War on Plastic: Community Striving for Sustainable 2024 Recycle Program
Tara A. Spears
In a perfect world, humans would reduce their consumption of resources, show respect for wildlife by taking care of all species and they would be mindful of maintaining a healthy environment. In a perfect world, governments would support the efforts of the people by funding programs that benefit both the people and safeguard animals and nurture the environment.
There is a true need to protect the planet, for without a healthy ecosystem we truly cannot survive. As a tourist destination, Jaltemba Bay experiences more pollution pressure than many other small residential communities. The natural beauty that attracts the thousands of visitors is in danger of being choked by the excessive litter of single use plastic left behind. The health of our slice of paradise is threatened by the toxic runoff of an overloaded landfill and heaps of plastic on the beach, on the streets, everywhere one looks. Is paradise lost?
The reality is bleak: the residents are making the effort to change their lifestyle to reduce consumption and set aside plastics and aluminum to be recycled, thus easing pressure on the overloaded municipal trash dump, only to be frustrated that the recycled items are not collected. The children are being educated in school to help the environment creating a new generation of pro-recycling citizens. However, the efforts of the citizens to set aside items for recycling are ending up in the landfill because the government is not participating. It was private citizens that initiated the recycling movement in JB and it is once again falling on the shoulders of the residents to finance Plan B of the recycling effort. While many are discouraged, there is still hope to address the plastic pollution issue.
Local resident, Pedro M. Meza Curiel, has stepped up to try to provide a recycling service that will collect plastic and aluminum. Pedro is refining the details to implement a program that will keep the plastic out of the ocean and landfill. His ‘Plan B’-due to the lack of government funding- is to begin a subscription collection of plastic on a pilot basis throughout the communities of Jaltemba Bay.
Humph, you grumble, always more money…. Well, yes, it does cost to operate a recycling initiative. “The current price to dispose of used plastic is 2 pesos for one kilo of plastic,” explained Pedro. “The only place that has a conversion plant to take the plastic, melt it down and make a new product is in Guadalajara.” The reality is that it takes 986 kilos of crushed and packed plastic to buy one tank of gas! JB is a very large physical area and driving up and down each street to collect recyclables uses fuel.
At this time, Pedro Meza is focusing on two key components to develop a successful plastic recycling program: generating enough money to be sustainable; creating routes and consistent pick-up to prevent pollution of the ocean and neighborhoods. It is vital that plastic collection is constant and continuous in order for the citizens to develop the recycle habit and to minimize gas expenses required to continue this important program.
Pedro was born and raised in La Penita, so he cares about the community. “I see the town dirty from plastic and it hurts my heart. I don’t want my children to not see the beauty of the beach because of all the litter.” It is his commitment to making things better that motivates Pedro to keep trying to ease the plastic pollution problem. Caring about the community is also why there are regular volunteer beach clean ups- doesn’t matter what language you speak if you love the ocean and Jaltemba Bay. Residents of all ages collect the used cast- off plastics- but then the effort stalls. It costs money to have someone collect from all the individuals and to bundle the entire communities’ used plastic to be transported out of the area. One of the largest challenges to sustainability and protecting the planet is that comes with an expense.
Think of it this way: for just the price of a beverage out you can make the Jaltemba Bay Recycling Program sustainable. The ‘best practice’ option is to subscribe with Pedro for the monthly residential collection. He conserves gas by being able to organize his pickups instead of driving to town A, B, C each day for a small return. By knowing when your plastic collection is scheduled, you can easily store your used plastic in large cans at your house. This plan saves fuel and keeps the plastic off the streets yet only costs a small fee. Win, win, win!
The choices we make in our everyday lives have the capacity to drive real, significant change. Let’s all pull together to protect beautiful Jaltemba Bay from being ruined by plastic pollution. Prioritize recycling by texting our neighbor, Pedro Meza, for residential or commercial plastic collection. The sustainability of his service will greatly impact our environment. It’s a simple choice: “Look after our planet, and it will look after us, or don’t and face the consequences” – Phil Harding
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