In 2006 Chris visited Honduras, a country where more than half the population lives poorly. He returned home with a plan to go back and help. He and his brother, Will, came up with an idea. They would start a business in Honduras to create opportunities for people living there.
But what kind of business would they start? They began by looking for a resource the country had naturally. The brothers chose to use wood from Honduras' thick forests. Next they had to decide what they would build with that wood. Eventually, they found their way into the toy industry.
The brothers decided to make children's blocks, drawing inspiration from the traditional wooden toys they discovered on a trip to Germany. Will and Chris decided to call their company “Tegu”, short for Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Then they staffed their factory with Honduran citizens. “We found that our workers in the factory are super proud that the name of their capital city is going out on their product and representing what they're able to do,” said Will.
In addition to giving Honduran citizens the opportunity to work and learn about running a business, Tegu is partnered with a school that helps educate the children of families that work at the Tegucigalpa trash dump.
But Will and Chris did not feel it was enough to simply help the people of Honduras — they wanted to make sure they took good care of the land, too. They felt it was important to make toys using a natural resource in a way that is sustainable.
In order to do their part for the environment, Tegu works with woodcutting cooperatives and plantation-growers to select trees responsibly. The company also plants one, two, or three trees in place of every toy set that is produced. They've already planted more than half a million trees since Tegu was founded.
