Day 5,
Beginning with an early start, 545am, we hit the road to our new destination. Today we were going to be exploring one of the worlds most prestigous argicultural universities, Earth University. After a grueling 3hr bus ride across the mountainous plains of Costa Rica we finally arrived. As we pulled up to the entrance, it seemed that the only transportation being used were bicycles (we would eventually learn, students were prohibited from using cars on campus). We were greeted by our tour guide, Victor. Victor explained to us a little about the university and how it operates. One of the most extrordinary details that he shared with us was that Earth was the only Carbo-neutral facilities in Costa Rica, which, as a country, plans to be 100% Carbo-neutral by 2021. Carbo neutral is when a facility absorbs more carbon dioxide through the growing of trees and plants to cancel out the harmful waste given off by air conditioning, cars, gas emisions, and other harmful products. Once Victor explained the university and its features, we were ready to begin our tour.
Earth university first started off with 60 students and only a few professors, but now there are about 400 students and about 60 professors. Earth university is a very prestigous school when it comes to agricluture, and only accepts about 100 students every year. These students come from all over the world like Jamaica, Kenya, Europe, and a few are from America. Earth univervisty has a such a diverse amount of plants and animals. We only got to try a few plants they have to offer like the sugar cane, panamanio, cacau and tangerines. We visited a medicinal garden and the "Peri-Urban garden" which highlighted the common, everyday recycling materials used in growing vegetables and herbs. Walking thoughout the horizizontal, and vertical plant areas we discovered they did not use pesticides or any spray that would harm the environment. This allows the plants to be organical and have a natural flavor. The reason for the vertical planting was to allow for easy accces to the plants without injuring the back. This is a new invention that helps the elderly and the injured plant with effinciency. Earth University was a great experience for all of us, and gave us a great insight into how we can all contribute to and support sustainable farming methods.
Love,
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