Paula Soto Fournier from Green Solutions is about as nice a person as you can meet. Her formal training is extremely different from her current job as she has a degree in engineering… However, in 2012 she decided to follow her heart and open Green Solutions, an environmentally friendly line of products many households, businesses, and hotels in Nosara currently prefer to use because of the environmental impact.
As you will hear in this episode she adores Nosara and is trying to make the world a better place with her company. In this episode Paula advises us on which products we need to stop using immediately and discusses her surfing advancements, likes and dislikes about Nosara, her company’s vision and direction, and of course her favorite Nosara restaurants.
I hope you enjoy this episode with Paula and recommend looking into Green Solutions.
Green Solutions — What it is, how it started in 2012, and why the distribution model exists: one eco-friendly supplier for hotels, restaurants, and homes across Costa Rica.
Paula’s background — Industrial engineer from San José, came to Nosara on vacation, worked at Harmony, and built a company around something she actually believes in.
Why bleach and detergents are dangerous — Bleach kills good bacteria, destroys septic systems, and poisons the ocean food chain. Phosphate detergents grow algae that kills coral. Both need to go.
The price objection — High-concentration products mean you dilute them. The real cost per use is lower than people think. Free staff training included.
Nosara as a market — The community here is unusually willing to pay for quality and sustainability. Paula considers it the best environment she’s found in Costa Rica for what she sells.
The growth curve — Eight years building the business, two years watching the mindset finally shift. Plastic straws, plastic bags, bleach — people are done with them.
Surfing — Weekend surfer, recently upgraded to a Merrick, hitting turns for the first time. Favorite waves: Asturies and Kepis.
Nosara food scene — Olivia, Burgers and Beers, Peppino’s. The secret casado at Peppino’s gets a special mention.
What’s next — Expanding into organic food, bringing eco-packaging prices down, and tightening logistics before scaling further.
Episode Transcript: Paula Soto
00:32 – From San José to Nosara – Paula’s Origin Story
Rich Burnam (Rich): Paula, you’re in — thanks for coming.
Paula Soto (Paula): Thank you very much for inviting me.
Rich: I’m happy to have you here. You are the owner of Green Solutions — introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your history.
Paula: I’m from San José, from the west side. I went to school there and then to university — UCR.
Rich: So you’re going to tell us your story today and a little about what you guys are up to. Thanks for stopping by — I know you have a busy schedule, shooting all around Costa Rica.
Paula: The company goes all around Costa Rica, but I love Nosara, so I only come here myself. Since I was a little kid I always loved nature — water, taking care of plants, all of it. At university I didn’t study anything related; I’m an industrial engineer. But I came here on vacation, fell in love with the place, decided to work at Harmony for a while, and then I started the company. I always came back to Nosara and started sourcing products here. We have other vendors who go all around — Jacó, Puerto Viejo, Tamarindo, San Carlos.
Rich: I’ve seen the trucks in different cities throughout the country.
Paula: Yeah, exactly. I’m the owner, so I have other things to manage, but I love Nosara and I love my clients here — I don’t want to hand that route off to anyone else.
Rich: That’s pretty smart. Good for you.
02:12 – Surfing Progress and Favorite Waves on the Pacific
Rich: I hope no one comes and steals your route. And I have to say something about your surfing — I watched you drop into a wave recently and do a cutback. I’ve never seen you surf that well.
Paula: I’ve been practicing. I work hard during the week and surf on the weekends. I won’t say I’m living for surfing — I don’t want to jinx it — but it’s been growing and I’ve been feeling really great. I also changed my board. I went from a longboard to a Merrick, which has a rocker system that generates a lot of velocity when you pump. It’s been working really well.
Rich: And the fact that you split your time between San José and Nosara keeps you sharp. You come in fresh after a week away, you’re feeling confident, and that’s why you’re hitting the lip and doing turns. Congratulations.
Paula: Thank you.
Rich: Wave-wise, what are your favorites on the Pacific coast?
