Read below about a new “Great Big Story” coming March 25 – The Brave – I received as a subscriber to The Great Big Story.
It is time to do something about man’s destruction of earth!
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Introducing: “The Brave” |
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The Brave
Costa Rica Leads in Banning Plastic
Tiny little Costa Rica is leading the way by banning disposable plastic. See these neat little videos about the effort:
Costa Rica Is Leading the Way (1:28)
We Can Save the World (3:00)
Banning Disposable Plastic (14:36)
Costa Rica Is First – the prettiest video is on my facebook page as a share.
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”
—Jane Goodall
¡Pura Vida
Why Costa Rica is Happier
The above featured photo by Charlie Doggett is of the Bribri Watsi Waterfall in the South Caribe of Costa Rica. The latest international report to place Costa Rica as the happiest place on earth lists some of the reasons. See the full article at World Economic Forum or here is my brief summary:
Our president, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, said at Davos 2019:
- Seventy years ago we did away with our army and now spend 8% of GDP on education while the rest of the world (including the U.S) spends only an average of 4.8%. So our strength is human talent, human wellbeing.
- Not spending on the armed forces also allows this country to protect the environment. Costa Rica generates more than 99% of its electricity from renewable sources.
- The Costa Rican government has used taxes collected on the sale of fossil fuels to pay for the protection of forests. “We saw in the eighties that the forest coverage was reduced to 20% due to animal farming and timber. We’ve managed to recover all this and we’re back to forest coverage of 50%. By this we are combating climate change.”
- Costa Rica hosts more than five per cent of the world’s species, despite a landmass that covers just 0.03% of the planet. “Many people say that to protect the environment goes against the economy. Whereas it’s the complete contrary. Our tourism has grown precisely because of this,” says Alvarado.
- As a result, Costa Rica is the happiest and most sustainable country on Earth, according to the 2019 Happy Planet Index (HPI).
See my photo Gallery of happiest, most sustainable country:
¡Pura Vida!
The Gringo’s Hawk
Excellent first person account of living in the earlier, wilder Costa Rica as a twenty-something, then adapting and growing older here. Especially good for nature-lovers like me as a “Retired in Costa Rica” senior adult blogging about it at charliedoggett dot net. ¡Pura Vida!
— Goodreads Review by Charlie Doggett
And I read the real book on paper! It is not available digitally for my Kindle. Thanks to a friend here in Atenas who loaned the book!
Atenas Teens Paint Sidewalks for Environmental Awareness
The other day I came across this youth group painting an environmental message on the sidewalk at one of the busiest corners in Atenas Central in front of a furniture store, across the street from Mercado Central and across another street from our University Extension campus.
They are painting messages on several well-traveled sidewalk corners in town too create ecological awareness (conciencias de ecologica) or awareness of global warming (conciencias de calentamiento global) for the people of Atenas. The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow and their actions speak well for our future.
Atenas Youth Create Ecological Awareness
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
—Margaret Mead
Earth University
People from around the world study ecology at Costa Rica’s Earth University people who are changing the world for good (link is to English Language site)
Also a visitor’s English-Language Report on Costa Rica’s Earth University
¡Pura Vida!