This post is also available in: Español
Biol. José Guadalupe García Hernández
Professor at the “Pablo Livas” Industrial and Technical High School, UANL.
Currently we have major environmental problems, one of them being the increase in solid waste in cities, as well as its inappropriate management, which critically compromises the health of society and the environment. The culture of sustainability is an area of opportunity that must be addressed to mitigate this problem that affects the image of cities, soil, water and air pollution in ecosystems.
Education is the indicated tool that allows addressing these problems through the actions of students, such as proper management of solid waste and environmental culture; In this context, since 2019 the Eco Club Halcones of the “Pablo Livas” Industrial and Technical Preparatory School of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, carries out the dynamic “Throwing the $ in the trash” with the aim of raising awareness among the citizens of the economic expenditure incurred by consuming a PET product and the pollution it generates, a dynamic that has had the participation of more than 150 people in different squares and shopping centers in the metropolitan area.
This year, the activity was carried out on June 22 with a duration of two hours due to the conditions established by the COVID-19 pandemic, in which 20 members of the student association, as well as civil society, participated. The spaces where the series of talks were given was the Plaza Colegio Civil located in the center of Monterrey, Nuevo León and Facilities of the Pablo Livas Unidad Centro High School.
During the development of the activity, various astonished responses were observed by the participating citizens, when they realized the amount of money that is wasted when consuming a bottled product, and the savings they would obtain if they stopped consuming this type of product, They also reflected on the amount of garbage that is generated when consuming this type of product. Some of the comments that the participants made during the activity are the following:
Participant 1: “I never thought I was spending so much money on something that didn’t do me any good.”
Participant 2: “A lot of money, with that I would buy a cell phone.”
Participant 3: “It is a waste of money and we pollute the streets without realizing it, now I know why there is so much garbage in the city.”
Participant 4: “It’s good that you (EcoClub) do this kind of awareness-raising activities.”
Student participation in the university is one of the main strategies that allows the student to acquire a sense of belonging and identification towards the institution as well as developing competencies whose application allows them to be a model and guide for society in general towards the construction of sustainable cities.
We are all part of the shift towards sustainability!
