2022 Sustainability Initiatives

One thing that we take extremely seriously here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga is our commitment to our community and the world.

We’re built on an ethos of social and environmental responsibility – an aspiration that our business can be the tool with which we forge a better world for ourselves, each other, and future generations. 

We are committed to being changemakers in the world and taking actions that make a positive difference.

This ethos is rooted in our DNA, which our mission statement reflects: To educate, inspire, and empower our stakeholders to live more sustainably through surfing, yoga, nature immersion, and community engagement.

We invite you to continue reading to explore how Bodhi Surf + Yoga did precisely this in the year of 2022!

Bandera Azul Award for Climate Change

It’s only fitting that we start with our most significant achievement of the year!

In 2022, Bodhi Surf + Yoga applied to be awarded the Bandera Azul Award for Climate Change. Just like with being awarded our B-Corp certification, there were several (very) strict sets of criteria that we had to meet across nine different parameters that span our entire business.

Honestly, we weren’t even sure that we’d get the award. Although we have bounds of experience in improving and communicating our sustainability efforts, this award was very new for us.

But why not give it a good ol’ try, right? Bodhi Surf + Yoga decided that even if we go through the entire process and DON’T achieve the award, we’d still benefit greatly from the learning process.

We decided to use the framework of the Bandera Azul for Climate Change and their requirements as the ‘template,’ so to speak, for our sustainability plan for the year.

This blog outlines our journey and the actions taken to achieve this recognized award to inspire other businesses and individuals that small actions and commitments can make BIG changes.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

Energy Sparked Big Change for Us

Electricity is without a doubt, one of the most significant factors when auditing a business’s reliance on fossil fuels. It’s a massive part of any business, regardless of industry or sector.

At the start of 2022, our Sustainability Hub sat down and brainstormed ways to reduce our electricity use from the grid.

Solar Panels

In 2022, we worked alongside fellow Costa Rican B-Corp company YUXTA Energy to install solar panels at our property.

YUXTA also provided our entire Bodhi Surf + Yoga team with a workshop about solar energy, including information on:

• How solar panels harness energy
• The pros and cons of installing them
• What the installation process involves
• The long-term benefits of using solar energy

Our guests for the week even joined in and learned something new with us!

As a result of installing the solar panels, we’ve seen an 80% decrease in our electricity bills. 70% of our property now runs on only solar energy. This is an excellent start for us, but over the next few years, our plans will involve converting to using solely solar energy.

We will, of course, keep you all posted!

More Efficient Lights on the Property

In 2022, we had the bright idea of conducting a light inventory on our property.

The purpose of this was to determine how many of our lights were using sustainable bulbs and which could be replaced with more sustainable ones. We now use only LED lights to enlighten our beautiful property when the sun goes down.

LED lights are more efficient, use less electricity than conventional incandescent lights, and last significantly longer.

We’ve also installed motion sensors and timer lights. These only come on when someone walks past or when they’re set to come on, rather than being turned on the entire evening.

We Made a Big Splash with our Water Projects

Like any business in any industry, our business could not function without water. 

Due to our reliance on water, it’s only suitable to make sure our consumption of this resource is responsible and sustainable. We need the water to be there for us now but also in the future – not just for us but for our entire community.

Because of this, it’s our duty to come up with creative ways to consume water sustainably!

Rainwater Collector

During the rainy season, we get hours of rain each day.

This created an opportunity to reduce a significant amount of water by collecting and using this rainwater. We observed that washing surfboards daily after lessons was a significant contribution to our water usage in our operations.

As a way to address the high amounts of rain and significant water usage, in May 2022, we installed a water tank system that holds 1,100 liters which allows us to collect rainwater to use for

some of our daily operations.

The process for using the rainwater collector is the following:

• Rain lands on the roof
• It drains into pipes around the roof
• Rainwater is filtered before reaching the tank
• It collects in the tank, connected to a hose
• Can be used for washing surfboards, vehicles, and watering plants

During the rainy season, we can expect a full tank of rain every single day. During the dry season, when there’s less rain, we have the perfect opportunity for cleaning and maintaining of the pipes and tank.

We have seen a 30% reduction in water consumption for the operational process.

