Taking part in activities about environmental culture and sustainable development helped me understand how small actions can make a big difference. Through this experience, I learned the value of caring for nature, promoting sustainability, and realizing that real change starts with our daily choices.
Ricardo Mejia Marquez
On a visit to the Collection Center, I was surprised to see the mount of garbage that arrives daily from nearby communities. I learned how waste is separated by type: plastic, glass, cardboard, and metal. Each worker has a specific function in the whole process, which requires a lot of order and effort. It made me realize the importance of reducing our waste from home.
Brenda Martinez Luna
Trash in Local Streams and Waterfalls
Envision the situation in natural sites like the El Salto Waterfall, where there has been reporting of accumulated open-air garbage and waste dumped directly into the water.
* Water Contamination Point: The improper disposal of municipal solid waste (trash) and, in some cases, the filling of sinkholes or natural areas with tons of waste, which allows leachate (highly contaminating liquids generated when garbage decomposes and is washed by rain) to filter into the soil and nearby water bodies.
* Bad Odors: A strong smell of fermenting and decomposing garbage is noticeable. It is a complex stench that combines:
* Sweet and rancid odor of food scraps and rotting organic matter.
* Sharp and penetrating odor of leachate, a dark liquid that drains from the garbage pile.
* Perception: In the stream or waterfall, besides the visible trash, the water appears murky, oily in some parts, and the smell pollutes the natural environment, strongly contrasting with the freshness it should possess.
Christopher Uxue Martinez Gonzalez
The Drain of the Industrial Zone
Imagine the stretch of a water body or drainage channel near the industrial zone of Atlacomulco. Although there are treatment plants, reports indicate that some discharges continue to be a problem.
* Water Contamination Point: The discharge of untreated or inadequately treated industrial and sanitary wastewater. Historically, the Lerma River in the basin receives severe pollutants, including heavy metals and detergents from these areas.
* Bad Odors: The smell is a pungent, chemical mix:
* Odor of chemicals and solvents: Comes from specific industrial residues.
* Smell of fecal matter and putrefaction: Generated by the overload of organic matter from domestic and industrial sewage, depleting oxygen and releasing gases like hydrogen sulfide (H_2S)—a rotten egg smell—into the channel or river.
* Perception: The water looks foamy, has an abnormal color (gray, ochre, or even shiny from chemicals), and surrounding vegetation may be damaged.
Fernanda Valdez
Leaking Water and Bad Taste in the Domestic Supply
Think of a situation reported by residents, where sewage leakage into the drinking water network is detected.
* Water Contamination Point: Failures in the pipeline infrastructure where pressure or fissures allow black water (fecal matter and sewage) to filter and mix with the water intended for human consumption.
* Bad Odors and Taste: The water coming out of the tap has a clear odor of sewage or a drain and an unpleasant taste. This smell indicates the presence of biological contamination (bacteria like E. coli and other pathogens) and the decomposition of organic matter in the pipe.
* Direct Consequence: Besides the foul smell, this type of contamination poses a high health risk to the population, causing gastrointestinal diseases.
