By nature of the activity cavern or cave divers come in close contact with the jungle. Every day we drive to another beautiful cenote entrance and enjoy our diving activities. What is noted that landowners for diveable cenotes take not always good care of their treasure or do not understand the responsibility they have while dealing with tourism. While it is arguably fruitless to discuss who has to clean the trash out of the jungle, the landowner that earns through entrances fees or the tourist that brought the plastic and other garbage in the first place, it will also not solve the problem.
In many state parks throughout the US that are so huge that guards just cannot clean all traces of the visitors there, they implemented the rule of “take with out out what you brought in”.
There are few very simple steps you can take to help to get our excursion eco-friendly.
- Buy a gallon of drinking water and refill your smaller plastic bottle everyday. Leave the empty water bottle only the last day with me and I take care to dispose it properly. Please note that some people prefer to have sealed bottles for hygienic reasons and therefore, I always will offer new water bottles (of a size that normally one is good for a half day excursion). These used bottles will be recycled as well.
- Softdrinks in cans is what I prefer more than plastic bottles as the metal can be recycled endlessly and has in my opinion a better ecological balance.Get your Coke or Sprite of Iced Tea in a can.
- Alu recycling has been practised for many years already here in Playa del Carmen as micro entrepreneurs collect the cans out of trash cans in the streets every night. You may help them if you put your beverages of last nights get-together in a separate bag on the street or simple ask me for the collection points of the municipal recycling (this does not work in any of the resorts). There is a rudimentary recycling structure already in place in Playa del Carmen and there are several collecting stations throughout the town.
- Use biodegradeable suntan lotion and mosquito repellent. Ask me, I normally have a repellant creme in my car.
- Pick up trash from others – we don’t have to clean the whole place, but it gives a good example and we help others to understand the importance by showing responsibility for nature.
- use rechargeable batteries and if or safety reason you do not want to rely on these, do not dispose used batteries here but take them home.
- Of course, best thing would be to avoid garbage at all.
You will find these small posters on some of the cavern and cave dive sites here in the area. Come diving with me and be part of the solution and not of the problem. A fraction of the profit will be used towards ecologic projects like this.
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