Saturday, June 21, 2008

First Green Drinks in Manuel Antonio

Last night, Arenas del Mar hosted its first Green Drinks meeting. Green Drinks is an international organization brings together people who work in the environmental field for informal gatherings. With meetings all over the world, Green Drinks work to bring together a mixture of people from NGOs, academia, government and business. It's a great way of catching up with people you know, making new contacts in the “green industry” and promoting the concept of “green” worldwide. Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organizing network. These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity.




While our first Green Drinks event in Arenas del Mar was small, we see a lot of potential to bring together the environmental community in Manuel Antonio. I personally spent some time talking with a couple from North Carolina about their solid waste issues, a builder from Oklahoma who is pioneering the green building movement in Oklahoma city and a local couple that runs a horseback riding company in Manuel Antonio...




Green Drinks-Manuel Antonio will be held monthly at Arenas del Mar. Contact our Hugo, our Sustainability Director, at sostenibilidad@arenasdelmar.com for more information. Hope to see you at the next event!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Biodegradable Plastic!

I feel like all I do is write about plastic these days.




We just ordered these reusable water bottles that are 100% biodegradable and a great substitute for the traditional, single-use PET plastic bottle (see Jorge Arrieta being a responsible consumer). After 18 months, these water bottles will supposedly break down completely into carbon dioxide, water and biomass, helping us to reduce the amount of PET plastic that we both buy and produce. A small step, but one in the right direction we hope...