Volunteer Teacher Wanted!

In an effort to support the Carbonera School, Lapa Rios Ecolodge is looking for an enthusiastic and adventurous volunteer to help as a teacher's assistant. Ideally, this volunteer would be interested in sustainable development and environmental education, and would be responsible for helping with daily classes and, whenever possible, English and/or environmental education classes with students ages seven to fourteen. A truly unique opportunity to work in the rainforest and make a significant contribution to the local community!

For more information, please write to Millay Kogan, sustainability coordinator, at sustainable@laparios.com .

Lapa Rios Begins Work with Biodiesel

In an effort to support alternative fuels and energy, Lapa Rios has begun to purchase biodiesel from Energias Biodegradable, one of the first bio-diesel producers in Costa Rica. Bio-diesel, a diesel-equivalent processed fuel derived from biological sources such as vegetable oil, has much lower carbon emissions than traditional diesel fuel (approximately 75%) and is thus a much cleaner-burning fuel source. When derived from sustainable sources such as recycled kitchen grease, it can truly make a positive environmental impact; in fact, Lapa Rios has started to donate all of its own used kitchen oil to this project!

With assistance from Corporacion Font, Lapa Rios has retrofitted its generators so that bio-diesel may be introduced to the motor. The biodiesel must be introduced slowly to the system to allow the motor to adjust to the change, thus Lapa Rios has started with a 5% biodiesel, 95% diesel blend. The plan, however, is to slowly increase the biodiesel to diesel ratio. Within three months, Lapa Rios plans to achieve approximately 60% biodiesel and 40% diesel in its generator alone.

Additionally, Lapa Rios has begun introduce a 30% biodiesel blend into its pick-up trucks and vehicles for transporting guests. This too will improve its current state of carbon emissions and thus lower its ecological footprint as well.

Lapa Rios is very excited to pioneer the use of biodiesel in Costa Rica and the hospitality industry as a whole and hopes to not only lower its own carbon emissions but to also influence others as well.

Grupo Jaguares Visits Lapa Rios

El Grupo de Jaguares, an ecological student club from Drakes Bay organized by Fundacion Corcovado, visited Lapa Rios on Saturday, August 11 for a day of sustainability education. Fifteen students ages 6 to 12 took a three hour taxi ride to spend a day at Lapa Rios learning about our current sustainability programs, including our biodigestor, solar panels, and much much more. While the afternoon ended on a rainy note (which prohibited the students from hiking to our nearby waterfall), the students had a fun and educational day and promised to communicate all of the information that they learned with friends, family and other tourism operations in Drake´s Bay.