In 2016 the World accepted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as key targets for countries, public and private sectors and civil society to utilize as a framework for achieving socially and environmental sustainable development.

Over the past 7 years, on the Southern Caribbean Coast, one company, EcoPlanet Bamboo, has developed a strong framework that, even before the SGDs were formalized, addresses to 16 of the 17 goals, setting an example for Nicaragua’s land use, forestry and agricultural sectors, and contributing to national development targets.

This article highlights 5 of the 16 SDGs that EcoPlanet Bamboo’s plantations are having significant direct impacts towards, and highlights the new phase of development that the company is in the process of bringing through its integrated manufacturing facilities.

SDG 1: No Poverty EcoPlanet Bamboo’s core social goal is the provision of secure, attractive and long-term employment in areas of the world where few opportunities. Providing individuals and communities with secure income, while ensuring that they become integrated within formal systems (for banking, health care and social security) is the first step in achieving a world with out poverty. Indirect benefits for Nicaragua’s communities have included the provision of training and education opportunities, and community development projects carried out in fringe communities each year. Although the company’s structure recently moved to a contractor system rather than permanent employees, the positive impacts remain the same.

SDG 5: Gender Equality EcoPlanet Bamboo has always provided equal opportunity employment but actively encourages the participation of women on all plantations with women contributing more than 25% of the Nicaragua teams, all the way through to managerial positions. Radio programs, community days, continuous stakeholder engagement are in use in order to educate and encourage women.

SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation EcoPlanet Bamboo has ensured access to clean drinking water for all employees and within all surrounding communities within the El Rama and Kukra Hill area in which the company operates. EcoPlanet Bamboo provides toilet facilities on all operations and for all employees, and ensures that these are clean and safe for use by all individuals, regardless of gender. Investment into surrounding communities targets the provision of clean drinking water, and associated sanitation.

SDG 8: Decent Work & Economic Growth Secure employment goes hand in hand with sustainable land and resource management and is the key to ensuring that development can occur in a linear and continuous fashion. EcoPlanet Bamboo strives to provide employment opportunities that are attractive, fair, and most importantly secure, not for a year or two, but for a generation. Secure livelihoods and steady income drives economic growth in rural areas. This mechanism of development has been proven to be far more successful than aid or charity, which is short term.

SDG 13: Climate Action Deforestation and land use change contribute more than 25% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions. EcoPlanet Bamboo’s Nicaragua’s plantations were the first in the world to develop the scientific methodologies for bamboo to be recognized for its climate change benefits. These projects have stored and sequestered more than 1.5 million tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide, contributing to Nicaragua’s national goals. With plantation operations well underway and the bamboo resource for Nicaragua rapidly reaching maturity, EcoPlanet Bamboo’s attention has been turned to manufacturing and value added processing. For five years the company has invested in clean technology development, for major consumer products. As these facilities come on line in Nicaragua over the next 12 month period, the contribution to 3 key SDGs is significant, not just for the Caribbean coast, but for Nicaragua as a country.

These are just a handful of examples for a few of the SDGs, aimed at providing an example that all sectors of society, public, private and non profit have a role to play in order to achieve national level targets.. As EcoPlanet Bamboo continues to grow and with the recent announcement of a Bamboo Purchase Agreement from Guatemalan consortium BAP Ltd., Nicaragua’s populations can support the country’s restoration work, as well as reduce our impact on the planet by ensuring that the products we all are buying are coming from a sustainable, renewable source while bringing sustainable development to our own communities.

Linen fabric is made of complete organic material and it may be one of the major reasons for having so many benefits of using it for clothing. Linen fabric is used for clothing purpose from ages. However, it was not so much popular to be used for clothing. Most of the upholstery, bed sheets, pillowcases, and table clothes were the main products of linen. Today, linen has started getting popularity in the segment of clothing and many popular designers are using the same fabric to make trendy attires.

Why Linen

Nobody can explain the reason why linen has lost its popularity some time back considering the advantages one has in using the fabric.

