Ramon’s Weekly Report #8
Advanced Bioregionalism Education
Autumn Session 2007
November 29th, 31st
On Wednesday we met at our weekly spot in the city park. I began by asking what the students know about our topic of recycling and why they think it’s important. The different answers I got were: it reduces pollution and that we can take advantage of reusing materials that most people simply throw out.
But this wasteful practice of dumping could be changed if there was more public information in the city about what can be recycled and how to recycle. There should be enforceable laws that make people recycle. One example of recycling working is the collection and reuse of old paper materials to make a new product: ‘papel reciclado’ (recycled paper – paper products produced by local micro-businesses.) Another is the cardboard recycling program, led by the Municipio, where cardboard is collected and then sold to recyclers.
In conclusion, we decided that recycling is very important because it allows for the recuperation of natural resources. As a result, fewer natural resources need to be exploited. The more recycling of paper that we do, the fewer trees we need to cut down.
On Friday, we paid a visit to the cities recycling center. Among the materials we saw that they were collecting were: aluminum, copper, cardboard and iron.
We asked them where the get all this material and they said that they separate it from the garbage they collect daily in the city. After the recycling center, we went for a walk through Bahia, where we saw a lot of discarded plastics, especially from bottled water. I explained that the students need to become part of the change and only use returnable containers instead of disposable ones.
The students commented that they’ve also seen another recycling center in Leonidas Plaza, where people on triciclos (three wheeled bicycles—used as alternative transportation for people and things) will take iron they collect around the city to sell. After this, we ended the class. I told the students that the following week there would not be class because of the bi-national, workshop seminar at Cerro Blanco y Puerto Hondo in the province of Guayas.
Unfortunately this week’s photos were accidentally erased.
Translated by Clay.
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