I’ve been traveling around Costa Rica quite a bit this month, and have been heartened to see the way the anti-plastics movement is gaining traction. This is due to hard-working community leaders such as those behind the Bahía Ballena Libre de Plástico movement whose efforts grew, coalesced, and linked into national strategies. All that lobbying and convincing and door-to-door pressure on businesses is paying off. It’s starting to become jarringly unusual when you’re offered a plastic straw at a restaurant, and that was not the case just a year or two ago – it was the rule, not the exception.

Here’s to the champions who are making this happen before our eyes. If you’re visiting Costa Rica soon, just remember: bring a reusable water bottlebring a reusable water bottle, and when you order  drink, say “Sin pajilla, por favor.” (No straw, please.)

Image from the “Sin pajilla, por favor” Facebook group.

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! You can also find me churning out small, square poems on any topic under the sun (here on the site, on Instagram or Twitter).