Staff and Guest Involvement

We knew that if we were to be successful in being awarded the Bandera Azul, we’d need all hands on deck.

Within the last year, our sustainability hub has created and presented informative and empowering workshops for our entire Bodhi Surf + Yoga team. These explain:

• What we’re currently working on
• The importance of what we’re working on
• How everyone’s participation is critical
• Our goals for our current and future projects

We’ve also had experts from our local ASADA come to our premises to give workshops to our entire team about:

• Water management
• Water quality maintenance
• The responsibilities that communities have to consume responsibly

Our guests are also an integral part of this journey for us!

How do we involve them? It is easier for YOU to help make a difference than you might think.

At Bodhi Surf + Yoga, we have created an infographic for each accommodation.

These colorful, informative, and fun posters invite guests to participate in the greater mission by giving them simple tips on how to conserve water (as well as electricity). 

For example, did you know the average 10-minute shower uses about 40 gallons of water? By cutting your shower time by 3-5 minutes, you can save 15-20 gallons of water – that’s about half a bathtub worth!

Information like this allows guests to visualize the great impact of making small changes and actions.

Fueling Change in Our Community

One way of amplifying the work that we do at Bodhi Surf + Yoga to reap more considerable impacts is by involving our wider community.

Promoting Electric Transportation in Our Community and Costa Rica

Bodhi Surf + Yoga played a huge role, alongside the SOMOS Foundation, in the Rutas Electricas initiative.

We worked with many businesses across the Bahia Ballena district to install charging points for electric vehicles.

We’ve noticed in places such as San Jose the growing usage of electric vehicles. However, with no charging points in Puntarenas or on the way from San Jose, these vehicles just can’t be driven or used here.

Installing charging points has allowed and encouraged owners of electric vehicles to visit Puntarenas – increasing tourism in the area and benefiting local businesses. It also encourages drivers to invest in electric vehicles rather than non-sustainable cars using fossil fuels like gas.

We have one installed here onsite. If you ever visit us, ask us to show it to you!

Measuring and Reducing Our Carbon Emissions

In 2022, Bodhi Surf + Yoga’s sustainability hub set the goal of reducing our gasoline and/or diesel use in operational transportation by five percent. In other words, drive less.

We’ve strategized to achieve this by encouraging:

• Taxi sharing between guests
• Bicycle rental to get around
• Walking whenever possible

Our town, Bahia Ballena-Uvita, is lovely and friendly. Walking and cycling allow our guests to experience this! 

Actually – regardless of sustainability purposes, we encourage guests to venture around the area by foot or bicycle, as it allows you to get a feel for the place. It allows you to use your five senses and experience our town through all of them!

Getting Our Hands Dirty with Waste Management

A business or individual’s sustainability journey isn’t always going to be picture-perfect. 

But sometimes you must get your hands dirty to get the results!

At Bodhi Surf + Yoga, we categorize our weekly waste by:

• Food: organic waste or compost
• Landfill (trash)
• Recyclable waste

We collect each type of waste in different ways and dispose of them differently, per Costa Rica guidelines and what we feel is most sustainable.

Reducing Organic Waste

In 2022, we created our brand new compost system. 

Every day, we bring all of our organic waste to the compost system, which gets put through a process that eventually turns the waste into soil. This is then used for the plants throughout the property.

This is undoubtedly a sustainable way of utilizing organic waste, but we’re not settled with just that. In 2022, we had still built into our goals to produce less of this waste week by week.

We achieved this by changing our serving style for breakfast and dinner.

Before, we had our chef plate the food and serve it to the guests at their tables. Now, we’ve changed to a buffet style. Guests come up to our serving area and serve their food themselves.

This significantly mitigates how much food is wasted after each meal, as it:

• Allows guests to pick larger or smaller portions based on how hungry they are
• It prevents guests being served food that they don’t want or like

Revisiting Our Recycling Process

Our recyclable waste gets taken to our recycling center daily. 

Before 2022, we’d put the recycling out once a month for the municipality to pick up. But we realized that we have no idea where this recycling ends up.

This is where AmbiciOsas comes in! They are a local non-profit organization born to address waste management. They aim to ensure the plastics and other recyclable waste stay out of the ocean.

