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BajaBlanca
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Posts: 13237
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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It's trashy
a group called WILDCOAST or COSTASALVAGE is here in town and staying with us.
They are running a 3 day workshop on recycling and waste management that is really interesting.
One thing I learned is that when we mix metals and paper and plastic with organic trash, we create toxic chemicals which sink into the ground, and we
create fumes which pollute the air. I had never heard this before and am frankly, shocked.
I also learned that if we compost organic matter, we cut down trash by 40% right then and there.
LA BOCANA will start 3 composting sites by Wednesday (if all goes well) and I for one will try to get every single citizen to participate. What an
easy solution that we can all easily do to make the world a better place for our kids and grandkids.
I didn't get good pics today but I will tomorrow and the next day !
Next weekend, these folk head to BAHIA ASUNCION where they will hold a full on forum, inviting people from LA BOCANA, PUNTA ABREOJOS, BAY OF LA,
TORTUGAS - they will talk about organic and inorganic separation of trash, reusing and recycling as well as arts and crafts workshops.
Living and learning. the spice of life for me.
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Ateo
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WILDCOAST is great!
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bajachris
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Location: San Diego, San Juanico, San Andres
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Mood: Love Baja
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Burning plastic creates dioxins. This is not a chemical you want to inhale. It is not a good idea to burn plastics. Also don't stand down wind of
any burning trash. A lot of the organic matter, food stuffs can be used to feed farm animals like chickens and pigs provided its fresh. We give our
organic matter to our local farmer. This is not new science. It's probably illegal, but we bring our recyclable trash (plastic, glass and metal) back
to the US to recycle. I just can't stand the thought of that stuff being burned in an open landfill somewhere in Baja.
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redhilltown
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Location: Long Beach, CA
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Good for you BajaChris !!!!
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boe4fun
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Location: Margaritaville
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Mood: Circling the drain........
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Blanca, from your title I was expecting maybe porn. But this is MUCH MUCH better!
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bajalinda
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Posts: 552
Registered: 6-7-2008
Location: Pacific Coast, BCS
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Thanks for that info Blanca. Can you tell us a bit more about this organization? Are they independent? non-profit? governmental? And how did they
happen to show up in La Bocana? Does the community invite them or do they just show up? or what?
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gnukid
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Registered: 7-2-2006
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Compost is worth more than Gold in Baja!
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BajaBlanca
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Location: La Bocana, BCS
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bajalinda: Sofia is here and she said she would love to talk to you about the organization or anything else:
Her email is - Sofia Gomez" <sofia.gomez@wildcoast.net>,
http://www.wildcoast.net is the information on the organization. I know them cause I have always been so concerned with the trash
problem here, so I contacted them years ago when I was in San Diego (They have an office in IB). I did not get a chanc e to meet them at the time,
but this was the start of a great exchange.
I am so glad I went to the workshop yssterday. I now have a brand new understanding of the consequences of not having a compost. I started separating
last night and the amount of organic matter trash is easily over 50% of what we produce, trashwise, in this household. Had you asked me yesterday
morning, I would have guessed maybe maybe 10 to 15 %. Jeeez.
[Edited on 6-19-2012 by BajaBlanca]
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bajalinda
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Posts: 552
Registered: 6-7-2008
Location: Pacific Coast, BCS
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Thanks Blanca! And I have to ask what or where is IB? My brain has not figured that one out.........
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DianaT
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IB is Imperial Beach south of San Diego and just north of the Border --- it is where Serge Dedina lives and he is the founder of Wildcoast --- a very
active and good organization.
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BajaBlanca
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Location: La Bocana, BCS
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Here are some pics from the workshop today which dealt with making art out of "trash"
Here is Sofia, seen from the back, with the company t-shirt:
Here is Adriana who is giving the 3 workshops:
Here is the videographer - Xavier:
Today's workshop involved making arts and crafts, which we did, but here are some pics of creative crafts Adriana showed us:
we saw so many different and amazing reuses for newspaper and magazines and one of the worst offenders: the soda pop plastic bottles which take some
100 years to disintegrate ...
We were also told that in the 50's, companies started to actually make decisions on how long a product should last so that they could create a need.
We were also told that as of the 50's, in the US, the trend was more and more consumerism and this trend also led to increased dissatisfaction with
life in general.
Tomorrow I will post on composting.
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Mulegena
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Registered: 11-7-2006
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Eco-Art, Trashique
Things made beautiful from discards.
Nan, of Bahia Asuncion, makes yard sculptures from metal.
A girlfriend here in Mulege makes a variety wallhangings and home decoration
from pretty shells and broken stuff that washes up on the beaches.
