A.M. Costa Rica/Osa group begins garbage fight over bottles

This bottle, empty though it is, takes up a lot of space

Osa group begins garbage fight over bottles
By Jesse Froehling of the A.M. Costa Rica staff The Women of Osa, a group of residents in the region, is concerned that a recent decision by the Coca Cola distributor to sell its products in plastic bottles will overwhelm the already shaky garbage collection system in the region. As a result, they have given the Coca Cola distributor an ultimatum: recycle your products or lose customers. Coca Cola FEMSA S.A. is the Latin American bottler of products under license from the U.S.-based Coca Cola Co. U.N. maps environmental campaigns HERE! The Women of Osa is comprised of at least seven hotel owners in the region. According to a statement by the group, the owners are concerned that the decision by Coca Cola will increase garbage substantially. “The new policy of Coca Cola is based on lowering production costs. We all understand that this is the logical position in the business world, as we all know, being business owners ourselves. However, policy decisions have to be responsible as well as economical,” the group wrote. The group said that if Coca-Cola is going to burden the small communities with the extra garbage, it is the responsibility of the company to minimize the effect of that extra waste. The Osa Peninsula on the Pacific coast in southwest Costa Rica is realtively isolated. The group said it sent a list of actions appropriate for the company to take. The list sent to Jorge Barahona, the southern zone representative of the company, reads as follows:

1. The full payment of a new recycling center, valued at $5,000.

2. The training to the members of the community.

3. The guarantee by Coca Cola that the company will collect the plastic of the
recyling center.

4. The guarantee by the distributor that the plastic will be recycled and will not become
garbage in another part of the country.

The owners pointed out that a recycling facility already exists in Puerto Jiménez but needs to be expanded. That facility is managed by students in the area, the group wrote.

The hotel owners said that if the company had not responded by Sept. 1, the group would stop buying Coca Cola products and switch to Pepsi. They added that it is important to recognize that “this is not a boycott against Coca Cola, and there is not any other reason, interest or policy, except to boycott garbage.

"We all know that practically all the companies are using disposable products, some of them even more than Coca Cola. What we are trying to do with this, is to set a precedent and to negotiate agreements with all those companies that bring us garbage, for the benefit of all the communities. We want these companies to accept their responsibility and be involved in the solutions that will help communities.”

Lana Wedmore, the owner of the Luna Lodge and a member of the Women of Osa, said that the company did indeed contact the group but nothing substantial has happened yet. They are still talking, she said. Barahona could not be reached for comment at the distributo