By Bryan Jáuregui
When the Todos Santos/Pescadero landfill catches fire, the toxic fumes are often so strong that people take shelter in their homes, keep their children inside and seal their windows with duct tape. Most feel powerless in the face of this threat, but Manuel Salvador Cárdena Moyón, Delegacional Commander of the Todos Santos Fire Department, knows who has the solution. “You have it,” says Commander Cardena. “Every person in this community has the power to reduce the fires at the landfill by their actions. And Alianza Cero Basura BCS is here to help you do it.
Sixty per cent of the waste we produce in Baja California Sur is organic, biodegradable material that comes from living organisms. As Comandante Cárdena explains, at the base of the landfill there are embers 30 to 40 metres deep that are never extinguished and are virtually impossible to eradicate. Therefore, when truckloads of organic garden and kitchen waste are dumped into the landfill, they create pockets of oxygen that are ignited by the embers. “In addition,” the Commander points out, “organic waste generates methane gas as it decomposes, and the embers also ignite these pockets. Many people think that there are arsonists who set fire to the landfill. This is not the case. The organic waste in our community is the cause of the fires, and the only way to prevent them is to dispose of it properly.
Alianza Cero Basura (ACB) has created several community resources to achieve this goal, including an organic waste farm where ACB works to divert at least 30% of the community’s organic waste from landfills to healthy soils and soil products. Created in collaboration with INIFAP (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias), the farm accepts kitchen waste from households and businesses through its rapidly expanding Kitchen Waste Collective programme. It is open to the public for the delivery of kitchen and garden waste every Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
ACB has also established a bilingual Community Resource Centre (https://cerobasurabcs.org/the-community-resource-hub/), a network of resources that offers options for all community members to divert their organic waste from landfills. These include alternative places to dispose of organic waste, as well as entities that will collect it and ensure that it is reused in soil products. The Community Resource Centre also offers detailed information on how to set up your composting programme.
ACB’s school programme is instrumental in generating long-term behavioural change in the community. ACB has implemented organic waste diversion programmes with two public elementary schools: Melitón Albañez and Miguel Hidalgo. These schools are creating compost from their food waste, which they then use to cultivate “school gardens” on their grounds, where fruits and vegetables are grown. This programme will be extended to other schools, creating a community where composting is the norm.
ACB also provides training to local businesses to improve their waste management practices, and in as little as 3 months, companies can divert 50-80% of their waste from landfill to productive uses.
For more information on how you can help prevent landfill fires by diverting your organic waste at home and work, contact ACB at comunidad@cerobasurabcs.org.