I love it, and am soooo interested in your upcoming post on composting.
Thanks a million. Love this, Blanca.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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mtgoat666
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Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Hot n spicy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaBlanca
We were also told that in the 50's, companies started to actually make decisions on how long a product should last so that they could create a need.
We were also told that as of the 50's, in the US, the trend was more and more consumerism and this trend also led to increased dissatisfaction with
life in general.
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woe is me! i was born after the US declined into state of "dissatisfaction with life in general."  
i like wildcoast, they got a hip approach. seems like a good org for earnest idealistic youth to save the world, hope they don't get disillusioned
and keep up the good fight.
think globally, act locally!! 
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BajaBlanca
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Location: La Bocana, BCS
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think globally and act locally is PERFECT. we each and every one make a huge impact on the environment.
woe is me too .... born in the 50's.
Mulegena - if you can, post some pics of the artwork ?????
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Mulegena
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Shari has posted pix of Nan's yard art some years ago.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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Burbs
Junior Nomad
Posts: 78
Registered: 2-13-2012
Location: Buenaventura B.C.S. Mexico
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Mood: Full Mood
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| Quote: | Originally posted by gnukid
Compost is worth more than Gold in Baja! |
We live on the Mex #1. It seems like there is more old cars(squished) going north than other goods. It might be that Baja #1 export is old squished up
cars. Where is all this old(iron) stuff going?
--I'm going to ask Jose at the recycle place outside of Mulege more about his program and how it is working for him.
-- I feel most gringo's Canadian and Americans really don't care where their trash goes.....they just wave and point about how it looks bad as they
drive by. The ones who live here year around DO CARE!
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BajaBlanca
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Location: La Bocana, BCS
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I think that most Americans and Canadian who come to Baja are concerned with the garbage situation, even if they don't live here .... It takes a
special personality to come to Baja and along with that personality is a certain appreciation for all things very natural. Just my opinion from what I
have observed ....
Regarding composting, I asked Adriana, who will be giving the presentation, about coffee grounds since I had added them to the compost material we are
collecting. She says that not only can used coffee grounds be added to a compost but they can actually be put directly on plants ... they apparently
give the plants a jolt and they grow faster.
makes sense, verdad ?
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Mulegena
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Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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Burbs, glad to see you more active on the board.
Regarding the mashed up cars and big ugly heavy metal stuff heading north: I believe its China-bound via Los Angeles. Somebody chime in here if you
know more than me. A number of years ago I met a young Chicano guy whose family was in the business. He was down here on a busman's holiday, taking a
few days at Punta Chivato before going back to the trade of import/export, I believe he told me.
Actually, I concur with Blanca: I do think tourists are concerned down here, but what can you do but take care of your own trash if you're on vacation
in a foreign country, a rhetorical question; its for the individual to answer.
As a committed Baja full-timer and homebuilder I'm personally concerned with keeping a light ecological footprint and making my life as efficient as
possible.
Good to know about the coffee grinds going direct. I guess they wouldn't attract c-ckroaches (can you imagine an ugly roach on speed?) but they
grounds would make the soil more acidic. I think I'll put them in my barrel-roll composter to aerate the mix.
Anxious to hear a conference report, Blanca. Thanks, Teacher.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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What to compost
http://madbioneer.blogspot.mx/2009/03/what-to-compost.html
Above is the link written by The Mad Bioneer, "MAD BIONEER
SCIENTISTS STUDY THE WORLD TO GATHER KNOWLEDGE. ENGINEERS UTILIZE THIS KNOWLEDGE TO SOLVE PROBLEMS AND CREATE A BETTER WORLD. THIS BLOG IS ABOUT USING
BIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE TO ENGINEER BETTER GARDENS, MORE EFFICIENT SYSTEMS, TASTIER FOODS, AND, WELL, ANYTHING ELSE I CAN THINK OF."
This is a wonderfully candid and simple explanation of what to throw in and how to toss it. I resurrected Blanca's original thread as this pertains to
the generic introduction that she initiated and has been discussed on various threads this week.
Enjoy.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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bajalinda
Senior Nomad
Posts: 552
Registered: 6-7-2008
Location: Pacific Coast, BCS
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OK - here's a question that's been bugging me. If mixing plastic (or paper or metals) with organic trash creates toxic chemicals and fumes that go
into the ground and air, why are the workshop people using a plastic garbage bag to line the compost bin and plastic to cover the hole-in-the-ground
compost bin?
Sorry, I don't mean to rain on your parade here - I'm all for composting too. I guess you need to enclose the composting material with something so
that a certain amount of heat is created, but there must be something other than plastic that you can use. Help me here - am I way off base with this
or spot on?
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