.

These programs are funded by the generosity of the Playa Viva community. I encourage you to read more about these programs either in the report or in the stories we are sharing this month. Progress and change takes time, but our hope is that together we can regenerate our communities to become examples of rural development and empowerment in the Costa Grande Region.

Happy Holidays to everyone in the Playa Viva community, and I look forward to 2020 and making even more impact together!

Colleen Fugate is the Social and Environmental Impact Manager at Playa Viva. She lives in Juluchuca. Learn more about her work engaging our local communities through our social impact programs.

Adopt A Nest and Help Save Sea Turtles

Update: Dec 2019 – We Love Early Adopters!

Adopting a nest is the best way to support our turtle sanctuary, and your giving makes a huge difference this holiday season! The program is officially a hit! Thank you for helping us surpass our goal of 50 adopted nests for 2019, and we are looking forward to doing even more in 2020.

Our volunteer team safely released 87,200 sea turtles last year alone.

2 Ways to Adopt A Nest:

1) Make any donation of $40 or more through our partnership the Ocean Foundation and we will contact you

2) Email Volunteer Coordinator Lorenzo Locci at lorenzo@playaviva.com

Join The Early Adopters For 2020:

Cost: $40 = 1 Nest
You’ll receive a Nest Adoption Certificate and info about your nest.
Receive photos of the newly hatched baby turtles when we release them!
All funds go directly toward our conservation activities.

Adopting a nest for a friend or family member makes a great gift and allows the volunteers of La Tortuga Viva to continue to do their important marine conservation work. Please consider a donation or email Lorenzo for more information.

Lorenzo explains what adopting a nest means:

Your gift helps the 14 local volunteers collect sea turtle eggs, relocate them into the sanctuary, protect them during the incubation period and, finally, safely release the hatchlings into the ocean. All generated funds go directly toward the equipment and materials required to run our sanctuary.

Adopt A Nest for the Upcoming Season (Published Aug 2019)

Click here to email Colleen to Adopt A Nest for $40

After experiencing the beauty of a sunrise turtle release at Playa Viva, you may find yourself asking how you can support the work of La Tortuga Viva, our local sea turtle conservation project. Run completely on guest donations and a team of 14 local volunteers, La Tortuga Viva releases upwards of 50,000 baby sea turtles each year. This past season, some of those hatchlings were released in the name of Playa Viva guests, family members or friends, thanks to our new Adopt a Nest Program.

By adopting a nest, you become an active participant in our conservation story. Your nest will be marked with a placard with either your name or the name of the person on behalf of whom you adopted the nest. We will send you an email certificate of adoption with information about the number of eggs in the nest, date of relocation, and species of sea turtle. When the turtles hatch, you will get another email detailing how many made it to the ocean along with a photo.

At a cost of $40 per nest, in Season 10 at Playa Viva we were able to raise $1400 for La Tortuga Viva through this new program. This additional funding supports environmental education initiatives with kids in our community and helps cover some of the operating costs of La Tortuga Viva. For this upcoming Season 11, our goal is to have 50 nest adoptions, up from 35 the year before.

Protected nests at La Tortuga Viva sanctuary. Help sponsor this work by Adopting a Nest!

Adopting a nest for a friend or family member makes a great gift and allows the volunteers of La Tortuga Viva to continue to do their important marine conservation work. If you would like to donate, simply email Colleen at colleen@playaviva.com.

Colleen Fugate is the Social and Environmental Impact Manager at Playa Viva. She lives in Juluchuca. Learn more about her work engaging our local communities through our social impact programs.

The Secret Lives of Pets in Juluchuca

Update: Dec 2019 – A Lasting Gift to the Community

In May our first spay and neuter clinic was a huge success.

We surpassed $3,500 in funds raised, and brought a group of volunteer veterinarians to Juluchuca where they performed 113 successful surgeries, and activated a new generation of animal advocates through a new local youth education group Los Amigos de los Animales.

From similar campaigns in other areas we know the magic number to see a real reduction in the unwanted pet population and break the cycle of kittens and puppies are born into a life of suffering is to have three consecutive sterilization clinics within two years.

So we know that we need at least 3 clinics to make a generational impact. Our next goal is to raise another $3500 to fund 100+ sterilizations in our 2nd clinic, scheduled for March 2019. Thank you all for your generous support, at this season of giving and throughout the year!

To contribute to this lasting gift, please follow this link to our GoFundMe page.

Colleen Fugate is the Social and Environmental Impact Manager at Playa Viva. She lives in Juluchuca. Learn more about her work engaging our local communities through our social impact programs.

Update: June 2019 – Thank You For Your Support!

To all that have donated – thank you! We are thrilled to announce that we have surpassed our fundraising goal for Juluchuca’s first spay and neuter campaign. With over $3,700 in funding, we can now ensure that no animal will be turned away from the clinic on June 8th and 9th.

