Save money and the enviroment. A concerned expat's call to action.

It is safe to say that most people in Panama are not living light on the planet.  Many of us often drive large cars with only a few people aboard, buy things made of inferior plastic and wrapped in plastic.  We then “use” this stuff and then we throw it away, where ever “away” happens to be.  That usually means it ends up in a dump. Most of us have lived in societies where environmental consciousness is a way of life and we were well trained how to do our parts to preserve the resources on our plant.  And when we arrived in Panama we were shocked and angry to see how the population as a whole has no environmental awareness or concern.  For years many expats have groused about this but have done nothing about it.  Well, it seems we now have enough concerned people along the coast to put some programs into place and show that a few people can make a difference.  Here are two programs that can  be developed quickly.

 
CARPOOLING NETWORK

I suggest we put together a carpooling system so there are  choices on how to travel to Panama City:

1.     Drive our big car to a doctors appointment or to buy a few small items 760 miles away; or
2.     Ride the bus that runs every few minutes and take taxis to final destination; or
3.     Carpool with other expats on a similar schedule.

Playa Community has posted a carpooling forum on the website but it requires people to promote and manage it.  AND most importantly,  people need to use it!
 
AT HOME PICK UP OF RECYCLING MATERIALS

Panama Coast International School has had a recycling drop off point for the past year and is often buried in the material because the kids have lots of other things to do in addition to sorting recyclables.  There is also a recycling buy back center in Gorgona but many of us are too busy to make a special trip to get rid of the recyclables we can just put in the trash.

Start a pilot recycling program in the Playa Community area by either taking our recyclables to Recimetal in Gorgona, OR put together a monthly collection program that picks up the recyclables from our  homes and drops off clear plastic bags for us to sort and store the material.  Are we willing to pay a few bucks a month to have our glass, plastic, aluminum, and paper collected and know it is going to the right place?
 
There is no government agency or private business that is going to put these two programs into place.  It is up to us, as citizens concerned for the planet.  So the question I pose  :
Are we willing to help get these two projects going by Christmas?” 
It takes at least six energetic people to make this work.  I am willing and so now we just need five more folks.
 
Let me know ASAP at stephentj77@gmail.com

Stephen Johnson