Doing Time And Making Organic, Natural, Well-Crafted Products?

Serving time might be the last place to think organic, natural, well-crafted materials. But that’s exactly what TO products does.

And it’s just a part of a bigger mission to help society not only become a more environmentally healthy place, but a safer one too. PRISONERHOPE was a program started in the prison system in Costa Rica with the aim of finding a way to end recidivism.

A reformed prisoner, Carlos Hernàn Robles, wanted to cultivate a culture and work ethic within the prison walls that could help him and his friends find a productive way to re-enter society once out.

One of the most unique and intelligent solutions that TO products incorporates is its vision to see the whole picture as it helps not only the prisoner, but the immediate family of the inmate, and society as a whole from the choices of materials used to the concept of design. TO products shows us that organic is a way of thinking, a mind-set, an ethic that can permeate every step of life.

Susan: First, your product has a very unique name that plays well in English; however, it has a meaning in another language as well. What is this unique name all about?

Daniel: TO is the word for “footprint” in Bribri, a Costa Rican indigenous language, and that is exactly what TO intends to be: a “footprint for humanism;” “footprint for ecology;” a “footprint for quality;” and a “footprint of commitment.” In summary, TO intends to be a footprint on a road to a world “that sees life differently.”

Susan: How did To-products get started?

Daniel: Mr. Carlos Hernàn Robles served twelve years in prison. While serving time, he created an environment with the other inmates to form a “culture” to work within the jail in order to avoid the degradation of spirit that can happen during the long days of serving time. This “culture” was very important because in order to work with the tools to make the product, they could just as easily have been creating arms. They needed to learn to respect the trade and work so as to keep the opportunity alive and not loose the chance for positive change.

Once the program was established and running, Don Carlos, a small factory, invited their group to design a new line of products with it’s own brand name. Soon the facilitates were constructed and donated to the penitentiary. An agreement was signed with the Costa Rican government to support the project. High-end technology machinery was brought in, along with an instructor, to support the workers and the project in all of the “know-how” needed to manufacture this product. All of this was donated.

Susan: What is the basic philosophy behind the company?

Daniel: The biggest problem the population fears about freed inmates is recidivisim. TO tries to be an intelligent solution to solve the problem of prisoners ending up back in jail by focusing on one of the main causes of recidivism, which is leaving the prison system without the tools to succeed. The entire project is done through charity.

Susan: What materials are used in making the product?

Daniel: In TO products, the best materials are used: Cotton, leather and bronze. And, they are 100% biodegradable. In the materials, 97% of the petroleum derivatives have been eliminated from the materials and all are made without the use of toxic glues.

Susan: PRISONERHOPE is a very unique aspect to your product. Can you explain how that works?

Daniel: Society today is not prepared to deal with the return of an inmate who has served his full sentence. When a person does leave the prison system, generally he is left without family (98% loose connection with their family during their sentence). A person who leaves the prison system has no skills to keep up with the demands of an ever-changing, high-paced needed market that is increasingly uses higher and higher technology. A person also has a prison record that follows them as they try to apply for jobs.

TO – PRISONERHOPE – tries to attack these three causes of recidivism. When a person is released from jail and has a plan to maintain him and his family economically, he has a better chance to not repeat and end up back in prison. In addition, the person has learned a good skill and has the ability to open his own business. He has the option to buy equipment without any interest.

Then the picture is completely different: He and his family have the chance to start again; he has learned the skills of creating a product; and he has equity and capital to begin fresh. In the cases that the person does not want to start his own business, he can continue working with TO in the factories.

Susan: Describe the unique opportunity this gives families in Costa Rica, where many families struggle with poverty?

Daniel: TO defends two families in Costa Rica. With less repeat offenders and more opportunities for inmates to stay clean, we will be helping to protect all of society since less crime will be committed, and we will all be able to walk the streets more safely. Secondly, we aim to help the families of the inmates who are hidden victims in this process because they are faced suddenly with total poverty. The money the inmate receives is paid directly to the family. This helps to combat the largest amount of people effected by the incarcerated person since he was often providing some sort of sustenance to the family.

Susan: How did the idea of organic, hand-made products merge with PRISONERHOPE?

Daniel: TO is not simply work for the inmate, but a process of “formation.” This was a very important element to add to the product – a commitment with nature, a commitment with the society, and a quality excellence – so that the person that is involved and making the product also develops a different attitude towards quality and the environment.

Susan: Marketing and sales is one of the most challenging aspect of any business, how do you get this product to the people?

Daniel: Marketing is born in the product. We have developed an article “made to last” with an impeccable design and a construction that uses mechanisms that do not fail. This together with the social commitment and ecological speech, our mission is to bring to the world a new language of design and development.

At the moment TO has two stores in Costa Rica: one in Multiplaza, Escazú and another one in Terramall. We have in addition a page www.to-products.com and we are working very of the hand of the great companies of the country with our line of “cooporative gifts” (tel: 506 2253-8248). Our hope is to offer all aspects of society a way to a new solution.

Susan: What is next for TO-products?

Daniel: One of our next projects is to increase our sales on the Web and design the products to a larger market. We’re grateful we’ve formed an agreement with the Costa Rican Post Office to help with shipping. In addition, in the next three months, we will be incorporating seven new colors to our line. We are hoping to fulfill our goal of growth in sales by 65% in 2011. Our “target” is also to have 800 inmates working within our project.

Susan: When a customer purchases one of your products, they are carrying out more than just a bag or belt. Well made, organic products are a benefit to society and the planet, but your product also involves community and goes so much further than many on the market today. What would you like each customer to know when they walk away with one of your products?

Daniel: If anyone of the great European labels of purses had designed a line like TO, it most likely would have used the same materials. However, the great thing about TO is the story of not only being handmade, but the program behind it. This means the person who buys our products is not only buying something of the highest quality, but also something that is made with the best materials that exist. In addition, all the products are designed to be a part of a solution for society and add to the quality and definite style for the person’s life. TO is a human, novel, and intelligent solution for our society in which we are all able to see life in a different form.

This means that our users acquire not only an article of highest quality, a fact with the noble materials, but in addition they demand that our product is a solution for society. To is a human, novel and intelligent solution for which they are able to see the life of a different form.

To learn more, please visit the official www.to-products.comhere. To see the products in person, you could visit the kiosk in Multiplaza, Escazú.

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Written by Susan Lutz who is a film maker and writer living in Costa Rica. Her documentary film, The Coffee Dance available for sale an Amazon.com, follows a group of women in the depths of poverty as they strive for empowerment. She teaches film and lectures in Costa Rica. She’s produced radio documentaries and is currently finishing her first travel book on Costa Rica. She writes an internationally recognized blog on life in Costa Rica, Motherjungle.com and is the editor of the Organic Living Page on Allthingshealing.com

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