History and Acknowledgements

It is important to me to acknowledge those who made Playa Limpia happen. I truly hope I did not leave anyone out but I know I probably did. Please contact me to remind me if there is someone you know who should be included in the timeline below. I’ve been known to forget a thing or 2! I’ve scoured my files and emails from the past 11 years but admittedly not with a fine tooth comb!

Pre- Playa Limpia

I met Pato (Ernesto Leon Sandoval) in 2006 when I first came to Troncones. If you gave him a minute of your time he’d talk your ear off about recycling, the environment, and the sad state of affairs locally and how he felt we could change it. I wasn’t a homeowner at the time and I was busy with my life and my career.

When I did become a homeowner in Troncones, 6 years later, I held high ideals about what and how we could and should be a conscious community of responsible stewards especially given that we are only guests here.

I wasn’t alone. Other neighbors shared my vision and some had even invested in Pato’s passion and expertise to carry out projects. Unfortunately, when each project ended, the funds were used up, and Pato, without a stable livelihood would have to leave to find similar work where he could. This sequence of events left those who’d supported his passion projects locally with the opinion that he was fly by night and not reliable. It seemed obvious to me that if we established a consistent salary for him we could keep him around. And to be clear, without Pato, there would likely not be any program. We are so lucky to have his passion, knowledge, tenaciousness, dedication of time and energy for these programs.

First I want to say thank you to Bill Landrum at Casa Bailarin for his consistent contribution to Pato’s vision before the formation of Playa Limpia, and for being someone who I was able to resource to establish Pato’s reliability and credibility.

2016

There were a few of us throwing around ideas. Me, Debi Obrien, Kelly Cornell, Chris Volkman were a small group who gathered a time or 2 to explore possibilities. We decided to launch a pilot program called phase 1. We’d collect some funds from local homeowners and pay Pato a monthly salary for 6 months, that low season, and see how it went. I was the treasurer. 12 homes contributed. This was an important first step in getting Playa Limpia off the ground. The 12 contributors were Casas: Andarillos, Dos Palmas, Tres Mujeres, Yoga del Pacifico, Colarida, Kokopeilli, Chulada, Congreyo Y Toro, Maya, and Luciernaga. By name, Debi and Marty, Kelly and Emmet, Shelley Padilla, Zoreh and Charlie, Jeanette and Bob, Teri and Sid, Nancy and Richie, Chris and Don, Greg and I.

The program seemed to work. The next high season Troncones Limpia was officially formed.

The intentions for Phase 1:

1). Pato's work at the school for continued environmental education of the children, teachers and families over the low season months. 

2). A chicken coop and grazing pastures implemented at the school. 

3). Plans to expand the garden  

4). Develop the recycling program 

5)  Stop the burning of garbage.

6)  The Organic market will continue in Troncones but may shift to special order as things slow down over the next few months. 

7)  Workshops for gardeners and house staff

2017

In 2017 APCAT agreed to provide the balance of our budget after private donations. Thank you Dewey and the Apcat board.

2018

By 2018 we had 34 member homes contributing varying amounts ranging from $25 to $400usd each. APCAT was paying about 30% of our budget. Each year since then until 2020 I raised private funds, applied to APCAT for a contribution, and often threw a member appreciation party.

We explored getting a chipper to help with organic garden waste. Thank you to John Davidson for putting in the time to research this and Mike Bensal who actually ended up purchasing a chipper for his own use, experimenting and reporting to us.

In the end, it seemed that the expense and maintenance were not cost affective for our community.

2019

In 2019 Alejandro Rodriguez joined us to help with making payments and overseeing the programs especially the half year when I was back in WA. Thank You Alejandro for bringing your strengths and passions to our program.

We officially changed Troncones Limpia to Playa Limpia Troncones Mahajua to reflect inclusion of both communities.

With our help, 16 houses are composting and 3 business have implemented composting.

2020

With covid at the forefront of everyone’s mind, we put some of Playa Limpia on hold to focus on getting through the pandemic and tourism shutdowns as a community.

2021/22

We tracked the collection of 1000lbs of plastic bottles from our street bins and sent them to zihua each 2-3 months.

