Praktikawelten
A Garden For Wellness
CARIBE LIBRE DE PLASTICO
We want to stop single use plastics from being used on the Caribbean coast here in Costa Rica.
The Planet Conservation “Caribe Sur Libre De Plastico” project aims to support the national strategy of Costa Rica to be the first carbon neutral country in 2021 and a single-use, plastic-free country by 2020, based on the national strategy of replacing single-use plastics with renewable and compostable alternatives Costa Rican state is running since June 2017.
We launched our campaign within the framework of the Arte Viva Festival of Puerto viejo in April 2018. Since then we have worked with local authorities, business owners, schools and volunteers to push forward a more sustainable way of living and change of single used products into more environmental friendly alternatives.
We also started to give life to some of the garbage we find in our bi-weekly beach cleanups and turn bottle caps into unique crafts.
We have a bigger vision to give plastic waste a new purpose rather than ending up in a landfill. Thereofre we need your support to build a workshop for the recycling and craft studio as well as the purchase of the next recycling machines to help the Caribbean with its waste problem.
Please join the movement and #bepartofthesolution.
The situation
There are many practical uses of plastic such as in the medicinal, aviation, and automobile industry. However, food and drinks do not have to be packaged into plastic, and it is essential to use it in a more responsible way. Single-use plastics are not an intelligent choice from the economic and environmental points of view.
Plastic is useful, but there are cleaner alternatives that can and must be used, so that consumers can continue using their favorite products without damaging the environment or their health, and to prevent the seas and the oceans from suffering from one of the worst causes of water pollution- plastic.
The problem
The single-use plastic, is often used only a few minutes but lasts hundreds of years to degrade. When future generations will look upon the plastic polluting our ecosystems they won’t ask why we didn’t recycle more, they will ask why products taking minutes to consume were produced in packaging that lasts for centuries.
Today only 9% of the plastic get recycled but it’s gonna take more than recycling to fix our plastic problem. We will need to stop using so much of it in the first place, if we want to save our world and ourselves we will have to choose, planet or plastic…
Planet Conservation Strategy
Today only 9% of the plastic get recycled but it’s gonna take more than recycling to fix our plastic problem. We will need to stop using so much of it in the first place, if we want to save our world and ourselves we will have to choose, planet or plastic…
- Encourage municipal incentives.
- Bring guidance to the local companies and consumers for the substitution of single-use plastic products.
- Increase the education of the population with the ambition to find solutions together to prevent plastics and packaging of everything we consume from growing without proper management.
- Research, development and investment in productive projects and clean up.
- Generate consciousness on the topic, providing the necessary knowledge to children and generating sensitivity towards single use plastic issues via our project “Environmental Kids Club”.
Education is the main tool we use in our campaign to sensitize companies and consumers on the commitment that we must acquire to eliminate single-use plastics such as: straws, plastic bags, disposables products, plastic bottles and any type of material that can not be reused that can cause a great impact on nature and our oceans.
Therefore, all actors of society are invited to sign our commitment, to make any donation and be part of this great national initiative. In the Southern Caribbean, the situation has already evolved, and every day more and more people are willing to be part of the solution to reduce the waste we generate.
According to the Minister of Environment of Costa Rica if we do not take urgent measures, by 2050 will have more plastic in the ocean than fish in the water.
Project supporters
10 easy-to-follow tips to change the world now!
We have much more power than what we think, beginning with breaking our addiction to plastic!
- Use cloth bags for your purchases instead of plastic bags.
- Use the dishes of your house, or plates and glasses made of cardboard or biodegradable materials for your meetings, parties, picnic etc.
- Use a reusable bottle for your water and fill it at the tap, water is drinkable in Costa Rica.
- Store your food in glass or stainless steel containers.
- Preferably buy your products packaged in cardboard or glass.
- Stop using products packed with single-use plastics.
- Ask for your drinks always without a straw.
- Use your own containers for food for carry out orders, oe prioritize places that offer take-away food free from plastic and / or styrofoam.
- Reuse the plastic products that you have in your house, but also look in your house at which plastics you can replace
- Always think before buying a product made of plastic if there are other alternatives!
Material DONATIONS
If you would like to contribute to the project, they always need the following materials:
- Latex and non-latex glove size Large and Medium.
- Waterproof notebooks.
- Solar powered or electric rechargeable flashlights with red light.
- Solar powered battery chargers.
If you wish to make a donation by sending materials for the project, please make sure the package is addressed to PLANET CONSERVATION, if you send it to an individual, there will be extensive fees to be paid in the postal office.
Warning: BIODEGRADABLE = GOOD ; IS NOT TRUE
Everything we create is eventually biodegradable and that’s doesn’t mean it is a good thing.
Conventional biodegrade plastics decomposes into harmful micro and nano-plastics.
Nowaday every bit of plastic ever produce still exist somewhere in the nature.
However biomaterials materials compost down into useful biomass, either at home or in industrial composting sites. Instead of talking about whether a material can biodegrades, it is more relevant and important to talk about whether a material can composts or not.
Have fun living with less plastic, don’t let the enormity of the plastic problem get you down, and be part of the solution!