Costa Rica is a popular destination, in 1993 “tourism became Costa Rica’s principal export .
. . surpassing bananas” and has remained so for the most part (Jones 34). There
has been a concentrated effort to promote and capitalized on green energy and
ecotourism, “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment
and improves the well-being of local people” (Jones 2). In 2016 Costa Rica was
national news when they announce their ability to “produce 98% of its electricity
without oil” (Fendt). However, as with most things, “all that glitters is not
green” and the desire to expand and capitalize on their image has had several negative
results (Fendt).
In recent years, there has been an increase in demand for oil
that parallels the “explosive growth in private vehicles” and “even the most
ecologically sensitive international tourists still arrive by air” affecting
not only pollution but undermining the efforts to decrease dependability on fossil
fuels (Fendt; Jones 39). In addition, Costa Rica is experiencing adverse
effects on the native ecosystems and human populations from excessive pesticide
runoff into rivers and ground water from the banana and plantain farms (Polidoro
5983). There is also resistance and a lack of interest from many entrepreneurs
only looking to capitalize resulting in an abundance of “‘greenwashing,’ or
making false, opportunistic claims of environmental benefits” (Jones 37).
Sadly,
Costa Rica’s efforts to increase and accommodate the flooding interest in their
country, has not reached levels of quality sustainability. Although they are
known for their ecofriendly practices and tourism, there is still a desperate need
for improvement that requires Costa Rica to fully align their touted beliefs
with their every day practices.
One of the most valuable aspects of UC Davis Campus is the progressive
thinking of many students. There is a true desire to see fundamental and
radical changes to our broken patriarchal institutions, systems, and society. For our
particular project, we have chosen to focus on empowering the female students
at UC Davis. Thus, it is important to not exploit the personal and individual
experiences of women on campus. It is critical that we ensure inclusion for groups
that experience marginalization in context with dating violence and sexual harassment,
too often the emphasis is placed on cisgender, heterosexual, and predominately white
females. We should not assume that we can understand the feelings, emotions,
and distinctive experiences of every single female on campus. It would be
negligent of us to infer that we know the status of each student’s personal
safety or their individual needs. Which is why Femme Fam leaves the decision up
to each individual to asset their own needs and to merely provide an inclusive tool that
they can choose, or not, to utilize.
Lastly, Femme Fam has
chosen to not exploit the very real and traumatic fear of sexual assault and
violence for monetary gains. We therefore are committed to find creative ways
to provide the application gratis. Femme Fam will not be a revenue based
company. Our ultimate goal is not to make money, but attempt to make a measurable
difference that reflects each unique experience of females at UC Davis.
“Esencial
Costa Rica” The Costarican News. 4
September 2017. Digital Image.
Fendt,
Lindsay. “All That Glitters Is Not Green: Costa Rica's Renewables Conceal
Dependence on Oil.” The
Guardian,
Guardian News and Media, 5 Jan. 2017
Jones, Geoffrey, and Andrew Spadafora. "Entrepreneurs
and the Co-Creation of Ecotourism in Costa Rica." Harvard Business
School Working Paper, No. 16-136, June 2016.
Polidoro,
Beth, and A. Morra. “An Ecological Risk Assessment of Pesticides and Fish Kills
in the Sixaola Watershed, Costa Rica.” Environmental Science and Pollution Research, vol. 23, no. 6, 2016, pp.
5983–5991.
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