Travelling to Costa Rica this past
January was a unique and transforming experience for our class. Some had signed up because it involved going
to Costa Rica and others were using it towards their major, but none of us had
a full grasp of what it meant to be sustainable in our everyday lives until
this trip. A common question asked is
“What is sustainability?” A common answer usually has something to do with
going green, saving power, and something about a ‘carbon footprint’ or
‘greenhouse gasses’. In Costa Rica, we
learned that being sustainable is much more than that, and it is much easier
than we think, as long as we put some time into it. 
During our visits to various hotels,
coffee farms, and other sites, our group focused on learning all about the
energy used to power life where we were.
We started off in the HiltonDouble Tree Cariari hotel in San Jose, Costa Rica, where we had our
first look into the Costa Rican reality.
One of the first things that our group noticed was the open air that the
restaurant had, as the front lobby was always open to the parking lot and there
were no walls or doors between the ‘indoor’ areas, such as the dining area,
lobby, and lounge, and the ‘outdoor’ area, which consisted of a patio and pool. This eliminates the need for the hotel to
have temperature controls in its public areas as the temperature is simply
controlled by the weather outside.
Another thing that we had noticed right away was that our lights didn’t
go on by simply turning on the switch.
In order for power to go to the lights, the room key had to be stuck in
the slot on top of the light switch so that the hotel wasn’t wasting
electricity on lights being on when no one was in the room. Lastly, we also noticed that none of the
rooms had a refrigerator in them, which was common in every hotel. While it is normal for a hotel in the US to
include a mini-fridge, in Costa Rica it is seen as a waste of energy, as it is
running all of the time, whether there is someone staying in the room or not
and whether that person is using the appliance or not. Even though some of us viewed this as a
slight inconvenience, we quickly forgot about it and a refrigerator wasn’t even
on our minds by the end of the trip.
Another notable hotel that we stayed
in was the Laguna Lodge
in Tortuguero, a town that can only be accessed by boat. This town is interesting, as it is small,
there are no automobiles, and it relies on the mainland, about a two hour boat
ride, for many resources, such as gasoline, electricity, and waste disposal. However, they are very efficient in using
what they have. First, there are not
many things that 
The last hotel that we stayed in was
La Quinta Sarapiqui,
which has a five leave certification, the highest rating of sustainability in
Costa Rica given by the CST. This comes
at an expensive cost, but it is all worth it when their environmental impact is
considered. One of the things that this
hotel has done is replace every light bulb that they have from the regular,
inefficient bulbs, which cost about USD$0.50 per bulb, to low voltage, energy
saving, more sustainable bulbs, which cost about USD$10.00 per bulb. While this is an expensive cost, it is traded
with the ability to use less energy and have less of an impact on the
environment. In addition, La Quinta
Sarapiqui also has an open-air concept, with a walk-in lobby, pool, dining area,
and even outdoor private patios for each room.
One of the things that the owners were very proud of is their new
biodigestor, which costs about USD$30,000.
It had taken them a long time to acquire, but they are now able to use
this to further their sustainability even more.
They are looking to invest in more sustainable energy in the form of
solar panels in the future, but due to the expense they are unable to fund the
project for a couple of years.
only saving water, but also saving electricity that would be used to run the dishwasher. Finally, we also noticed that many of the coffee farms roasted only a portion of their coffee, as it takes a lot of energy to do so. However, the coffee that they did roast wasn’t done unsustainably; most farms use the unused shells to help fuel the roasters, as to not use a lot of other resources to roast the beans. This not only helps preserve energy, but also makes for better tasting coffee.
Using what we learned in Costa
research, and by doing some outside research, our group has come up with ideas
to help Bryant University become more sustainable. There are some simple suggestions that we
have which include turning off all lights, TVs, computers, and other appliances
and electronic equipment when they are not in use. This will greatly reduce the amount of energy
the university uses, thereby also saving money on utility expenses. In addition, if Bryant students switched from
using disposable plastic bottles to reusable water bottles, not only will it
reduce waste, but the energy that it takes to produce a disposable bottle is 10
times more than the energy it costs to produce a recycled reusable bottle;
changing this habit would not only be cheaper but it would also help reduce the
footprint, not just from Bryant, but from all over. Bryant students, faculty, and staff can help
by spreading this information, asking their friends to start using reusable
bottles, and we will be able to see the production of disposable bottles
decrease and save energy. This is a
small change that Bryant can promote into become a large change in the
community. Some other large changes for
Bryant can include solar, wind, or another feasible type of renewable energy to
power the campus as well as investing in renewable energy for the entire community
of Smithfield.
We also did some research on
Aramark, Bryant’s dining services provider.
While Aramark has many green initiatives, there are ways for the company
to become more sustainable on campus.
First, new equipment in Nick’s Place will help reduce the energy used in
cooking and preparing food throughout the day.
In addition, we have suggested that Aramark split Salmanson Dining Hall
into different lighting zones so that lights can be turned off in sections that
are not being used during slow periods, such as long weekends. Finally, we came up with a big suggestion for
Aramark to make a long-term impact on the school; we suggested that Aramark can
start the process of putting renewable energy on campus by investing in a solar
panel system or other feasible renewable energy source to power the food
service areas. This will really showcase
Aramark’s commitment not only to Bryant, but also to being a responsible and
sustainable company. --Energy Team: Daniel DiNicola, Ethan Agnello, Krysia Syska, and Eaindra Aung
