Litter
Posted by Vicki (La Manzanilla Hermosa) on December 11, 2017, 9:42 pm
One of La Manzanilla Hermosa's goals is to help make Bahía de Tenacatita the most plastic-free bay in the world. In pursuit of this goal, we are recruiting & supporting litter patrol volunteers & plan to purchase & strategically place public waste cans. When I first visited La Manzanilla in Dec 1980, the beach was a blanket of paper litter after Christmas week & there was no organized effort to remove it. Since then, plastics replaced paper (alas!). Many huge plastic piles were on & near the beach when I moved here in 2008. Now, no piles are on the beach & fewer are on streets. Previously, Summer storms returned huge amounts of plastic to the beach & it decreases each year. The GOOD news is that people litter less each year & most people remove their wastes from the beach. Also, most businesses & households clean litter adjacent to their property. Litter Patrol Volunteers Many volunteers remove litter from the beach, streets & arroyo on their own schedules & routes. Since 2008, I volunteered 2,050 hours & collected 15,275 gallons from the beach & several fishing nets, 1,032 gallons from the streets & arroyo, & recycled 4,126 plastic bottles. I know other volunteers' contributions are also considerable. It has a profound impact if volunteers adopt a block or more. Some neighborhoods continue to have a lot of litter (particularly adjacent to unoccupied property), which is regrettable, because litter tends to encourage more. During the rainy season, litter from the streets, arroyo & lagoon flows into the bay & much of it ends up on the beach. La Manzanilla Hermosa established a litter grabber lending library at Abarrotes Fani (on Maria Asunción across from the casino). You can ask to borrow a "pinza por la basura" & write your name, email or phone, & when you plan to return it on the check-out form. A grabber & bucket are extremely efficient. Most businesses are happy to let volunteers empty litter in their waste cans. It is polite to ask the first time. Public Waste Can Project In future, we hope there will be less litter to collect. To help make that happen, La Manzanilla Hermosa plans to place as many public waste cans as funds allow & where they are most needed by March 2019. I am donating $3,000 USD/year until the ideal number of cans are placed. We hope to provide an opportunity for others to donate to the project. The project is in its feasibility stage, which involves ensuring La Huerta will empty the cans. We believe the ideal number of waste cans is an average of two per block in the lowlands & none on the beach or hill. The first priority is to place cans near beach entrances & locations that tourism buses park. They will also be placed wherever a business wants, if it sponsors a can. Individuals, including students & artists, will be recruited to help prepare the cans, which will convey a positive message. We intend for the cans to be aesthetically appealing, dog resistant & durable. La Manzanilla Hermosa's public waste cans will not be placed on the beach for a number of reasons: 1. We want the beach to be as natural as possible, 2. It is difficult to empty cans on the beach, 3. The chance of overflowing cans is likely, 4. Most people already deposit wastes in cans & dumpsters after they leave the beach & 5. More cans near beach entrances should encourage more people to remove their wastes from the beach. How People Can Help Currently, La Manzanilla Hermosa's Litter Subcommittee consists of ten litter patrol volunteers & everyone is welcome to join in the fun, on their own schedules & routes. It is very gratifying. The subcommittee consists of three members & we hope others will join to assist with planning & implementing the public waste can project. Please contact me at mercer.vicki@gmail.com if you would like to be a litter patrol volunteer or subcommittee member. Thank you for assisting La Manzanilla Hermosa as we pursue our goal to help make Bahía de Tenacatita the most plastic-free bay in the world! ¡Sí, se puede! Sincerely, Vicki Mercer Lead, Litter Subcommittee La Manzanilla Hermosa Limpia y Sana, Orgullo de México (Clean & Healthy, Pride of Mexico) | ------------------------Re: Litter
Posted by Sally on December 12, 2017, 8:38 am, in reply to "Litter"
Thank you, Vicki. A well organized and doable project. Let me know what I can do to help. I provided my contact info at the Casa Luz film the other evening. | ------------------------Re: Litter
Posted by jill on December 12, 2017, 9:55 am, in reply to "Litter"
San Pancho, north of Sayulita, has a thriving recycle program. One of their successful ideas was to make wire (like chicken wire fence?) cans that are just for cans & bottles. I think having it see-thru discourages miss-use. I saw them everywhere full of plastic bottles. And they're not unsightly. The guy who was explaining all to me at the community center/recycle ctr was very friendly, enthusiastic & spoke English. I'm sure he would welcome any questions or visits. Put me on your list for litter patrol.. | ------------------------Re: Litter
Posted by beccistarr on January 8, 2018, 9:19 am, in reply to "Re: Litter"
We have people at our Boca end of the beach who pick up trash on a daily basis and we have a dumpster across from the camp ground that is constantly full. As for recycle I’m curious where does that go and who picks it up??? | ------------------------Re: Litter
Posted by Vicki (La Manzanilla Hermosa) on January 8, 2018, 10:21 pm, in reply to "Re: Litter"
I am very heartened to learn there are dedicated litter patrollers at that end of the beach! La Huerta is responsible for the garbage dumpsters. If there is a recycling bag in the vicinity, I think Recicladora Tenacatita empties it when someone calls to say it is full. Their business is located in Agua Caliente Viejo. La Manzanilla Hermosa's Recycling subcommittee took a field trip to talk with them in October & I attached a picture. They said a truck retrieves plastics from their location & other recycling centers & delivers it to a facility near Guadalajara. We were glad to learn that it was NOT destined for China. Apparently, businesses in Mexico are actually remanufacturing plastic. Recicladora Tenacatita recycles many other things. Most are gleaned at the regional landfill near Tenacatita by people scrambling to make an income & willing to work in an extremely funky environment. Materials they glean include cardboard, mixed paper, plastics, batteries, aluminum, tin. They separate it from mixed waste at the landfill & Recicladora Tenacatita pays them & returns the materials to their center. Recicladora Tenacatita hopes to collect glass this year (perhaps by May). They think they have a market but need to prepare a space to store it until trucks can deliver it thereto. La Manzanilla Hermosa hopes to encourage La Huerta to collect mixed recyclables so less contamination occurs & more can be recycled. Ultimately, we hope gleaners do not have to work in such a funky environment. It is a work-in-progress. I hope my reply is responsive to your question.
