Costa Rica is widely known for living the pure life, in more ways than one. Despite being small in size, the country is a leading player in environmental sustainability due to their growing list of initiatives. Costa Rica’s efforts to maintain ecological balance are certainly impressive and set an example for the rest of the world to follow.

Striving to be completely carbon neutral by 2021, Costa Rica is spearheading the switch to renewable energy sources. By utilizing its rivers, volcanoes, wind, and solar power, this small nation has generated about 98.53% of its electricity from renewable sources in the last four years. In fact, they ran exclusively on clean energy for 300 days in 2017! By keeping sustainability as a priority, Costa Rica is paving the path to be the first carbon-neutral nation.

Another major initiative is the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST), which was developed to ensure the tourism industry follows the country’s environmental goals. This program analyzes business practices and rates them on a scale from 0 to 5, motivating consumers to actively choose more sustainable businesses. This effort aims to implement CST in other countries, creating a universal standard for tourism.

These initiatives provide an excellent direction for the nation. Costa Rica’s overall determination for sustainable practices aligns perfectly with the nation’s economy, which heavily depends on agriculture and tourism. As the days dwindle down (T-2 days!), I am excited to experience Tico culture, practice my rusty Spanish, and try authentic Costa Rican food. A good cup of coffee won’t hurt either.

!Hasta luego!