Earth day (April 22, 2022) is celebrated all over the world as a day to raise environmental awareness. This year we are celebrating by sharing eco-swaps affordable and easy can make in Panama.

We have never been more aware of the impact we are having on our planet than right now. But with so much information, and so many ways can change our daily lives to benefit the environment, getting started can be overwhelming. 

The feeling is something Mala Rao and Richard Powell, of Imperial College London’s Department of Primary Care and Public Health, refer to as eco-anxiety. 

In Panama and all over the world, there has been a major shift toward ecological awareness in the face of global rising levels of eco-anxiety, it seems as if everywhere you turn people are choosing optimism in the face of eco-doom, by the choices they make in their daily life.

This month we are sharing 30 eco-swaps easily obtainable in Panama. There are also some great eco-influencers sharing how they making greener choices!

 Follow @green_ish for tips, ideas & DIY Zero Waste, workshops, and classes all Panama relevant. 

One of the best tools to create climate awareness is to provide information that can have a positive impact on the environment.Our daily Eco-Swap daily challenge aims to provide information and connect you with nature and if it helps you make greener choices at an individual level that’s great too! You may be able to make these changes, and if not, no judgment. There are ways everyone can have an impact, living a more sustainable lifestyle doesn’t look the same for everyone.

With that being said, we’re aiming to help inform about available alternatives to plastic products, ways we can reuse and repair what we have, and the most effective ways to recycle what’s leftover. While a plastic-free home would be aesthetically pleasing, for most it’s not fully attainable, however, one day at a time we can work towards it.

Join our community by sharing your daily eco-swaps @playacommunity #ecoswap30

Celebrating Earth Day (April 22, 2022) in Coronado Panama 

So a great way to help is to stop using plastic products. This can be really tough, especially in Coronado, Panama our refill option is limited with a small selection at Organica, however, there are more than a few options in Panama City. 

Some grocery stores like Riba Smith Coronado will let you bag fruit and veg. in your own cloth bag, but a lot of produce is pre-wrapped in plastic. By far the easiest way to stay plastic-free is to buy from your local fruit/veg. truck on the side of the highway there are two stands in front of El Rey Coronado, and there are several trucks coming into Coronado with a pretty good selection of what’s in season. 

Panama is still using single-use plastic since it was required as a health regulation, so bring some containers and cutlery from home. While bioplastics say they are recyclable, there’s usually no facility to recycle them where they are used, which means they don’t actually get recycled, like most plastics.

Since we know most plastic isn’t being recycled, finding alternatives for plastic wherever possible is a great way to help the earth, it also leads to finding better products! Where there’s no alternative the next best thing is to reuse the plastic container, and then finally recycle it as a last resort. 

You can reduce your consumption of single-use plastics by bringing with you: 

- a reusable water bottle

- cloth bag or reusable fabric 

- utensils from home metal/glass staw 

- packing snacks in reusable containers instead of baggies or plastic wrap. Instead of buying Tupperware reuse old containers from yogurt, peanut butter, etc. that would normally be recycled.

Join us @playacommunity by sharing your posts with us tag #ecoswap30 &
join forces with a like-minded community. 

 Here are some ways you can join in the festivities for Earth Day on April 22 from anywhere in the world: 

• April 2, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. – Join NASA via Twitter Spaces at @NASAEarth to learn about the latest in NASA’s climate research.
  
  
• get a head start on the festivities by posting to social media with the hashtag #NASAEarthling. Posts can include an image of yourself, your pets, your favorite place, a piece of artwork, poetry, or plain text. The goal is to share anything that showcases your love for your planet.
  
  
• Visit EarthDay.org, the global organizer of Earth Day. Their theme for this year’s celebration is “Invest in Our Planet.” Earth Day 2022 is focused on accelerating solutions to combat our greatest threat, climate change, and to activate everyone – governments, citizens, and businesses – to do their part. 
  
  
• Reduce your consumption of single-use plastics by bringing a reusable water bottle, cloth bag, utensils, and packing snacks in reusable containers instead of baggies or plastic wrap. Instead of buying Tupperware reuse old containers from yogurt, peanut butter, etc. that would normally be recycled. Finally, recycle what you can’t reuse. We know that recycling systems are far from perfect, however, if you do use plastic, recycling it (washed and sorted) is the best thing you can do other than resuing it. 

Read More: 

52 more ways we can take action for Earth, not just on Earth Day, but every day.

Learn more about the upcoming recycling fair in Coronado Panama, and start saving your recyclables!