• The unique texture of the linen fabric makes it extra durable. You may be surprised to know but if you inquire with your parents then they will be able to show you linen blankets and pillowcases given to them by their parents still in best conditions.
• The linen fabric is very smooth, so let it be clothing on the skin or bed sheet, one will not feel any kind of grip or friction. This is one of the reasons that keep the linen material long lasting.
• One of the major reasons for using linen made clothing, bed sheets and pillowcases were its ability to absorb moisture and bring down the heat. This is the reason linen was very popular in tropical regions. The linen fabric has the property of drying quickly compared to other materials.
• Linen fabric is also called stain proof materials because it is very easy to remove stains off the linen than other popular materials.
• It has the unique property of resisting bacteria and fungi, this makes it the best choice for the clothing. You may be amazed to know that people using linen clothing never complain about allergies.
• Many people complain that their clothing loses the shine when they store it for a longer duration without using it. However, linen has the natural shine that does not fade away so easily if you have not used it for a long time.
• The designers around the world have become the fan of linen fabric because it is pretty easy to make anything using this fabric. Cutting and sewing linen fabric are like a walk in the park.
• Linen clothing or other materials made of linen does not fade away so easily. So, you don’t have to worry about separating dark color dresses from the white or light color dresses while washing. Linen clothes take lesser time to get cleaned compared to other materials.

By now you might have understood that line is one of the most useful fabrics and today it is getting the popularity that it deserved for a long time.

With the current situation, the environment is being put through a lot of strain and it’s degrading at a faster rate than ever. In order to save the environment, business and individual processes need to be eco-friendly and go green. Going green involves using green solutions such as recycling, electric cars/fuel efficient cars and using solar power. Implementing these solutions can be costly at first but offer a greater payoff later.

Not to mention, with global economic uncertainty, saving is the order of the day. Less expenditure equals more profit. Many green solutions have tried and tested to help save money and the environment altogether. We have put together the following solutions to help both individuals and business to save money by going green.

Individual practices

1. Use green cleaning solutions

Cleaning solutions bought at the stores contain harmful chemicals and toxins that pollute the environment and they’re costly. Biodegradable solutions on the other hands are friendly to the environment and cost cheaply or nothing at all. One can make DIY cleaning solutions using biodegradable products such as baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar and other simple homemade products. A combination of formulas of these products can result in various cleaning solutions for different purposes.

Also, instead of using paper towels to cleaning up messes around the house, one can use a dedicated cotton towel that is washable, this not only saves the environment but also eliminates the cost of buying paper towels hence you end up saving.

1. Carpool

Many people enjoyowing cars, it can provide a sense of pride, freedom and perhaps an improved social status.Yet, when you use your own vehicle, a lot of un-environment friendly things take place. These can include air pollution, a lot of energy consumption when in traffic jams and these amounts to costs. To be eco-friendly, and save money, gather a group of friends to use one car or public transportation when traveling from place to place.

When running errands, consider riding a bike. When using a car, ensure that the tire pressure is at the required level and maybe turn off the car when stuck in traffic. Restarting a car consumes less fuel than when the engine is on but the car isn’t moving.

1. Green your diet

You can reduce expenditures on food and stress on the environment by selectively choosing what you eat. This does not mean necessarily eating less. Instead of buying processed foods, you can directly buy food from the producer. This lowers cost for processing and shipping, which in turn saves the environment by creating less pollution.

If you can’t reach producers directly, you can grow a small garden in your yard or patio. You might also consider an arrangement with a local who has a farm if you don’t believe you have a green thumb. Buying directly from the producers is less costly than going to the supermarket or grocery store.

1. Optimize water usage

Water usage has a major impact on the environment. This can include pumping machines which use energy and how water is used. The good news is you can reduce water bills by using water collection methods if you’re not in a city densely populated with buildings. This water can be cleaned and used for various house chores or even gardening.

For those living in locations where water harvesting is not applicable, using water aerators in sinks and low flow showerheads greatly reduce the flow of water without sacrificing pressure. In addition, when doing laundry or doing dishes, wait until they’re full to do them. This saves water, the energy used to pump, and greatly reduces water bills.

