Clint Elston, an Outlier Living in Costa Rica: “I Cannot Say Enough About the Friendliness of the Costa Rican People”

Clint Elston is an American with several years of living in Costa Rica and trying to use his knowledge and experience to help the world live in a more sustainable way. No wonder why this country was on his mind when he decided to leave the United States since he thought this could be a great place to develop his interesting inventions.

If you visit his house in Alajuela, you’ll see things that you wouldn’t believe: water recycling systems, domes, composting systems, and smart toilets design. He works every day on his inventions, not only developing them but thinking about ways to put them to the service of humanity as a whole.

Mr. Elston is currently looking for investors for some of his projects, which include toilets that don’t waste water and rainwater recycling systems, among others. He wants to cooperate with other inventors or curious people, and he thinks he’s in the right place to bring his dreams to fruition.

Back in March, he received us in his house to speak about this and the history that tied him to Costa Rica. These are some of the answers to the questions we asked him.

You first came to Costa Rica many years ago. Why did you come back?

I came to Costa Rica in 1980. I was 28 years old. I was here for about two weeks and I fell in love with your country right then. I had a little Honda Civic and traveled along dirt roads. Tamarindo was one hotel: 20 rooms, Hotel Diria. I fell in love with the country then, but I had to go back to the US to get my education and life.

So, returning, living in Colorado for a while, and then my sister and brother-in-law sent me a one-way ticket to Alaska, and I went to Alaska in 1982. My education in composting toilers gave me a job with the National Guard inventing my own composting toilet system, which I then spent 13 years in Alaska putting together.

I returned to Minnesota in 1995 and I tried to bring my technologies then into the country, but they were more interested in septic tanks. So, I came up with a recycling of the greywater system, so I invented that and got two more patents on that. But I tried working in the US and the US likes septic tanks and sewers and they don’t like alternatives, so in 2016 I moved to Costa Rica to start my new life.

Did you come to Costa Rica to retire only, or also to bring your whole life ideas here?

First of all, with the realization that my life had been changed by my technology, I became divorced and as a result of the divorce, I lost my company, my money, my dog… everything. So, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to live and work in the US anymore. With my disability and small social security, I arranged to pack a couple of roller backs and came to Costa Rica. Because I knew from my previous visits before that this is a country with no military that has the environmental ideas that I share.

So, I’m here in Costa Rica, taking the knowledge that I’ve gained with these years of experience, hopefully, to put it to work here in Costa Rica.

How have you felt here during these years?

The First thing that’s difficult for a gringo is to understand the tranquility of Costa Rica. I had the opportunity of living in Mexico City for two years, but the Mexican culture is much different than the Costa Rican culture. Not all Latin America is the same — obviously, it is quite different. Costa Rica is more ‘tranquilo’ than Mexico. All of my friends here are ‘ticos’ and I cannot say enough about the friendliness of the Costa Rican people. I can go on and on and on, but that’s kind of a known thing.

My goal is to bring my knowledge and experiences to Costa Rica. The information that I had I think cannot only help Costa Ricans, it can help the world.

You felt attracted to the country because of our culture around sustainability. Now that you’ve lived here for several years, how do you feel about that? Is it as good as you thought in that sense?

I believe there’s a better chance of change here. My specialty is the toilet. I’m the toilet guy. 96% of the sewage in all Latin America ends up in the river. Sewage plants use a lot of water and are a technology that needs to be changed. I believe Costa Rica, especially because of the topography, it’s impossible to do a pipe system in this country, to begin with. And so decentralization has a better chance as an opportunity.

But your country is dedicated to the environment, but it needs the technology. So, whether you’re a politician or a tree lover, you will need somebody that has the tools, and I have the tools.

And what do you think the government should do to protect the environment?

Governments are good, but I think that they should be more of a referee. They shouldn’t be running the rules and they shouldn’t be in business. They are the world’s worst business people. The business should be run by business.

What inspired you to follow this path in life?

Richard Buckminster Fuller was my inspiration. When he was younger, he had an epiphany. He invented a lot of things and he wasn’t being accepted either. He was ready to commit suicide, but he had an epiphany. He was informed that he was here on the planet to help humanity. At that point, he dedicated his life to help humanity.

His philosophy of humanity changed, so his inventions went to his idea of helping humanity. So he had different kinds of inventions, but the ones he worked on then were the geodesic dome for the housing, and this is the part where I followed in his footsteps by utilizing that idea.

His philosophy was that we are consuming and everybody is fighting over consuming whatever is available. I believe that in my life I have tried to complete his geodesic dome design by working with the toilet and the water system. So I believe now, we can have luck and find the parts and pieces to be able to put it all together.

I feel fortunate to be inspired by this gentleman and taking part of my life to find some answers to some of our problems. I think we can have an answer for low cost housing anywhere in the world with water treatment and sanitation.