From 2 pm on, last August 1st, 2 hydration posts on the route to the Basilica de los Angeles were enabled. This way, Catholic pilgrims refilled their reusable bottle with free water.
In this way, 38,311 half-liter disposable plastic bottles were prevented from contaminating our seas. The initiative was carried out thanks to the joint work between the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae), the municipalities of San José, Curridabat, and the MarViva Foundation.
Haydeé Rodríguez Romero, Deputy Minister of Water and Seas commented that “as part of the National Decarbonization Plan, our country has committed to implement sustainable consumption and production forms. Activities like these allow us to reflect the commitment in our daily life”.
“We need healthy and productive seas for future generations and to combat the effects of climate change. Preventing those disposable plastic bottles from reaching the sea, brings us closer to the goal”, she added. Rodríguez also said that “however, there is still a lot of work to do to transform our economy and it will be possible to promote more alliances among all sectors”.
Plastics pollution affects animal and human health, as well as the quality of air, soils, rivers, and water. Indeed, the fact that those pilgrims rejected the single-use plastic during the pilgrimage is an important step in the right direction for the conservation of our seas.
Katherine Arroyo, manager of Political Advocacy at MarViva said that “the #ChaoPlásticoDesechable campaign exceeded all expectations. We are deeply grateful to the high commitment of the pilgrims who joined the campaign and approached our positions to refill their bottles”.
“This initiative also aims to allow people to reflect on their habits of consumption of single-use plastics such as bottles, and how we have the power to influence the reduction of marine pollution by rejecting these products, so we reiterate that we are very satisfied with the high involvement of the pilgrims in the campaign, who take these messages to their homes”, she concluded.
