A toy company for change

導讀：玩具公司Tegu開發了一種新型玩具，這種玩具采用磁鐵和木制的新鮮搭配，讓孩子們可以利用積木拼搭出想象的形狀。

Helping others has always been important to Will and Chris Haughey. In 2006， Chris visited Honduras， a country where more than half the population lives in poverty， for the second time. 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 chances 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 rich forests. Next they had to decide what they would build with that wood. “Finally， we found our way into the toy industry，” says Will.

Building Blocks

The brothers decided to make childrens blocks， the idea coming from the traditional wooden toys they discovered on a trip to Germany. Then， they set about finding a way to put a modern twist on a classic favorite—by making the wooden blocks magnetic.

Will and Chris decided to call their company “Tegu”， short for Tegucigalpa， the capital of Honduras. Then they gave chances to Honduran citizens to work in their factory. The workers more than agreed on the company name. “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 showing what theyre able to do，” says Will.

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 and the other workers select trees responsibly. The company also plants one， two， or three trees in place of every one they harvest for making the toys. Theyve already planted more than half a million trees since Tegu was founded eight years ago.

Will says， “Caring for the environment can start with an appreciation for the life forms that are in your backyard... If you take an interest in them， then theres a very good chance that youre going to respect nature.”

Vocabulary

poverty n. 貧困

twist n. 扭轉，扭曲

magnetic adj. 有磁性的

citizen n. 市民

sustainable adj. 可持續的

appreciation n. 欣賞