Like their compatriots from the Southern Zone months earlier, businesses, consumers and environmentalists in Playa Nosara, in the northwest province of Guanacaste, are objecting to Coca-Cola distributors bringing them only plastic bottles, instead of glass.
Hotel owners, restaurateurs, supermarkets and residents recently signed a letter to Coca-Cola Femsa S.A., the company that bottles and distributes Coca-Cola in Costa Rica, saying they are disturbed by the switch from glass to plastic.
“If you go to one of the beautiful beaches of this beautiful country, you will often observe plastic bottles tossed everywhere, while you will never find as many glass bottles,” states the letter, signed by more than 60 people including Roberta Jones, president of the Nosara Civic Association.
The letter signers also complain they have no way to get paid the ¢100 ($0.20) deposit for the glass bottles they still have in their possession.The y suggest Coca-Cola offer a deposit for plastic bottles, so that people have a financial incentive for returning the bottles instead of throwing them away or littering.
In September, residents and business owners of the Southern Zone initiated a boycott of Coca-Cola Femsa products also because they objected to the company’s decision to deliver them only plastic bottles. Restaurants and hotels switched to Pepsi products (TT, Sept.9, 2005).
Coca-Cola Femsa officials responded to the boycott saying the change was meant to facilitate shipping, and said recycling efforts are under way.
