The King’s Green Pad

On a recent vacation to Mexico, my husband and I took an excursion to an eco-reserve, one of the few places left in Mexico where the hotel industry has not gobbled up the beautiful coastline. Driving in a convoy of jeeps, we had tour guides explaining the ecology of the area as we stopped to observe things.

For the first time, I understood what a Mangrove Tree was, and the importance of it to the beach-front areas. Mangroves live in the saltwater of the ocean, on the edge of land and in shallow water. They stretch all along the warm climate areas from the middle of South America to California and are very important to the preservation of the land in the midst of strong winds or hurricanes. Their criss-crossing roots allow them to bounce and hold deep in the face of such storms – and the hurricane season has stretched to six months of the year now. Where there are no mangrove trees, the hurricanes pick up all the sand from one resort and dump it twenty miles away. The resort then trucks it all back again. And again. I mean, the reason we go to Mexico is mainly for the beaches, right?

The mangrove also works as a filter for the salt water. It drinks the salt water and filters it for fresh and sweats the excess salt back into the ocean. It is one of the few plants that survives in salt water. Their root system also provide a great breeding ground for clams and mussels, and a place for egrets, eagles, pelicans, and a host of other birds to nest. These trees are essential to the ecological system but are being stripped away for a “better view of the ocean” in an area where tourism is the only industry.

Another thing that struck me during the eco tour was the condition of the natural beaches. At our resort, there was beautiful white sand to greet us every morning, with some seaweed. Here in the eco park, where there isn’t someone grooming the beach each morning, there was enormous swaths of garbage that was washing up from the ocean. Plastic containers, coke cans, plastic rings, and other garbage.

The tour guide explained that groups of 20 people or more will come in and clean it up and it would look pristine for one day – and then the next day it would be back to the same condition. Why? Container ships and other vessels have to pay a tax on the weight of the garbage they bring into port, so instead they tie up in a bundle and sink it before reaching port. Curious fish nibble at it and release the bindings and the garbage floats ashore. It made me wonder just how much garbage was actually being dumped into the ocean daily around the globe, and exactly how polluted our oceans were. I believe that the garbage tax issue could be resolved by hiding the tax in the fuel costs of the container ships and other such exploiters, which they have to purchase anyways. But exactly how do you convince another country’s government to change this policy? At this point I feel like all I can do is control my own actions.

As a sailing captain who takes land-locked, nervous people out for week-long cruises, I always challenge people to see how little water they can use during the cruise (boats can only hold so much drinking water). But now I am feeling very conscious of garbage and how much is ending up where it should not. I think we will now challenge people to see how little of “disposable” items they can use and ask them to consider what happens to their garbage and wastes. I think it is easy to forget the oceans when living in the middle of the Prairies, but we all have a role in getting the goods we demand to our shores and into our homes. We are all connected and all responsible. Just like the mangrove trees holding onto the coastline.

P.S. The youtube video “The Story of Stuff” does a great job of explaining where things come from and where it goes when we throw it out. Take a look!