Business practices

1. Go paperless

Business can also go green and save money. Businesses can eliminate paper usage completely, or go green and opt for eco-friendly papers. Production of paper has a great negative impact on the environment. Other options for replacing paper include using services such as online faxing and google docs—these methods are also less costly. In fact, many of these services are free and storage of documents can be completed in a much more organized manner. Cloud services for storage also reduce costs for using office furniture, such as file cabinets.

1. Telecommute

Employees everyday struggle to reach their office destinations in order to work. These leads to usage of cars which in turn contribute to emissions and pollute the environment. Also, transportationcosts can impact business returns. A business can go green and avoid costs by implementing carpooling services, as well as, telecommuting.

By telecommuting, fewer employees will be required at the office and this promotes a reduction in both transportation and energy costs. Telecommuting tools such as skype, Google docs and Trello are all cost effective and efficient. Also, employees get to use their own utilities other than those at your place of business.

1. Recycle

This is the most common method for going green and saving money. Businesses can recycle papers, cartridges, and even packaging bags. This ensures non-biodegradable materials are not thrown out into the environment. Moreover, businesses can introduce a policy that enables recycling and reduction of waste while saving money.

Practices for both individuals and businesses

1. Optimize energy consumption

Both businesses and individuals can go green when it comes to energy consumption. Solar power can be harnessed and put to use for providing electricity and heating water. Furthermore, to avoid heat loss, insulation of pipes is necessary. This is a go green solution.

Power consumption devices such as computers, printers, and stereo (for individuals) can be optimized to consume less power or simply turn them off when not in use. As a result, this can be a great relief for energy bills. Smart devices such as thermostats for heating, and smart bulbs for lighting, can conserve energy since they switch off when not in use.

Energy efficient doors and windows are also money savers since they trap heat from escaping while deterring cold air from getting in.

While not every green solution will be practical for businesses and individuals, selecting the right ones will save a lot of money. Going green conserves our precious environment while reducing costs.

During cold seasons, being able to provide sufficient heating is necessary and there are many options available especially when your electricity and gas bills are on the high side. Ground source heat pumps can be used as a suitable and affordable option for heating homes and offices. Technology keeps evolving every day and this innovation extends to renewable sources of energy as well. The cost of heating homes and offices can be high especially when you are dealing with a big building. Ground source heat pumps are electrically powered heating systems that taps the stored energy of the ground, which can be used in heating buildings when needed. Ground source heat pumps use the earth’s relatively constant temperature to provide heating, cooling, and hot water for homes and commercial buildings. This has been proven to be a reliable and cost-effective method of providing heating especially when you have it installed by a reliable company.

All the more capable heat pumps for business structures don’t really increment in size or cost as much as they do in power yield. For a very much protected building, the measure of heat pump will be ideal, it will require less ground circles and will along these lines be less costly. Also, the ground source heat pump ought to be utilized on the grounds that it gives an extensive variety of advantages and favorable circumstances contrasted with other heating frameworks out there.

Reasons for using ground source heat pumps

It’s implied that most new structures are intended to meet building directions and ought to have the capacity to profit by making use of a ground source heat pump – building designs are now built in a way to make use of as little fuel for heating as possible, and this is where ground source heat pumps come into the picture. Since the source of the energy is the ground which is practically free, you can easily make use of these systems in your home or office without any form of high maintenance fee. When compared to electricity or gas used for heating, ground source heat pumps are less prone to unnecessary damages. Using ground source heat pumps is also friendly to the environment because there is no carbon emission.

Heat pumps are undoubtedly much cheaper to run than direct electric heating systems or oil boilers and can be cheaper than running gas boilers as well. Because thermal energy is basically free, when you opt for using ground source heat pumps for heating, all you need is the initial cost of installation which still makes more financial sense than using other sources of heating. Regardless of the type of building you occupy, you can basically use ground source heat pumps of different sizes that suits your needs. Keep in mind that finding a good ground source heat pump is easy since all you need to do is contact a provider to have the system installed.