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Community
Tourism, Nature, Sustainable Development & Recycling
By Carmen Elena Huras
Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo is known to have a remarkable natural beauty – described as exotic – by many.
In order to preserve the natural fauna and native flora of the area, we all, the local community and tourists alike must become respectful of this fundamental resource that is the base of our sustenance. Tourism can be a potentially useful tool for the development and protection of natural ecosystems. With the participation of everyone involved in the various areas of this tourist destination, we could carry out various environmental programs which should be subsidized by the tourist companies that operate here, involving in many different ways the local population in the conservation process, so that we all feel affection and respect for what we have. An important part of the benefits obtained from tourism must be destined to improve the standard of life of the population, especially regarding public services and education. The community must be convinced that eco tourism, (tourism that respects the ecology of the destination), improves its quality of life. If a better economy is one of the main incentives of tourism, then the way this money (and its benefits) is distributed between the communities will define the degree of success of tourism as an instrument of conservation and sustainable development.
On October 8, 2003, the Mexican Federal government issued guidelines regarding the disposal of waste material, GENERAL LAW FOR THE PREVENTION AND INTEGRAL WASTE MANAGEMENT, which can be consulted on the web at www.semarnat.gob.mx.
This law stipulates that we all will have to separate waste into organic and inorganic and everything that cannot be recycled, will have to be deposited in sanitary fillings that fulfill the official norms. Sanctions will be applied to those who throw or burn garbage but also to those who contaminate water, the ground or the air with dangerous substances.
Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo is making forward steps and there is a good possibility to adjust to this new law in a short period, thanks to the pressure that has been exerted by the ecological organizations, SOS Bahía AC (www.sosbahia.org) and EcoIxtapa A.C..
In our community, there exist storage centers where you can take classified garbage for recycling:
- Public Municipal Services located behind the DIF (Desarrollo Integral de la Famalia) on Calle Aquacate, gathers cardboard, PET (plastic bottles) and glass.
- Mr. Antonio Sosa, located next to the Pozolería Teozintle, also gathers cardboard and pays according to weight, but he has a greater interest in ferrous materials. He has his own trucks to gather great volumes of paper, cardboard and scrap iron.
- The organizations: Social Pastoral, EcoIxtapa, the Sister City Committee of Palm Desert CA and Projects Zihua are working on the implementation of a storage center in the Colonia of Cuauhtémoc where you can already drop off cardboard, glass and hard plastic (yogurt, cream, chlorine bottles…). Some furniture samples have already been made that were created from this plastic and the intention is to extend the project to create furniture for public schools with the recycled plastic. Once there are enough funds, a community dining room will be created with money generated by selling the recyclables.
We invite anyone interested in taking care of the environment to get in contact with any of the organizations mentioned and to support campaigns like last year’s Beach Cleaning, which was so successful. Let’s turn Ixtapa - Zihuatanejo into a Sustainable Tourist Destination!
Carmen Elena Huras founded EcoIxtapa A.C. in 1998, a non profit organization focused on waste management. She is also well-known for the Mexican Flavors Cooking Course that she has been offering for 6 years. For more information contact her at: churas@prodigy.net.m
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