In Puerto Rico the sun blazes hot. In fact it has been such an apparent thing in our day to day life in San Juan that I talked about it when holding a heated debate about what color is the best. It’s yellow, if you know, you know.
Anyways, the Sun isn’t only a useful thing to draw reference to to win a debate, but also a beautiful, natural, accessible, clean source of energy and it powers 100% of Casa Pueblo. Yes, 100%. When we reached Casa Pueblo after a 2 hour long bus ride I didn’t know what to expect. But what we learned from Natalia this morning was far more important than anything I would have thought. A very common theme I gleaned from being in Puerto Rico is Puerto Rican resistance. Casa Pueblo is completely independent from the government, they thrive from the nature around them and care about the planet we live on. It started in 1980 with only a handful of people showing up to a protest meant to protect the land and stop open pit mining that grew to their biggest protest with over 10,000 attendees. And they weren’t selfish either, during the devastating events of Hurricane Maria when many people had power outages, Casa Pueblo shared their resources with the community, providing mini fridges for people to keep their medications and food fresh and much more.
From there they utilized solar power, homemade coffee, and donations to grow fully independent from the government. They study science and have an amazing science lab with real taxidermied bugs that aid in hands-on learning. They are working to expand the unique monarch butterfly species that is native to Puerto Rico. They teach music with instruments donated from the community. And my favorite part, they opened a school called Bosque Escuela that lays totally in the mountains to teach Puerto Ricans and outside groups such as ourselves, how important our earth is. Did you know that styrofoam never decomposes? That glass takes 15,000 years to decompose? How about that plants can provide clean filtered water, and that water in areas that have been deforested or big cities have water full of either dirt from erosion or oil and gas inside of it?
Casa Pueblo not only opened my mind to just how much I take for granted, like the sun or clean water. But also the power of the earth and the power of a resilient community bond. Casa Pueblo achieved something I thought was impossible, 100% clean energy, with 100% independence, but also the selflessness of a community that wants the best for their world. I think we should all learn from Natalia, Casa Pueblo, and Puerto Rico.
