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| Do you know where your garbage ends up? |
We desperately need to talk about the trash! And that is exactly what we are going to do
on Friday 7th August at 3.30pm. As part of the Festival Azul, we will be holding a roundtable discussion about garbage management. Attending will be members of the Municipality of Cobano, the Ministry of Health, the Camara de Turismo and the Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeepers (NPWK).
This is your opportunity to listen to the plans being drafted for efficient and effective waste management in our area, to comment, ask questions and give constructive suggestions! Importantly you can find out how you can help reduce the volume of garbage produced by our community. If you care at all about where your own trash ends up, please attend and take part in this event!!
In the meantime here are some things you need to know... starting first with the bad news:
THE BAD NEWS:
(1) Cobano currently has NO Waste Management Plan in place. Cobano, Lepanto and Paquera are in fact amongst the 11 municipalities (out of 81) left in the country that still have no Waste Management Plan in place.
(2) Once your garbage is picked up from the road on Monday, Wednesday and Friday it is taken to an open-pit municipal landfill in Cobano. This landfill site was OFFICIALLY SHUT DOWN by the Ministry of Health at the beginning of 2015 because it had already reached its capacity and was deemed to be an environmental danger – and yet, OUR garbage continues to be dumped there. And will continue to be dumped there for some time.
(3) The municipality of Cobano is NOT at this time recycling. The only option in town for recycling is to take your own recyclables to Gato (behind Burger Rancho), who in turn will take this to the new recycling center in Paquera.
All that seems pretty depressing. But don’t despair – over the last two months, members of our community have been working with the Municipality of Cobano to rectify this dire situation. And you can also TAKE ACTION to HELP.
THE GOOD NEWS:
(1) Over the last 2 months members of our community (including representatives of the NPWK, the Camara de Turismo, the Bandera Azul Ecologica and the Escuela de la Jongla) have been meeting on a weekly basis with officials from the Municipalities of Lepanto, Paquera and Cobano in order to talk about trash. During this period, this group of people together have studied a course on Waste Management with the Universidad Estatal a Distancia (UNED) and have been busy drafting a Waste Management Plan that will work for our community.
(2) There are plans underway that will lead eventually to the actual physical closure of the condemned, at-capacity Cobano landfill. In the future (although it is still unclear exactly when) our trash is to be taken over by the ferry to Puntarenas to a landfill site that actually complies with all the environmental and safety requirements of the Ministerio de Salud and the MINAE.
(3) YOU can HELP!
Now that we know that our trash is being dumped in a place where it SHOULD NOT, we have no choice but to act to reduce the amount of garbage that is ending up in the environmentally dangerous Cobano landfill. Here is what you can do to help:
- Do NOT throw organic materials into the garbage bin. A Landfill is NOT the place for organic waste. Organic material can be thrown into the forest, where the crabs and iguanas will be very happy to eat it for you. Or, even better, it can be composted and used to feed your garden.
- Separate out recyclables - Do not throw away bottles, cans, tetrapack, glass, etc. that can actually be recycled. Clean these out and take them to Gato, who will make sure they are recycled for you.
- Reduce the amount of waste that you produce. This might sound daunting, but taking small steps can have a large impact. Turn down the straw that comes with your smoothie. Carry a refillable water bottle. Carry a canvas bag with you to the grocery store. Choose unpackaged goods wherever possible. Everything you do to reduce your garbage footprint helps!
FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF AT THE FESTIVAL AZUL - 3.30pm FRI 7TH AUGUST
Garbage management is a huge topic and one that is incredibly important for the future of our community. We invite you all to join us for the Round Table Discussion on Friday the 7th August and find out for yourselves the answers to these important questions:
(a) What is the Municipality's Waste Management Plan going to look like?
(b) When is the open-pit, already-at-capacity, already-officially-shut-down landfill site at Cobano going to stop receiving our garbage?
(c) Where will our garbage be taken to in the future?
(d) What is the Municipality's recycling plan?
(e) What can you do to help?
Find out more about the Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeeper HERE
