While here, I've seen and worked at San Anton's recycling center. It's almost completely independent of the government (which claims now to be helping) and sells independently to corporations.
The people who run it consider themselves against the private garbage collectors and their landfill (see "Dirty Politics" post for details) their way of resisting is to provide alternatives.
It's probably among the things that have most inspired me here. In spite of the environmental problems I see around me, people are making efforts to deal with them.
And, it's easy to forget that the problem of garbage disposal is coming about as a result of U.S. buisinesses promoting disposable items here. If anything I think that some Mexicans here are at times ahead of us by being "behind" us.
Gathering rainwater is a necessity. Urban agriculture isn't just "gardens" for the concerned rich, it's people raising chickens in their own lawns. You can still get Coke bottles refilled here at many "Abarrotes" and restaurants. Some people even collect water in a bucket during showers to use for their lawns, rather than using sprinklers (a good choice given water shortages). Sidewalks are on both sides of the street. The list goes on and on.
I almost fell into the trap of complaining about every environmental problem we have here, and that list goes on and on too. If I do that, I'll try to be sure to backdate it before this post, or at least link to it. The developing world may at times appear mad "backwards." In reality they are often more "forwards" than the developed world. I'm glad to be studying here.
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