Paula: I have a few, but the wave that has given me the most happiness in my life is Asturies — it’s a really good one. Also Kepis, which we surfed a couple of weeks ago when those big swells came through. It’s not always on — you need the right swell — but when it hits, it’s amazing.
Rich: What a different place Kepis is compared to Nosara. Is there anything on the coast that’s even remotely similar to Nosara?
Paula: No, I don’t think so. It’s pretty particular here. Maybe Santa Teresa is the closest — you’re away from everything, it’s hard to get to, so the people who come are the ones who really love nature. The road in is similarly brutal. But even that’s a stretch. There’s really no other Nosara on the Pacific coast.
04:47 – What Paula Loves — and Doesn’t Love — About Nosara
Rich: You’ve talked about how much you love Nosara, so now I have to ask — what do you dislike? What’s the challenge?
Paula: The roads and the dust. That’s the worst. For us it’s really bad. I know the roads are what gets us the business — we’re needed out here — but every time we drive back to San José we have to do maintenance on the truck because of the road conditions. That part is genuinely rough.
Rich: Roads — completely makes sense. What else?
Paula: It’s not that I hate it, but it’s a curious thing — everybody speaks in English here. I’m almost speaking in English myself right now.
Rich: Of course — you are! You’re the owner of Green Solutions, you have a great route here. How did you first fall in love with Nosara?
Paula: I came here with four friends from university during a long break — three months off. We decided to come, we loved it so much, and then all our friends started coming. I can honestly say that almost all of my best friends now live here — except me. I brought everyone and then I left.
Rich: You brought everyone here and they were smarter than you.
Paula: Exactly — they stayed.
06:16 – Why Green Solutions Is a Perfect Fit for Nosara
Rich: It seems like your company is a perfect fit for Nosara.
Paula: It’s great here. I’m really thankful to the Nosara community because people here are genuinely open to it. They’re not overly price-sensitive in the way you find in other parts of the country — where someone will say “it’s 200 colones more, forget it.” Here it’s different. People will pay what it takes to take care of what they love and what they live on.
Rich: So people here are willing to pay a bit more for something they feel is good for the environment or good for themselves. Your products are a step up in quality from the average store cleaner, and you’re saying the Nosara market gets that.
Paula: And it’s not even that expensive when you do a real comparison. If you know how to use the products and dilute them properly, the quality is so much better and they last longer. It actually evens out.
07:35 – The History of Green Solutions and How It Started
Rich: Walk us through what you do — what type of products do you sell?
Paula: Let me start from the history of the company. When I started, there were some small producers making soaps and little eco-friendly things, and then there were hotels and restaurants that wanted to go green but had to track down every single product separately — different prices, different suppliers, a real headache. The supply chain was the problem. That’s when we decided to create a company that distributes only eco-friendly products under one roof.
Rich: What year was that?
Paula: 2012. I had a degree in industrial engineering, I’d done time at Harmony, and I said — let’s do this.
Rich: That’s a pretty big step.
Paula: It was really hard. I was working part-time with my dad on a low salary and I just decided to go for it. I didn’t have much money. I just started working, working, working. And my friend Mariju — she’s always been incredible to me. She gave me a place to stay, and friends would let me crash with them too. She’s been one of my biggest supporters from the beginning. She loves the company and she tells everyone about it.
Rich: Let’s give a shoutout to Mariju — because I’ve heard you talk about your company and she genuinely sends people your way.
Paula: I love her. She’s been the best for everything in my life, really. And all my friends started promoting the products early on, and that’s how we got going.
09:25 – The Full Product Line — From Cleaning to Food
Rich: So what do you actually carry now?
Paula: We’ve grown a lot. It’s funny — people call us and say “I want my friend’s company,” because word travels. We carry cleaning products, paper products — paper towels, toilet paper — and also takeaway containers: clamshells, cups, all of that. We have healthcare too: repellents, shampoos, conditioners. And now we’re getting into food. People care more and more about what goes into their bodies, so we’re adding beverages, milk substitutes, organic and gluten-free items, organic ketchup — that kind of thing. We also have garden products so people can grow organic food at home, and natural repellents you can use instead of chemicals for mosquitoes and bugs.
