So they say jet travel is one of the worst things for global warming. Well I did it anyway, and it was so worth it cause it is cold in Silverton. I do not take it lightly however to up and jet off half way around the world. It has to be a special mission, in this case I flew to Costa Rica, to see how the people of the tropical world live. And boy did it put life in perspective. It made me feel lucky that there are still places that are cool enough for it to snow, and it made me a lot more thankful for each and every cup of coffee I drink cause there are some folks working long hot days in snaky fields to bring us the beans.
The most important thing I goat out of the trip was the importance of fairness. The world is not entirely fair and it probably won't ever be but we are lucky enough to be in a position to choose with our dollars how we support trade with these fine neighbors of ours. I believe this makes a difference in other peoples lives and comes back to us. For example I met a man in Nicaragua who was buying wood, hard wood. He chose to pay a little more for his wood to purchase material that had been felled in a hurricane and was ethically harvested and the soil replanted afterwards. This gives credibility to the governments certification program and promotes laws to protect these rain forests for generations to come. These forests are the lungs of our earth and are responsible for filtering out and sequestering the carbon dioxide I emitted on my flight. Which brings it right back to benefitting ourselves in the form of global cooling when we buy ethically harvested hard wood or fair trade coffee!
To do my small part, I will continue to offer human powered recreation of a quality just as exotic as a tour to a far off place, and will offer discounts to guests who carpool. Fill up the car and the whole car gets free premium service. Which includes a photo CD of yourself surfing the white wave, and fair trade certified chocolate!
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