Once a month, we take our recycling to their facilities rather than have it picked up by the municipality.

AmbiciOsas also held an informative workshop for all of our staff about the importance of recycling, the final destination of our regular trash, and the products we recycle. Additionally, Bodhi financed another workshop with Ambiciosa at a local school.

Managing Non-Organic or Recyclable Waste

This trash, such as toilet paper and used napkins, cannot be composted or recycled.

We measure how much landfill trash we produce after each week. We do this by weighing each bag and recording it in our carbon-neutral spreadsheet.

We must record these measurements, as at the end of the year, we send them over to another fellow B Corp, Native Energy, which calculates our carbon footprint based on this and allows us to pay them to offset it – making us carbon neutral!

We also aim to reduce the amount of landfill trash that we produce, which we do by:

• Educating staff on how to reduce their use of such products
• Encouraging guests to make purchases with minimal packaging
• Facilitating the use of reusables – e.g., using the water bottles given to us by B Corp Klean Kaneen

Sustainable Purchases for the Win

One of our favorite parts of being a B Corp-certified business is the community of like-minded business that we can partner with.

Guests who spend time with us here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga will find products of other B Corps all around our lodge:

• Kleen Kanteen reusable water bottles and coffee cups
• FLOREX biodegradable and eco-friendly cleaning products
• AROMAS biodegradable and skin-friendly soaps and shampoos
• Badger Balm eco-friendly sunscreen 

These fellow B Corp companies help hold us to our exceptionally high standards and enhance our guests’ experience by using only products from responsible businesses. 

We also partner with other businesses that aren’t B Corp certified but still operate consciously with the best interests of the environment at the heart of what they do:

• NSP creates our surfboards renewable using recycled and/or up-cycled materials
• We use PURAVIDASANA yoga mats, made in Costa Rica with natural rubber, 100% latex-free, and long-lasting.
• Nomada Wearable Art supplies us with our beach towels, which are made from 16 bottles of plastic

Guests can also purchase some of these products at our sustainable store here!

Environmental Education for Our Bodhi Surf + Yoga Family

No real change can happen if we don’t have our entire team on board. 

It’s crucial that throughout the year, we’re ensuring that our Bodhi Surf + Yoga family is on board with our mission and goals. This allows us to achieve our goals and give our staff a sense of responsibility and ownership – as they should! None of this would be possible without their participation.

In 2022, we had the following workshops and talks:

• FLOREX – explained the meaning of what exactly are organic or biodegradable products and how cleaning products can impact the environment
• YUXTA – taught us the different types of clean energy resources and the difference between conventional and clean energy
• AmbiciOsa – explained the importance of recycling and the final destination of our regular trash and the products we recycle
• CORCLIMA – about the classification and use of refrigeration gasses in air conditioning and refrigeration. And best practices to choose the device with more ecologically friendly gasses and how to dispose of those
• ASADA – how we obtain water for our community, water quality, and good practices for optimal water conservation

In 2022, a total of 50 hours were invested in our staff training on subjects related to sustainability and climate change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noZrR-ie12o

The Bigger Picture – Our Bahia Ballena Community

We can make big things happen by working hard as our small team at our small lodge. 

But why stop there? It’s a massive part of our mission to involve our entire community in our sustainability efforts.

The Travelers’ Philanthropy Program

For each of our full-paying surf + yoga camp guests, we donate USD 20 to our community foundation, SOMOS.

This is part of our Travelers Philanthropy Program, something we started in 2014 to allocate funds to projects or organizations in our local community working to sustain the place we call home.

This means that, just by deciding to spend time with us, you’re directly impacting our local community, so thank you!

Thanks to you for choosing a company rooted in community involvement, conservation, and responsible travel; in 2022, we raised USD $20,658 through this program.

These funds go towards allowing SOMOS to lead conservation projects and allowing our local youth environmentally educational opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to.

The 2022 Smile While You Paddle Surf-A-Thon

We’re beyond fortunate to have two levels of community – our local community and our international one. One thing that we love more than anything is when these two communities come together.

Our annual Smile While You Paddle Surf-A-Thon is a tool that brings these two levels of community together as one big force for good.

