The day aims to involve more than a thousand people in La Paz and thousands more throughout the state.
La Paz, Baja California Sur.- Authorities from the three levels of government and non-governmental organizations announced a mega beach cleanup day on March 22, which will be carried out simultaneously in the five municipalities of Baja California Sur.
At a press conference held in the area of El Molinito on the boardwalk of La Paz, the organizers reported that the event seeks to clean and transform the state with a focus on environmental conservation and awareness of the problem of waste.
The day is mainly organized by Clean Up BCS and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) with the participation of authorities from the municipalities, the state government, and the federal government, as well as civil associations, companies, schools, and local communities.
In the context of the waste problem in Baja California Sur, the representative of the Ponguinguiola organization, Mayra Gutiérrez, announced that 700 thousand tons of garbage are generated in the state each year, of which 48% are of organic origin, which represents a great waste of food, but also a great potential for use.
He mentioned that 32% of waste is recoverable through recycling and reuse and stressed the importance of changing the perception of garbage for usable waste.
During the meeting with the media, organizers and collaborators mentioned that, as part of the actions and proposals for the solution of the garbage problem in Baja California Sur, the use of organic waste for the land and local agriculture is promoted in projects in which the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur (UABCS) and the Food Bank participate.
Authorities of the City of La Paz mentioned initiatives such as the “zero route” containers, “more than recycling” events, and monthly macro-cleanups throughout the municipality. They are also working on the certification of beaches to ensure their suitability for recreation and the safety of visitors.
Martín Inzunza, director of Fonmar, said that the main pollution problem in Baja California Sur is garbage, and the insular condition of the state makes it doubly dangerous because it goes into the sea.
“We join with pleasure and I think it is a great job, we have to generate the culture of cleanliness, the one that seems to never arrive, but culture is a civilizational change if you want to call it that right now or whatever you want to call it, or of conduct, or of civility, of civility, of civility, of putting the garbage in its place.”
For her part, the delegate of Semarnat in the state, Cristina González, reported that the Government of Mexico, through Semarnat, launched last year, within the framework of World Environment Day, the national strategy for the conservation and cleaning of beaches and coasts with objectives and goals to be achieved by 2030. considering the elimination of 100% of waste on our beaches.
He added that “for Baja California Sur it is a very important goal because we are the state with the largest coastline, so we have a great responsibility to take care of our beaches, to take care of our coasts, and that is not possible without the effort of all citizens.”
When announcing that between 60 and 80% of the waste on beaches is plasticand micro plastics, he highlighted the existing technical standard in Baja California Sur to restrict single-use plastics and the need for its implementation by governments, private initiative, and businesses.
He highlighted the General Law of Circular Economy as a framework to advance in innovation and the use of resources and waste, as well asthe promotion of a program for individuals, organizations, and companies to adopt beaches for cleaning and continuous monitoring.
He emphasized that the cleanup is a mechanism to raise awareness among the population about the impact of garbage in the sea and the importance of changing habits.
Claudia Padilla of Clean UP BCS said that the great cleanup day on March 22 aims to involve the participation of more than a thousand people committed to cleaning, in the municipality of La Paz, and a statewide mobilization throughout the state, from Cabo San Lucas to Guerrero Negro.
“Today we call on Baja California Sur to join this great blue wave not as an isolated act, but as an exercise in awareness, because when the community organizes, when we understand that we are not dreams, but guardians of this territory, we begin to transform the way we live.”
He pointed out that “state cleansing is only the pretext for something much bigger, to form solid communities that defend what we are, our sea, our desert, our identity.”
Source: El Sudcaliforniano
