| Majahua Beach Cleanup - February 2003 |
by Huw Lewis
Picture Mexico. What springs to mind? No doubt you have many abiding images of the country: wonderful people, fantastic food, fascinating culture, beautiful beaches? Mountains of trash? It’s a nasty thought but probably in there somewhere. Most, if not all, countries have a problem with trash, but when you’re vacationing on some of the prettiest beaches in the world it seems more in your face somehow. Mexico does have a trash problem. It’s not just the visual impact that’s important however, environmentally it’s disastrous.
The root of the Mexico’s trash problem can be traced to several factors. Although an official infrastructure for the removal and disposal of garbage does exist, it’s basic to say the least, heavily reliant on outdated landfill sites that are close to capacity. These exist mainly to serve large towns, but what of the outlying villages? Until a couple of years ago most trash was burnt, creating toxic fumes and unwanted piles of charred refuse. Now, in a few areas at least, locals have organized trash pickups with the aid of the Ayuntamiento, or local authorities. Effective? Visually perhaps, but as an example of ‘creative’ disposal we can look at Troncones and Majahua. Local resident Mercedes Dorson was instrumental in organizing the existing system, which seemed to be a success until one day she followed the garbage truck out of Majahua; apparently the truck drove a couple of miles out of the village, pulled up to a convenient hillside and let the whole lot go into the woods. Nice.
A more fundamental problem lies in people’s attitudes towards what trash is. There is no formal environmental education program in Mexico, and with few rural kids attending high school it’s obvious that this problem will not be limited to the current generation. Disposable plastic is a relatively new concept in many countries, why not throw it away? That’s what it’s for... The technology itself has inherent flaws, and has literally created mountains of waste. With little to no recycling infrastructure there is no real impetus to separate and dispose of trash responsibly. In the States and Britain, remember, no real trash awareness policy existed until the late sixties, and certainly no social conscience emerged until much later. So what can be done? There are actually many people working away at this problem at the moment. SOS Bahia for example has for many years been campaigning for a cleaner bay in Zihuatanejo. Many individual efforts should be applauded too, for example Ana Scales, local surf champion organized a successful cleanup of Playa Linda with the help of young local surfers and other concerned residents.
As tourists you can also help. Don’t buy plastic bottles, glass is recycled here. Don’t use plastic bags, buy a shopping bag from the market.... basically just pick it up!
One semi ex-pat whose decision to help has evolved into a full term project is Anna Mendham, restaurant manager of Cocina del Sol, at Eden in Troncones. Her inspiration came from an unlikely source; walking back to her house in Majahua on New Year’s Day, she realized “the beach looked as bad as I felt”. Anyone who has walked La Ropa beach on a Sunday evening will sympathize, I’m sure. She decided to organize a cleanup that involved both visitors and locals, and enrolling the help of the Majahua school proved a winner. The kids and teachers were pleased to be out of class for 40 minutes on a Friday morning, and were joined by several visitors and residents. Within minutes the kids’ natural exuberance had turned it into a competition, with 10 large sacks of trash collected. Such was the success that it was decided to expand it to a weekly event and involve an educational aspect, in the classroom, with aspects of art and environmental education. What was surprising was the zeal with which the kids embraced the idea; it seems most shared the common image of pelicans choking on plastic bags, seabirds killed by discarded fishing gear, some had even cut themselves badly on broken glass hidden in the sand.
Majahua school is basic, to say the least. As is common in most small villages here, the teachers have little or no materials to work with, the furniture is shoddy if existent. No running water and a roof that sags desperately. Books stored in orange boxes. A few people have kindly made donations to the school in the past, and Anna hopes to build on their work by providing a longer term project; besides actually picking up trash, the children are being given art materials to design posters to educate and inform both visitors and locals, the best one will be printed onto t-shirts which the school will then sell to raise funds for materials. Fran Garrity, a frequent visitor and teacher for 35 years, attended one of the pickups and was amazed by the paucity of materials and conditions in the school. Fran decided there and then to donate $600 USD. This kind donation was made with a promise to match any further donations up to $1000 USD, an excellent start to what is hoped will become a ongoing fund. With part of this money, a program to provide transportation, uniforms and books for children to attend secondary school in Lagunillas is being set up, normally a major barrier to continuing education in Mexico. Many of the children in the classes are beyond primary school age but their families lack the $300 a year necessary to go further. Anyone wishing to contribute should contact Eva Robbins at Hacienda Eden on 553-2802 for more information. See you at 9.00am Friday morning in Majahua? Out of small acorns....
February 2003
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