Raquel, Alajuela, Costa Rica (my carbon footprint)

Environment Oct 27, 2020 by Raquel Jimenez

I have been interested in taking care of our environment ever since I was 13 years old. However, I've always focused on my personal impact and point of view. I never really considered other perspectives outside of my own, or other countries. This is my first year in Decarbonize & Decolonize, and it has made me think more not only about my ecological choices, but also my community's. When I calculated my carbon footprint (4,102kg), I was honestly shocked by certain aspects, for example, how much the way I traveled had an impact on the environment. However, I was still happy with my result, even though I think it could be lower. On the other hand, my high school is one of the most eco-friendly schools I've ever seen. This year we won "Bandera Azul", which is an organization that evaluates different communities and rewards them for being as ecological as they can be. This is amazing, since it's encouraging more communities to have environmental conscience. Maybe we are just one person, but we are changing the world step by step, with our individual actions as well as our actions in our communities.

How does your footprint reflect the economy/ status/ location/ politics of your country?

Our carbon footprint says a lot about us and about our country:

- Economy: Costa Rica is a very small country, and each footprint has an importance of it's own. Tourism and agriculture are Costa Rica's main money income. If we keep going by the rate that we are going, our agricultural yields will begin to dry and reduce due to extreme heat, infrastructure near our oceans will be flooded due to rising sea levels, more diseases may come due to insect outbreaks and changing temperatures, erosion may happen more often near coastal areas, and much more. Consequently affecting our economy, of course.

- Status: Costa Rica has been recognized around the world for being a green country. Our energy is 98% renewable and we have over 20 protected national parks containing lots of biodiversity (we hold 4% of the world's biodiversity), and much more. If we don't try to take care about our carbon footprint, these facts may change over time.

- Location: As a country full of rainforests and oceans, our carbon footprint is super important. As mentioned before, things such as rising sea levels and deforestation may become a greater issue with the passing of the years, affecting us and our home. That's why each individual carbon footprint plays a big role, so that hopefully these issues can be reduced and eventually eliminated.

- Politics: Our government has pledged that Costa Rica will become a carbon neutral country by 2021. There are laws that protect national reserves, there are laws that have banned materials damaging to the earth (such as styrofoam) and much more. Of course, our goal to become even more of a green country won't happen by itself, we need to be aware of our carbon footprint.

How does your footprint relate to power imbalances & justice when it comes to carbon mitigation plans in your country?

Personally, my footprint was mainly composed of transportation. When it comes to transportation in Costa Rica, there is a huge difference between classes. Middle to upper class usually relies on cars or in my case as a student, a private microbus. Lower class tends to use more public transportation. In my case, I would love to use public transportation more often, since it's more environmentally friendly, but sadly in most cases it's not safe at all. There's always the possibility of you getting robed or harassed. It makes me sad, the fact that my safety has to be sacrificed in order to reduce my footprint. Then, when it comes to power imbalance, we need to talk about education. Due to the resources that I've been provided as a middle-upper class individual, I have been informed about the way our life choices can make a huge impact. It's a bit unfair, that just because I was born in a different life situation and with different resources, I get more knowledge when it comes to these things (recycling, reusing, reducing, etc). That's why creating awareness in our communities is so important, because even though education may seem simple, it's key when it comes to protecting our environment. And if we want to reach our carbon neutral goal, we need there to be justice for all, disregarding power and class.

Baby steps may seem useless when it comes to our planet, but with time the choices that we make become severely important. I believe discovering my carbon footprint made me realize a lot of things, and I think it's a good way to know in what you are contributing the most. We are all in this together, we are all fighting against the climate crisis. If we continue to raise our voices and come together as one, we may still have a chance before it's too late.