Costa Rica has the reputation as being an environmentally conscious country. In most of the regions that I had the fortune to visit were clean and there were bins out for public use.
At the COTERC field station the surrounding is very welcoming. There is a wonderful orchid hanging garden and a small pond with a tiny island that host a variety of wildlife. The staff is very aware of the need to keep things as environmentally friendly as possible. There is a recycle system in place. The garbage and recycling is taken to a sorting plant in Tortuguero. In the communities of San Francisco and Tortuguero the environment is clean and tidy and there are both garbage and recycle bins set out for tourists and local use.
The major issue with the generation of garbage has to do with the wrapping food come in. With a large number of volunteers at the field station quite a bit of it can be generated. That is usually the case in may tropical countries. Costa Rica is fortunate in that it has a recycling system. One of the things they has done is to keep glass bottles in circulation and has a charge associated with the purchase of beverage in glass bottles which can be redeemed on the return of the empties. While this maybe an incentive for local businesses to play a part in keeping the environment clean they have to stock plastic packaged beverages to cater to tourists.
The hardest hit area in the garbage fight are the beaches in the area. On the North Beach where our work goes on literally every week the volunteers do a beach clean. This is not only to help them when they walk on the beach but also to clear the way for both turtles coming unto the beach to lay and hatchlings emerging from their nests. Most of the garbage that washes unto the beach does not originate from the near by communities but is carried on the tides from the ports of Limon where cruise ships dock. The volunteers will keep doing beach cleans but unless something is done about dumping garbage in the sea there will always be trash on these beaches.
About Me
- Deirdre
- Guyanese by birth, citizen of the world by choice. Fun-loving walk-a-ferrita according to my sister. I am a MES candidate, concentrating on ecological monitoring in tropical forest. I really love being in the forest and use to plan as much trips to the field as i could. It has taken me a little time getting use to such big cities, but will always prefer the countryside. Funny thing about being a such a big city is i alway head in the wrong direction no matter how much i make sure i know where i'm suppose to go. It's the never being able to see the sun properly i guess.
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