Each year, in September, the Terra Nostra Association, within the framework of the Green and Clean CR Program, heeds the call of the Ocean Conservancy to participate in the World Day of Beach Cleaning, which is celebrated in more than one hundred countries in the world.
In Costa Rica, clean-up days are held in various parts of the country, in addition to the corporate day, which was held on September 23rd, at Playa Guacalillo, Garabito, Puntarenas province.
In this country, tons of waste are dragged from the Great Metropolitan Area, through the Virilla River, to the Tárcoles River, which flows into the Central Pacific, affecting several beaches, especially Guacalillo and Playa Azul, which not only impacts coastal marine biodiversity, landscape and water bodies, but also human health and tourism.
The corporate day was held along almost 3 km of Guacalillo Beach, with the participation of allied institutions such as the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE), the Ministry of Culture and Youth (MCJ), the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers AyA), and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT); as well as the NGO Marviva with representatives of the Gulf Network. The ambassadors of the European Community and the collaborators of FEMSA, Coca Cola and SC Johnson also joined the initiative. This year, 450 volunteers collected and selected the waste, guided by 20 leaders of Terra Nostra brigades, with the support of the Red Cross and the Municipality of Garabito.
At the same time, activities were organized in other sectors of the country. Amigos del Río Torres will organize a cleaning day in Parque México sector on September 30th, next to the Children’s Museum and in the community of Cipreses in Bario México.
Likewise, the company Alimentos Pro Salud, which will clean the beach of the central canton of Puntarenas, will join on October 20th, as well as the Yisky Association, to clean the beach of the Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge, in the South Caribbean.
Once again, the Terra Nostra Association and the members of this strategic alliance join forces to meet this national challenge: a green, clean and healthy Costa Rica.