By Wensceslao Montemayor
Our purpose cannot only be to clean the cities, but to turn garbage into an input with value for the economy and an asset for society.
It has been widely demonstrated that the main cause of environmental deterioration is the consumerism model we carry. Since we are on the planet, we have been consumers to meet our basic needs, always in balance with nature. But everything changed when the Industrial Revolution arrived and other “needs” arose that came accompanied by a strong transformation and deterioration of the environment. The composition of garbage is proof that we went from a lifestyle where organic products predominated to one of industrialized products. In Latin America we arrive very late to the sustainable management of solid resources. Our purpose cannot only be to clean cities, but to turn garbage into an input with value for the economy and an asset for society. Latin America began to understand that solid waste management should be a priority and has made progress in enacting laws in that direction. However, the photography of the continent in this area is very different, because each country and each city is a whole world. Many things have improved, others have barely moved. The challenges are great. We must learn from countries like Switzerland, which with 52%, is in the first place as the nation that recycles the most in the world. One of the secrets of the success of recycling and garbage collection in Switzerland, is that although recycling is free, the collection of non-recyclable garbage has a cost. Each garbage bag that is collected costs one euro and requires a sticker that proves that this price has been paid. When people dump their unpaid trash, the police and health officials open those bags looking for evidence to take them to the house that did not pay for the collection. They look for payment receipts for services or envelopes with the name and address of the family. The culprits are fined almost $ 11,000. In addition, what cannot be recycled or used as fertilizer is burned in modern incinerators that produce minimal environmental pollution and generate electricity for 250,000 homes, which has substantially reduced oil imports for heating.
In Mexico, the rule of garbage separation has come to help try to educate people, but as it is not a mandatory process and there is no penalty if it is not met, it remains voluntary. It will probably take us a voluntary type process, so that people understand him, that he knows how to separate and keep spreading all this, but if things remain the same, then it would be necessary to say: “If there is no separation, then you keep your trash or it will start to cost you the collection “and impose a penalty on the citizen. The success that a place can achieve with recycling depends on the government and the budget that is invested, but also on the citizen’s disposition and its organizational capacity. Recycling is a culture and the worrying pollution rates make such a culture necessary and mandatory. In Latin America, thousands of daily tons of garbage are produced that could be profitable if we change our mentality and take examples from countries like Switzerland. The environment must be an increasingly important issue for the society in which they live, but especially for children who are the generations that can maintain and guarantee a planet without pollution. Therefore, environmental issues must exist today more than ever in the education of young children, family members, educators and society in general, responsible for instilling the smallest values that lead them to take responsibility and enjoy the environment. We must be aware of the importance of providing role models and criteria for young children from an early age to what is right and wrong, also in relation to the environment. Without doubt, the lack of a role model will always be a bad model. Remember that the example of close people may have more relevance for young people than any other type of education. Let’s teach by example. Let’s take care of our planet.
