Ever wonder why Costa Ricans litter so much? Probably because someone will come behind them and clean it up.. Be it Semana Santa or the Romeria (Holy Pilgrimage). Costa Ricans use these holy events to drop their garbage knowing that someone will arrange a beach clean up or in this case a crew will come and pic up behind them.
Ryosuke Watanabe is an engineer and landscape designer who was seen carrying 20 kilograms of garbage on his back during the “romería.” He was just one of many volunteers from JICA, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, who created a clean up campaign.
They wanted to show how much garbage was left in the street from what was supposed to be a holy event. Some of the pilgrims joined in their cause, helping in the mission of the EcoRomería campaign.
The Ministry of Health and Red Cross thanked the volunteers for their service and vision and also explained to the group where they could leave the trash collected-in the Old Metropolis.
These Japanese volunteers have done similar clean up campaigns at other massive events as well such as the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the Copa América in Brazil that recently finished.
