5 Facts about Costa Rica's sustainability
Here in Costa Rica we pride ourselves in having generalized eco-conscience, a green country if you may. Our efforts go from the smallest family recycling and refusing to use single-use plastics to bigger projects by the government and industry.
Here are our TOP5 facts about Costa Rica’s sustainability that you might not know.
Photo by @VinicioChanto
25% of our territory is protected area
That means more wildlife than any other place else, Costa Rica proudly has 5% of the world’s biodiversity and that’s because protected areas are not only national parks, but real WILDLIFE home, untouched by man and protected by park rangers. Costa Rica has been named the most biodiverse area in the world :O
That includes beaches, jungle, rainy forest, volcanoes, biological reserves and many other pieces of land that are called “the alive Eden”
There are as well organizations that work daily on rising money to take care of parks and the logistics of maintaining the infrastructure of them.
100% of our electric energy comes from renewable sources
Ever since 2018 all our energy comes from sustainable sources, and 2019 is the 5th year in a row of being almost fully renewable. The hard work of CNFL and the government makes us one of the TOP clean energy countries.
Being the main sources of energy the Hydroelectric and wind powered turbines, most of our energy is CLEAN.
Tourism Sustainability Certificate for accommodations
Only the best hotels and accommodations in Costa Rica can display the CST
The criteria to be awarded are:
• Efforts to give back to the community, in a social and ecological focus.
• Sustainable operations, efficiency in the daily running the Hotel. Promoting energy saving, water saving, recycling and the best use of resources.
• Complaint with security and archeological criteria.
• Consuming natural, biodegradable and recycled products. As well as managing the waste in a sustainable way.
• Promoting local traditions and local products, handcrafts and foods.
We are eliminating plastic straws and single-use bags at a FAST pace
During the last year most establishments have eliminated the use of straws and single-use plastic bags for good, or changing them for a biodegradable options. The company EcoSunrise makes biodegradable products from plates, straws, sandwich bags, face tissue and a lot more. So this is a very good solution for anyone who definitely needs to keep on using straws to drink.
This month a couple of big enterprises, supermarkets and stores have banned plastic bags from their stores, that means we are going FAST on the Sustainable highway!
Bandera Azul
The “Blue Flag” award is an incentive for communities near beaches, it rewards the conservational efforts, as well as improvements for the community in sanitary solutions.
It’s all focused on promoting good ecological practices within the communities and companies around beaches, in order to have THE BEST beaches to offer for tourists.
Clean healthy beaches and cultured aware communities are their goals.