Rich: So basically everything from cleaning your kitchen and bathroom to going to the beach and then feeding yourself.
Paula: Exactly. One supplier, everything covered.
Rich: Is being a distributor rather than a producer the right model for you?
Paula: Yes — that’s the key. We don’t produce; we distribute. Especially for hotels and restaurants, having one supplier who covers everything is a huge relief. Otherwise you’re calling one person for paper, another for cleaning products, another for shampoo. It’s exhausting.
Rich: Can a regular homeowner buy directly from you, or do they need to find you in a store?
Paula: Both. They can go to greensolutionscr.com and order online — that’s the easiest way. Or they can call us directly. We also supply different supermarkets and stores, so you can find some of our products on shelves too.
12:10 – Why Bleach and Detergents Are the Enemy
Rich: What products really bother you — the ones you just can’t stand because you have something so much better?
Paula: Definitely bleach. Bleach is the worst.
Rich: Why?
Paula: Because it kills everything. Bleach kills all bacteria and organisms — good and bad. And that’s the problem, because nature makes everything for a reason. There are good bacteria and microorganisms that help septic tanks function, that help with grease processing, that keep the whole system moving. When you kill those with bleach, your septic system starts having problems. You feel like everything is clean, but you’re just resetting the clock. It’s a never-ending cycle.
Rich: And the environmental side?
Paula: Everything goes to the ocean eventually. Bleach kills microorganisms that are at the base of the food chain. When you wipe out those foundational organisms, everything else above them starts dying too. So bleach — for your house, for your health, for the planet — nothing about it is good. Get it out of your life.
Rich: What else?
Paula: Detergents. The base of most conventional detergents is phosphates, and phosphates cause algae to grow in the soil, in the rivers, in the ocean. It kills coral. It chokes out life in the rivers — when a river is contaminated you can literally see the algae on the surface. That’s all phosphates.
Rich: So the detergent tears up the land, and as it reaches the water it creates algae and destroys coral.
Paula: Yes. And those things are in every home, everywhere.
15:02 – The Green Solutions Alternative — Biodegradable Disinfectants
Paula: With disinfectants, most conventional ones contain ammonia. We use a formula that is ammonia-free — it meets FDA standards for biodegradable systems. That’s actually where the name Green Solutions comes from: we have solutions, and they’re green.
Rich: I love that. And if you could get everyone off bleach and conventional detergents, that would be a huge thing — for you and for the world.
Paula: Especially for the world. That’s what I love about this work. Of course we need to make money — we need to eat — but I love that I’m doing something more. I’m not working just to work. I work because I love it, and because I want to change people’s minds. It’s not just about the money.
16:13 – What’s Next — New Products and Lower Prices
Rich: What’s next for you guys?
Paula: We’re looking for new products — organic things you can’t easily find here. And we’re also working hard to bring prices down on containers, cups, takeaway packaging. I know they’re expensive and that’s a real barrier. We operate on a fair trade policy — the cost is what it is when you want higher quality — but we’re genuinely trying to find ways to make eco-friendly options more accessible to more people.
17:16 – The Biggest Objection — Price — and How to Answer It
Rich: What’s the biggest objection you hear when you’re trying to get a hotel or a household to switch to your products?
Paula: Price. Definitely price. But here’s the thing — if you know how to use the products, price is actually not the issue it seems to be. Our cleaning products are high concentration. You dilute them, you use a small amount, and they perform better than what you were using before. When you factor that in, the cost per use comes down significantly.
Rich: So a diluted version of your product is still outperforming conventional bleach, and the real cost is lower than people think.
Paula: Exactly. And I spend a lot of my day explaining this. We even do free training sessions — I just came from Sámara to do one for the cleaning staff at a hotel. Whenever a hotel or restaurant wants their team to understand biodegradable products — how to dilute them, why they’re better for the environment, why they’re better for their own health and their hands and their breathing — we do that for free. With pleasure.