Through our 2022 Surf-A-Thon, we raised a total of USD $16,948. All proceeds went to the locally operating nonprofit Innoceana for their Marine Conservation and Education Center, specifically the Junior Blue Warrior program, which provides local youth with marine conservation educational opportunities. 

We’ve been able to support these organizations because of you – our valued local and international communities that come together to drive a force for good.

Entrepreneurship within Bodhi Surf + Yoga

Besides working with us, we hold an initiative where our staff can use their passions to create their businesses using Bodhi Surf + Yoga as a platform.

A number of these businesses have flourished over the years!

• Mary Cruz: Mary uses Bodhi and our network to sell her beautifully hand-painted fins as souvenirs, with 100% of sales going directly to her. The fins say “Pura Vida”, “Smile While You Paddle” and “Bodhi Surf + Yoga”, and each fin has a painted whale, sloth, tucan, or turtle! These fins can ONLY be found here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga, and are a great sustainable souvenir to take back home.
• Fanny: Fanny has been Bodhi’s infamous chef for five years now. Every week (literally, every), our guests jokingly ask if they can bring Fanny home with them in their suitcase. Although she can’t quite do that, Fanny loves that her name and the memories of her delicious food can travel back across the world with our guests. In 2022, she began offering cooking classes as a fun activity for our guests.
• Jimena: Since day one, Jimena has impressed us with her unlimited energy and her “joie de vivre”. She loves kids, and kids love her too. Besides working with us, she provides babysitting services to the families visiting us.
• Anki: Anki is one of our yoga teachers, and she also offers us her photography and videography services! Although we encourage ‘living in the moment’, we love that guests can relive their Bodhi experience through her top-quality photos and videos
• George: George uses Bodhi to sell sustainable souvenirs, including towels and soaps, all made by sustainable companies in Costa Rica. He is also in charge of Bodhi’s bicycle rental, encouraging a more sustainable way of getting about.

Partnerships and Certifications

We believe that we’re more vital than ever when we come together! Regardless of the work being done, it can be easy to become complacent. Partnering with various responsible organizations and certifications holds us to the high standards we make our mission to maintain.

B Corporation

In 2016, we became the first (and still to this day, only) surf and yoga camp with B Corporation certification. Then, in 2020, we were honored to receive our second B Corporation certification for having met “rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.” 

We have also been recognized as a Best for the World Business in the Community category for several years, with 2022 no exception.

The Center for Responsible Travel

The Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) has inspired and supported us for many years. As Platinum Sponsors of CREST, Bodhi Surf + Yoga has supported their mission to promote responsible travel where local communities thrive and steward cultural resources and biodiversity. 

The organization provides evidence-based research and analysis to governments, policymakers, tourism businesses, nonprofit organizations, and international agencies to solve the most pressing problems confronting tourism, the world’s largest service industry.

1% for the Planet

We’ve been a 1% for the Planet member since 2018. A considerable part of what makes us Bodhi Surf + Yoga is our naturally majestic and beautiful home.

Donating 1% of our revenue to conservation projects is one way of giving back to this environment that gives us so much. Our efforts help preserve this place that we call home

We also value our collaborations with other 1% for the Planet members, like: 

• Sunski – who keep our eyes protected from the sun
• Kleankanteen – who keep us hydrated
• Allgood – who keep our skin healthy and burn-free

2022 Tripadvisor: Travelers Choice Award

We were awarded a ‘2022 Tripadvisor: Travelers Choice Award’. This achievement indicates our excellent, safe, and responsible travel experiences for our guests. 

We strive to continue to provide exceptional service to our guests while using our business to drive positive change in our community.

2022 was a Triumphant Year for Bodhi Surf + Yoga’s Sustainability Hub

2022 was a massive year for the Bodhi Surf + Yoga Sustainability Hub!

Not only did we work tirelessly to better ourselves and make a difference, but we’ve also been working hard to create ways to share this with you – our community.

Our fantastic intern, Kylie, created our 2022 CSR report, inviting you to head to our website to read. If you’re coming here to Bodhi Surf + Yoga soon, you’ll find a physical copy in your room!

If you have five minutes spare, we invite you to watch our 2022 sustainability YouTube video.

Through this, we hope to inspire other businesses and individuals that together, we can all do our part to make a positive change in our homes, communities, and the world.