2023

Playa Limpia was divided into 2 branches. Waste Management and Eco-Literacy. Alejandro thankfully agreed to take on supervision of the Waste Management branch and I continue to oversee the Eco-Literacy/Education branch while arranging for the private portion of Playa Limpia funding and managing those payments, about 60% of our total budget.

We experimented with a method called Biochar designed to convert garden waste in to useable mulch and compost alleviating the need for a chipper which was found to be too high cost and maintenance for this climate.

Jim Gibson played an important role in helping to motivate the biochar and depot operations and helped transition the Waste Management program over to Alejandro’s leadership. I am very grateful for Jim's dedication to get that accomplished.

2024

Fundraising fatigue led me to look for other ways to fund the program. That summer I approached Libby and Joanie at Casa Las Chicas about their experience with NGO’s, looking for guidance and creative suggestions. To my surprise and utter relief, they actually offered to fund the program for the next 3 years. 2026 is the final year planned for their support. Thank you is not nearly a big enough word to convey my appreciation, both because it relieved me of the fundraising task for a few years and because it gave me a renewed faith in the program and the communities’ belief in it.

2025

We saw a big increase in participation by the children and families in our art programs and garbage clean ups around town and beaches, fair grounds, etc as a result of Benjamin, the Las Hermanas teacher, attending our art classes and bringing some Las Hermanas students. Big thanks to Benjamin and Las Hermanas for collaborating in this way and for also hosting some of our classes in their classroom. We believe this communicates an important message of credibility to the local community about the value of our program and all it stand for.

2026

Shortly after the APCAT meeting in January, Ben and Beth Schiff at Casa Cuchuma stepped forward to fund the Waste Management Program in 2027. Our hope is that Apcat will once again come through for the balance of the funds needed for the program next year.

With the portion of the funds raised and donated to Playa Limpia at the Art Show fundraiser I hosted in March we have the funds needed to run the Eco-Literacy program in 2027.

Recycling Depot

The recycling depot changed location over the years. At one time it was at the primary school, and our vision was for the kids to leave home each day and drop off the recyclables. It also lived for awhile at the fair grounds, then on private land owned by Fermin and is now on land owned by Maria Felix where it will stay for one more year. We are grateful for this support from our community. We’ll need to figure out something else for what’s next within the year.

Gardener Workshops

Helping our local gardeners to use organic methods of fertilizing and mulching. Encouraging starter plants, and a general awareness of the reciprocal relationship of respect for nature.

Don Felix

Thank you to Don Felix who empties our street bins and maintains the recycling depot.

Healthy Snacks Workshops

Teaching kids and mothers about healthier food options

Town Clean Ups

Kids, locals, homeowners gather together monthly to pick up garbage.

Art Classes

Teaching kids to respect nature through art. These folks worked or voluntered various years at the children’s Art Classes Lucia Espiral, Erika, Kim Kovel, Aura Winarick

Road Signs

Kids paint signs with messages about keeping our town clean and caring for nature.

Advisory Board Members

Our neighbors who agreed to be on the board various years should I need their two cents:

Debi Obrien, Cat Loy, Dave Watson, Natalie Clark, Jim Gibson, Don Celecia, Jackie Reuling, John Davidson

Donations

These businesses offered discounts to Playa Limpia members:

Simpli Devine Spa, Costa Native

Additional gratitude to Maria Solis, Dona mary, Tres Santos Hotel and Don Tino.

My role

Though I took on the role of director of the entire program from 2016- 2024, living at a distance for half the year, some communication challenges with Pato and overall lack of time available meant I was very hands off in this role so I feel it’s more accurate to say I have served Playa Limpia mostly as a treasurer. I tried to be cognizant of the activities and use of funds as best as possible. For the most part we worked well as a team, myself, Alejandro and Pato and I’m grateful I could reduce my responsibilities in 2024.

I know I’ve left out a lot of detail and maybe at some point I’ll go back and fill in the gaps. But if I don’t complete this now and post it, it may never happen!

And finally, deep gratitude to YOU for caring,

Leela