Rich: That’s great. The culture of a business starts at the top, but it lives with the people doing the work every day.
19:34 – The Growth Curve — Eight Years Building, Two Years Exploding
Rich: It seems like now is a very good time to be in this business. The awareness curve is just starting to really take off.
Paula: It’s amazing to watch. We started eight years ago, and for six of those years I was out there explaining the same things we’re talking about right now. But the last two years have been totally different. People are getting it. They genuinely don’t want the plastic straws, they don’t want the plastic bags. The mindset is shifting. I’ve seen more mental change in the last two years than in the first six combined.
Rich: I think part of what’s happening is that social media, for all its problems — and I think it’s a cancer for gossip in a small town like this — might actually be what saves the planet. Because the message is dripping in constantly. We all heard about recycling as kids, but then we were also told recycling doesn’t really work. Now information is actually connecting people across the world. Someone in China is connected to someone in Africa, connected to someone in Europe. This knowledge is permeating. And I think that’s what you’re seeing in your business — people said no a hundred times, and then on the hundred and first time, they did it.
Paula: Yes. And the kids now are the ones educating the parents. This is the first generation being taught this stuff while they’re young. That changes everything.
Rich: I think we should celebrate a little bit.
Paula: I agree. We’ve been doing the work for a long time — not just me, the whole community. Nosara has been fighting for this. It’s good timing, and I’m glad it’s happening.
23:23 – Growing Pains — Managing Deliveries Across Costa Rica
Rich: The company is growing. What does that look like from the inside? Any growing pains?
Paula: There are. Deliveries are the main challenge. Getting around Costa Rica isn’t always easy — between the roads and the trucks, we always have something to deal with on the logistics side. And we’ve had some issues with our electronic invoicing system — factura electrónica — which makes clients understandably frustrated when the receipt doesn’t come through properly.
Rich: Sounds like you’re about to make a big push on infrastructure.
Paula: We are. And honestly, our focus right now is not on growing faster — it’s on doing the current business better. It’s hard when more orders are available and you want to take them, but discipline matters more right now. We want to have a solid foundation before we scale.
Rich: That’s smart and hard to do at the same time. Congratulations on the discipline — it’ll serve you well.
24:46 – Paula’s Favorite Restaurants in Nosara
Rich: You come to Nosara a lot and you know this place well. What are your three favorite restaurants and what do you order?
Paula: That’s a hard one. I love Olivia so much — the pizzas. I get the prosciutto with arugula, but I swap the cheese for hummus. That’s my move.
Rich: Nice. What else?
Paula: Burgers and Beers for the classic burger. I don’t eat red meat, so I go for their fish sandwich, which is amazing. But have you tried the Love Burger? It’s completely vegan and it’s incredible — it’s from Sámara and they just opened a location here. The best plant-based burger I’ve had.
Rich: So for a real burger, Burgers and Beers. For a next-level hippie burger, Love Burger. Both are the best at what they do.
Paula: Exactly. And then Peppino’s. It’s one of my best stops here. I love their focaccia with shrimp and pesto — they have a whole section of things without cheese, which as an Italian restaurant is pretty impressive. But actually — do you know about the secret item at Peppino’s?
Rich: The casado! Jessie Sheffield pointed that out to me. It’s huge, it’s great, and you always end up taking half home.
Paula: Always. That’s the one.
26:57 – Final Thoughts — A Thank You to the Nosara Community
Rich: Before we go — any shoutouts or a message you’d like to get out to the community?
Paula: I just want to say thank you to Nosara for the way they’ve welcomed us as a company. The mindset here — the social awareness, the openness to doing things better — it’s the best environment I’ve found anywhere. Thank you for welcoming me and our products.
Rich: That’s a great message to end on. Thanks for coming in, Paula — best wishes to you and Green Solutions, and it was great to hear your story.
Paula: Thank you so much for having me.
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