¡Que tal! My name is Meghan Vander Woude, and I am a rising sophomore chemical engineer, in the Swanson School of Engineering. I chose Costa Rica as I wanted to visit a country with lively and exciting culture. I am hoping to learn about the different customs and activities in Costa Rica, as well as work on my Spanish. Another aspect of the trip I am excited for is the coffee site visits to Doka Coffee Plantation and the ICAFE. I am not an avid coffee drinker but I have been trying more and more different blends of coffee, and am excited to try new coffee blends in Costa Rica. Bananas are a major part of my diet and learning more about how they are processed will give me a greater appreciation for them. An interesting and important aspect about Costa Rica is their sustainability effort, that make it one of the top 10 most environmentally sustainability countries.

One effort Costa Rica has made related to sustainability is the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST). This program is focused on keeping the environment and culture of Costa Rica rich and thriving. This is not only good for the environment, as it protects the country’s environment healthy and from being destroyed, but it is also good for the economy. The CST effort is important to the tourism portion of the country’s economy, which is a major part of the country’s revenue. With about twenty five percent of the countries land protected by the National System of Conservation, in conjunction with the CST, this effort it is very important to both the people and land of Costa Rica.

Another aspect of Costa Rica’s sustainability effort is their focus on using renewable energy. They strive for most of the energy they use to be from renewable sources. For a quarter in 2015, Costa Rica ran solely on renewable energy, which is very important to not only their country but to the world, as it reduces carbon emissions. In 2017 Costa Rica broke the record for longest number of consecutive days in which all of a country’s energy came from renewable sources. This is personally very important to me as I am a large advocate for use of renewable energy. I think it should be one of the main focuses, specifically relating to climate change. In order for climate change to decrease in its current effects, sustainable renewable resources for energy needs to be a priority. Part of this effort includes their goal to be carbon neutral in the near future. This is not only an important initiative but also very exciting as with this goal they would be the first carbon neutral country in the world. They would be leading the world in a new and advanced direction.

After doing some research to learn more about Costa Rica’s sustainability efforts, I am more excited to go and see their beautiful country and be able to experience the different forward-thinking sustainability efforts. The country has worked to make sure it is one of the best in the world for sustainability. I am interested in not only how these efforts play out on the larger national scale but also on an individual scale. Both initiatives are very important to not only the county but to me, as it is important for both the country and worlds future that we work to become more sustainable.