Almost 75 years ago the country of Costa Rica abolished their military and moved to be a country of peace. This was the first the Costa Ricans took towards their pura vida which is a way of life for them. The country embodies this in every way from their daily work to how they treat their environment. Costa Rica has consistently ranked in the top 20 of the World Energy Council’s global “environmental sustainability” ranking. This is just one example of their commitment to their pura vida.

One initiative that Costa Rica has made that helps them reach so high on these sustainability rankings is their deforestation-free coffee. The country acknowledges the importance of both coffee and climate change to their country and is actively working with farmers from the Coffee Growers Cooperative of Tarrazú to create sustainable coffee farms. The farms have not themselves have not caused any deforestation since 2020 and have produced 19 tons to export to Europe for their first batch. It’s very exciting that we will soon be able to drink coffee that is 100% sustainable for the environment.

Another great way that Costa Rica is working towards being more sustainable is decarbonizing their transportation. This sector accounts towards 40% of their total emissions and they are working hard to get it down with new initiatives. The first new initiative is requiring that all new roads that are built have a bike lane included so that they can encourage more people to take bikes to work. Next, they are offering tax breaks to companies that install places for bike storage at their work locations to that their workers can be more encouraged to bike.

I am looking forward to getting to know my fellow students on this trip and I cannot wait till I get to go and experience all of the ways that Costa Rica commits to pura vida. They have many different ways in which they protect their pura vida lifestyle and promote sustainability. I myself plan to embrace the more relaxed work ethic part of the pura vida but don’t mind embracing the other parts if it comes to it.