Day Five San Jose CR

We visited NatureAir, a carbon-neutral airline. In short, this means that this company, in an environmentally conscious way, is offsetting what it creates in emissions (pollution) and what it uses in the environment (together called its carbon footprint), by purchasing and conserving natural habitat, by recycling, and by minimizing use of resources. Employees of this airline also bring used cooking oil back to the company for recycling and the company purchases used restaurant cooking oil, recycles it, and uses it in its fleet of ground vehicles. This is called biodiesel, and is a cleaner, recycled fuel. Have you seen a the soot released from a diesel engine when started? Biodiesel has no emission, but it does smell like french fries when it exits the exhaust! In doing these things, NatureAir is doing what it can to be a better steward of the Earth. I have noticed a lot of trash near highways and in the city. CR has a way to go before everyone buys in to the recycling movement, but there are some companies that are doing what they can to educate the people.

Costa Rica is known as the Green Republic. Green as in environmentally friendly, eco-tourism, etc. However, there is much work to be done. Their infrastructure (sewers and water) need major overhauls because of lack of upkeep and fast population increases. Much rain forest has been cut to make room for grazing animals (cattle), or for crops. In fact, CR is the #1 producer of pineapple, with coffee and bananas close behind. All of these cash crops require clearing land, which destroys natural habitats, and in turn leads to disappearing animal species.

This afternoon, we visited University for Peace, a United Nations mandated school that was established in the early 80's in Costa Rica. This is a graduate school with students from all over the world studying Peace and Conflict Studies, with its mission "to provide humanity with an international institution of higher education for peace and with the aim of promoting among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence." In today's world, that's a giant undertaking. We visited the campus, had a picnic lunch, and took part in a lecture on Climate Change and the Threat to Peace. The average citizen doesn't fully realize (or believe) just how much the climate is changing (data is the proof!) and what role resources play in world peace. (Think of oil and the war in Iraq, or the Somalian pirates, or the scarcity of water and food in some areas of the world and the wars that it causes...)

The mountains of CR are the perfect location for this small university.

We depart for another part of the country tomorrow: Guacimo. We will be staying at the Earth University for a couple of days. Hopefully, I will have access to the internet. Click on image to expand.