Every Wednesday, all the volunteers in the Puerto Viejo area gather at 9:30am for our weekly beach cleaning. It’s one of my favorite activities, not only because it helps the environment and maintains clean & safe areas, but also because it brings all our volunteers together.

We only work for a couple of hours, because it really is hard work. And now that we’ve been at it for a few months, people from town are noticing — and joining us! I really love to see that. Though, I have to admit, I think the reason they join us is to be closer to the pretty girls. Hey! Whatever works.

We usually start in one area and work our way down the beach and paths that follow the ocean. It’s nice to be out in the sun and having fun at the same time. Each week we try to hit a different area. I’m thinking we’ll put up some signs similar to the adopt-a-highway signs they have in the US, letting people know that the area is being cared for by our group. We’ll also include info on the sign as to how locals can help (when / where).


It’s amazing the kind of crap we find out there: shoes, clothes, millions of straws, plastic bags, bottles, potato chip bags, broken glass, and lots of smelly stuff.

We are separating everything into their appropriate recyclable categories and bringing them to the ATEC office in the middle of town where they have a recycling center. On average we collect about 20 large garbage bags each week. It’s really hard to keep up with the trash!

It’s a bit dangerous at times. Besides the fire ants, broken glass and smelly stuff, we also have to watch out for the poisonous caterpillars. They are colorful, but if they bite you, you’ll get tingly and then lose feeling in your body. It’s happened more than once, and we’ve had to rush the person to the clinic. Thankfully, it’s not dangerous if treated.

Anyone who wants to help is welcome. Or, if you can’t make it, feel free to donate money to buy the volunteers and local folks who help out some water or snacks. It sure makes it more tolerable picking through all this trash when there is something nice waiting for us at the other end!