Costa Rica is positioning itself to be the first country in the world to be totally free of single-use plastics and fossil fuels by 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At his inauguration earlier this year, President Carlos Alvarado Quesada announced his initiative to ban fossil fuels and become the world\u2019s first decarbonized society:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDecarbonization is the great task of our generation and Costa Rica must be one of the first countries in the world to accomplish it, if not the first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it may sound like a pipe dream, the country is already almost there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almost 99% of Costa Rica\u2019s energy already comes renewable sources, <\/a>such as rivers, volcanoes, geothermal, wind and solar power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2017, the country ran on 100% renewable energy for 300 days straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, the government is focused on switching to all electric cars using incentives to make them as cheap as cars that run in gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we reach 200 years of independent life we will take Costa Rica forward and celebrate\u2026 that we\u2019ve removed gasoline and diesel from our transportation,\u201d the president said in his inauguration speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with coal and petroleum, the country aims to make single-use plastics a thing of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, the government announced<\/a> its plan to eradicate all single-use plastics by 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n