Stepping into the finals for the first time in the club's history, after fighting off appeals from the defending champions, Liberia Mía scored its first goal in the 57th minute to win the National Championship First Division soccer tournament.

Liberia Mía, which draws most of its players from the northwestern Guanacaste province, followed its first goal with two more, sweeping their opponents, Club Sport Herediano, in a 3-0 game.

But the Tuesday night final wasn't just historic for Liberia. It was also a historic game for Costa Rica.

It's been 23 years since a team outside of the Central Valley won the trophy; the first team to accomplish this was Puntarenas in 1986. But Liberia's success is also significant because it marked the first time in the national soccer league's history that a National Championship First Division soccer game was cancelled as a result of an appeal, according to the National Union of Soccer's (UNAFUT) press office.

Hours before Liberia and Herediano arrived at the field for the first of two final soccer games, officials with UNAFUT suspended the game due to an appeal by Deportivo Saprissa, a long-dominant club in Costa Rica.

Saprissa, which lost to Liberia in the semifinal, alleged three players on the Liberia team played in the match against Saprissa with five yellow cards, which is prohibited under regulations.

After initially suspending the match, UNAFUT permitted it, fining Liberia not for the yellow cards, but for failing to wear the UNAFUT logo on their jerseys. The fine was ¢57,000, or about $100.

Liberia met Herediano on Sunday on their Guanacaste home field, with the game ending in a 0-0 tie. The championship remained scoreless until early in the second half of Tuesday's game, when Liberia player Michael Umaña scored off a penalty kick. Minutes later Walter Chéves tucked the ball into the right corner, making the game 2-0. Esteban Sirias sank the final goal in the 79th minute on one-on-one against the Heredia keeper.

Faced with the worst economic crisis since World War II, many businesses are tightening their belts with last-resort measures to stay afloat. But some companies are seeking smarter, more sustainable investments in the hopes of eventually lightening their expense budgets, and becoming kinder to the environment in the process.

About 150 people gathered Wednesday at the Hotel Ramada Plaza Herradura in Escazú, west of San José, for the region's first conference centered on sustainable tourism and businesses. The Central American Congress of Sustainable Tourism and Corporate Social Responsibility was organized in part by the National Tourism Chamber as well as leading conservation organizations such as Rainforest Alliance.

“Companies that have been on this boat for a while acknowledge that the reason they stay on board is because they have been able to identify where the waste sources are, target them and take action and reduce expenses,” Ronald Sanabria, vice president of sustainable tourism with Rainforest Alliance, told The Tico Times.

Long-term money-saving mechanisms will be key, he says, for the survival of businesses facing tough times. The National Chamber of Tourism (CANATUR) estimates that first-quarter tourist arrivals declined about 11 percent below the number of arrivals during the same period in 2008. Belt-tightening and layoffs have ensued.

“This is not the time to (throw in) the towel, but actually the time to take advantage of the investments you've already made in your company to make it more sustainable in line with trends in the marketplace,” Sanabria says.

See the May 29 print or PDF edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

The Osa Municipality announced a new solid waste service Wednesday that will start in June. The service, which is coordinated by the local government's Environmental Management Unit, will increase the number of residents in the Southern Zone region who receive waste collection from 10,000 to 22,000.

The municipality added collection routes through Dominical, Coronado, Ojochal, Tres Ríos, Playa Hermosa, Punta Mala, San Buenaventura, Tinoco, Barrio Canada and Ciudadela Janeth Pacheco. Municipal officials will visit each neighborhood in the coming days to inform the residents of the new service.

“The arrival of this initiative to new points of the canton represents a step forward in the hard work in development by the people at the Environmental Management Unit,” said Alberto Cole, the mayor of Osa.

In addition to the new waste collection service, the municipality will offer recycling and waste management workshops in an effort to decrease the amount of waste each community produces.

The municipality is also pushing for the purchase of a trash compactor for the Tres Ríos primary school, where schoolchildren have been learning about better waste practices like recycling.

Costa Ricans gathered in various points around the country Wednesday to support a more active lifestyle, as they exercised in recognition of the International Challenge Day.

In its fourth year of promotion in San José, there were at least 20 other Costa Rican cities, and an equal number of other countries participating, said Reynaldo Fernández, the athletic director for the San José Sports Committee.

“More than anything, it's a symbol of the importance of physical activity and to eliminate sedentary lifestyles,” said Fernández. “Our promoters, throughout all of May, were in different offices and schools promoting the day and promoting activity.”

The day is centered out of Sao Paolo, Brazil, and brought out close to 22,000 people from San José last year to exercise for at least 15 minutes throughout the day, Fernández said.

Groups of people gathered throughout the city, beginning at 8:30 a.m., to participate in activities ranging from water aerobics to basketball.

At the Plaza González Víquez, just south of San José central, a pool was full of women following the movements of their water aerobics' instructor just before the rain started to move in – at which point activities were moved inside the gym.

In addition, at least 30 schools hosted their own activities throughout the day, Fernández said.

The day is more of a marker to highlight the committee's longer-term “Vive San José” initiative, which offers similar activities every weekend. It's not about skill or exclusivity, Fernández said. The aim is to get people of all body types, skill sets and ages to start living more active lifestyles.

“It's something everyone should do,” he said.

The committee is also working with several social initiatives to turn kids off the streets and into healthier activities. They recently donated a basketball court in Pavas – just west of San José – to Los Nuevos Pasos, a group that is trying to build a community skateboarding park. The group is waiting for funding from other partners before it begins construction, said its founder Ricardo Argudo.