Hello, my name is Tomás and I'm a co-founder of Grove.
To start, I'd first like to say, as is customary in my tradition, tlazocamati nauhcampa, tlazocamati tonatiuh huan tonantzin tlalli. Thank you four directions, father sun and mother earth for the gift of this day of life.
My Story
Beginnings
Like you, my climate consciousness is nothing new. As a 13 year old, I became a vegetarian after watching a (admittedly traumatic) PETA documentary about factory farming. I bought only secondhand clothes after learning about the devastating impact of the global textiles industry. I sweated through blazing California summers, and shivered through frigid New England winters on a bicycle instead of driving in a car more than I care to admit.
In other words, I was trapped in a cycle of caring deeply, acting occasionally and feeling guilty constantly.
I felt forced to choose between "bad" and "slightly less bad."
The agreement
In my mid-twenties, I then spent time in southern Mexico, where my family lineage is rooted in the Yucatec Maya culture, still very much alive and well. There, I learned about the principle of k'ex, also called the flowering jade agreement, the principle of mutual indebtedness.
The Maya cosmovision begins by acknowledging our sacred mother earth, as the one who gives of herself, her flesh and body, in fruits and animal, to sustain human life.
In return, we humans are expected to sustain her soul by feeding the holy in nature with daily acts of ritual gift-giving.
To be human is to sustain this agreement by giving back twice what we take.
The planting
This concept changed my life.
Like the campesinos who used their tools of hoes and shovels to make traditional offerings, I decided to use the tools of technology and business to adapt k'ex to my modern world.
I roughly calculated the amount of carbon I would take from my entire life and committed to giving back twice that amount, through planting 10,000 mangrove trees.
I built products and services to do just that, partnering with coastal reforestation organization SeaTrees, so that month after month after month, my forest grew.
In August of 2025, after six years of work, my 10,000th tree was planted.
I had stepped into the legacy of my ancestors.
Grove's Story
My dream now is to share this practice with others like me. Others who know the earth to be sacred. Others who care deeply, act occasionally and feel guilty constantly.
For you, we built Grove, a simple way to reject the false choice of "bad" and "less bad." It allows you to harness the inertia of daily life into a force for reforestation.
In this way, you also can step into the ancient, human lineage of those who recognize the gift of our lives by giving more than we take, a lineage shared by the Maya as well as many indigenous peoples past and present.
You don't choose between "bad" or "less bad", but instead claim a climate legacy that is "wildly, abundantly, good."
The mission of Grove is to help 10,000 people each plant 10,000 trees.
Our Story
We all know that the current system of consumer capitalism is leading to collapse. When we define ourselves by what we buy, own or take, we destroy the natural systems we depend on.
On the other hand, choosing to center reciprocity over entitlement gives us a chance of mutual flourishing, for human life to be as vital and healthy as the earth.
Potawatomi author of Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer writes,
"Climate catastrophe and biodiversity loss are the consequences of unrestrained taking by humans. Might cultivation of gratitude be part of the solution?"
What might a sustainable future built on the assumption of reciprocity look like? Grove is one attempt to envision an ecology-focused practice of finance.
You can help us co-create this future today, right here, right now. Create your Grove account and plant your first tree just for signing up. Let's feed the holy in nature with small acts of gratitude, and, together, choose a climate legacy as wild and abundant as the most ancient, old growth groves.
-Tomás
