One of the bad things about Cholula is the practice of burning trash. This is not only done here, but in many places of Mexico as well —and I can only assume in many places in our planet, too. I believe it comes from the custom of burning agriculture waste supposedly as a way to compost the fields. People also do it in a smaller scale in their homes.
In past centuries, this practice was a mere burning of organic waste. But now, in the age of plastics, people do not think it twice before throwing in all kinds of trash. “It’s cultural; it’s been done for centuries”, that’s their excuse. “We need to get rid of the trash”, that’s another one. “Nature also burns down forests; it’s part of nature’s cycle, and we’re just giving her a hand” (!).
This is bad no matter where on the planet this is done, but it’s even worse when they do it in the middle of the city next to residential homes. Many mornings, I have woken up to the smoke of my neighbor’s bonfire. We have gone to talk to them, but they continue to do it, although more sparsely. I now keep my window shut, but the smoke still seeps a bit through the cracks.
Moreover, I live just a couple blocks from a few agricultural fields which are in the middle of the city, just south of the pyramid where it’s prohibited to build since there are many archeological vestiges underneath. So the people in these fields, also burn their waste as if they were in the open country.
I just think it’s sad that we take for granted our breathing. We breathe without thinking, but it is the main thing that keeps us alive —even before water, before food… But let’s keep on burning our trash, so it “disappears”! How long will it take us to notice that we’re just transforming it into the smoke we’re breathing in? Maybe never. The trash will be within our bodies, our brain cells will be dead to comprehend, and maybe we’ll be dead altogether :(
No comments:
Post a Comment