Playa Viva volunteers have spent five weeks leading animal welfare classes in the schools and canvassing Juluchuca with a group of youth dedicated to the cause – Los Amigos de los Animales. Together, they have now registered over 100 animals for the upcoming clinic. Our original goal was 80, so your generosity has translated directly into a larger impact at this first clinic.

That’s right, we said FIRST clinic. There will be follow-up clinics to come. Our GoFundMe campaign is still active for those who wish to contribute. Any additional money raised will be saved for follow-up clinics over the course of the next two years. It has been shown in neighboring towns that three consecutive sterilization clinics are necessary to have a long term impact in reducing dog and cat populations. Please consider supporting this multifaceted program either by donating or by sharing this link.

We would also like to give special thanks to Rosanna Tavarez, a Playa Viva guest, and yoga instructor in California, Rosanna held a donation-based yoga class and a raffle that together raised $900 for the clinic. The support of Rosanna and her community was an inspiration to us all and led directly to us sterilizing an additional 25 animals next weekend.

Help Juluchucans make real impact on animal welfare in their community today! (Published May 2019)

You may know “The Secret Lives of Pets” as a happy kids movie with a sequel coming out summer 2019. The movie imagines the unseen daily life of pets which are beloved and celebrated members of the family.

But in many parts of the world, the REAL secret in the lives of pets, and especially stray animals, is that they lead a difficult and unfortunate existence suffering harsh conditions and mistreatment. Spaying and neutering of animals is often too expensive or not available, and with animal populations uncontrolled, street cats and dogs reproduce quickly and are often seen as pests. When a beloved family pet becomes sick, families without money for treatment have no option but to abandon the animal, leaving them to suffer on the streets.

we are raising a new generation of animal advocates in Juluchuca

The repercussions from not sterilizing pets is staggering: just 1 female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 dogs in only 6 years. Sterilization programs are the only sustainable answer to solve the animal welfare issues caused by unwanted litters.

Here in Juluchuca many residents wish they could do something about stray animal starvation, suffering and overpopulation, but don’t have the funds to properly address the issue. Playa Viva’s environmental impact team, spearheaded by Valentine Reiss-Woolever, has connected with Playa Viva guest Nikki Borodi to launch a series of initiatives to help the community reach their goal.

For a donation of as little as $30, you can make a significant contribution towards breaking the cycle of suffering for these animals

Our first spay and neuter event will be held June 7th. As of early May 2019, we have already raised over $2,400 towards our goal of $3,000. This is the cost to bring in a local team of 6 veterinarians to conduct spay and neuter programs in Juluchuca and surrounding villages. Please help us reach that goal, it will be one of the most impactful ways you can help animals in the local community. With your help we can sterilize over 80 dogs and cats in one weekend. For a donation of as little as $30, you can make a significant contribution towards breaking this cycle of suffering for these animals by spaying or neutering a street dog or cat.

we are offering educational classes on animal welfare targeted at local school children in the community.

https://www.gofundme.com/juluchuca039s-first-spay-and-neuter-campaign

This campaign will not only help us curb our pet population problem, but it’s also a fantastic opportunity to work with local residents to raise awareness about animal wellbeing. In April, May and early June we are offering educational classes on animal welfare targeted at local school children in the community. After their training, they go door-to-door with our international volunteers to spread the word about animal welfare and the upcoming sterilization event. In addition financial support, Valentine, Nikki, and the Playa Viva community including Radiant Spiral Retreats are committing their time and hard work to making this event a success.

Through this work, we are raising a new generation of animal advocates and creating a community movement around animal activism in Juluchuca. If you would like to support our efforts, please follow this link to contribute to our campaign or contact us directly to find out how to get involved through your next stay at Playa Viva. Thank you for your support!

https://www.gofundme.com/juluchuca039s-first-spay-and-neuter-campaign

About Nikki Borodi:

Nikki came to Playa Viva first to lead a yoga retreat at Playa Viva. As a lifelong animal advocate with Rocket Dog Foundation, she leapt at the chance to meet some local residents, and learn more about the animal welfare issues facing the community. Working closely with Valentine, Nikki helped with a full weekend of puppy bathing, deticking, and vet visits, and gained a deeper understanding of how to run a targeted campaign for animal welfare and sterilization in Juluchuca. From there she began taking an active role in our campaign after her first-hand experience working with animals in Juluchuca. Through an act of passion and luck, Nikki was able to facilitate the transfer of four homeless puppies to the United States.

In her words:

“It has been an incredible gift to support Playa Viva’s mission to improve the lives of animals and people in Juluchuca. I went to Playa Viva with the intention of having a relaxing yoga get-away, but got so much more than just a beautiful private beach. Unexpectedly, I was able to transport four puppies out of a life in the streets of Juluchuca… After coming home, I’ve continued to work alongside the team at Playa Viva and am honored to help foster a happier and healthier community for all species.”

About Valentine Reiss-Woolever:

Valentine serves as the La Tortuga Viva Sea Turtle Sanctuary Coordinator in addition to working on environmental education programs in Juluchuca. She grew up in Dusseldorf, Germany.