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Posted by Vicki (La Manzanilla Hermosa) on January 7, 2018, 11:18 pm, in reply to "Litter"
I am bumping up this message for people who might have missed it before. Also, I want to report that I had my most exciting litter patrol on the beach before sunset on January 1. There were still many people on the beach & it was the end of an extremely high-impact tourism week. There was VERY little litter on the beach. Three dumpsters on Lazaro Cardenas were overflowing. In the last 10 years, I have observed that people litter less each year. Also, I know volunteer litter patrollers' efforts are making an extremely positive impact. What I witnessed on January 1 was the most profound evidence of progress that I have ever experienced vis-à-vis litter on our beach. I am extremely jazzed about it. I know of 15 litter patrol volunteers. No one reports unless they want to do so (and nobody does). Does not matter to me. Any litter that anyone picks up is a good thing. Today, a friend told me he recently witnessed people cleaning the crucero at the highway. A few days ago, I noticed it & Lazaro Cardenas to the highway was indeed very free of litter. Does anyone know if there is an organized effort to make it so? As is it January, I want to provide my own litter patrol report for 2017. I was aided & abetted by my wonderful part-time neighbor Patricia when she was here in October. I miss you, mi compañera! Including Patricia's efforts, in 2017 we patrolled for 131 hours, removed 495 gallons of garbage from the beach & 317 gallons from the streets & recycled 457 plastic bottles (from the beach & streets). I would have done more, but had personal issues to otherwise attend to from Feb-May. I will patrol for litter on the streets until Easter, because I know that many of you are patrolling the beach prior to that time. Thank you so much for doing so!
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Posted by sue oriley on January 8, 2018, 10:10 pm, in reply to "Re: Litter"
Last year out paddling we noticed trash in the bay and along neighboring shores, this year I came prepared with large laundry mesh bags to gather whatever we found, yet in the past week and half, I have seen virtually no trash in this bay or along the coastline south of us. A great surprise! | ------------------------Re: Litter
Posted by Vicki (La Manzanilla Hermosa) on January 8, 2018, 11:03 pm, in reply to "Re: Litter"
I am so glad to know that! A wonderful surprise indeed. I think Bahía de Tenacatita will soon be the most plastic-free bay in the world. I am confident we can all help make that happen. And then others will hopefully compete to make their bays as plastic-free too. Empowered by volunteers, a mighty force indeed. It is so important to enable the fish, whales, turtles & birds to be freed from our plastic crap that is killing them now. It isn't fair, or smart on our part. I think we are capable of doing so much better. I strive to be an optimist, but must admit it is not always easy being green (to quote Kermit the Frog)!
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Posted by Red on January 9, 2018, 6:52 am, in reply to "Litter"
Vicki, where do we take plastic bottles for recycle? There is a constant supply of trash of which a large percentage is usually bottles here in the north end neighborhood. After the dozens of tourist busses leave there is always a ton of trash to deal with, knowing some could recycle would help lessen the pain of having to clean up after the slobs. When you begin placing trash cans please consider the recently paved streets on the north side. Many folks may think this paving was to benefit the residents, my current thoughts are they wanted to expand the parking lot for busses to include this whole neighborhood. Tourism is good for a few, the impacts degrade life for many! A better balance is needed and reducing the trash could help a lot. Thanks for your efforts, remember us home owners who are forced to clean up after visitors just to maintain sanity. Rojo | ------------------------Re: Litter
Posted by Vicki (La Manzanilla Hermosa) on January 9, 2018, 12:52 pm, in reply to "Re: Litter"
Red, I am providing a link about recycling that I posted in July. http://members5.boardhost.com/lamanzanilla/msg/1499027197.html Soon, La Manzanilla Hermosa will post more up-to-date information about recycling in La Manzanilla. There is a lot of information to share. Thanks for removing the litter!! I certainly empathize with you. I live on Maria Asuncion near the casino & buses often park on the block. To maintain my sanity, I look at is an easy opportunity to patrol & look forward to when there is less!! I am also encouraged because the situation improves each year. The first priority for the public waste cans project will be near beach entrances & where buses park. Hope that helps your situation.
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Posted by Norma on January 9, 2018, 2:28 pm, in reply to "Re: Litter"
Since Coca Cola and other plastic bottles are the origin of the problem, I suggest collecting them and giving them back to them in huge bundles. | ------------------------
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