{"id":1798,"date":"2015-11-10T07:15:29","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T07:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/?p=1798&lang=en"},"modified":"2015-11-10T07:15:29","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T07:15:29","slug":"the-effects-of-plastic-waste-in-rivers-lakes-and-seas-of-guatemala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/environment\/the-effects-of-plastic-waste-in-rivers-lakes-and-seas-of-guatemala\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"The effects of plastic waste in rivers, lakes and seas of Guatemala"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h1>\n

By Raquel D\u00edaz – Communications student at the university Mesoamericana\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Salam\u00e1 River is the most important in the department of Quetzaltenango. From its origin in Totonicap\u00e1n, it traverses the municipalities of Cantel, El Palmar, San Juan Ostuncalco, Quetzaltenango, Zunil, and San Carlos Sija, to finally penetrate the department of Retalhuleu, where it pours toward the Pacific Ocean. It receives various tributaries, like the Xequijel River where it also receives the River Seco, and the Rivers Chimoral, Xant\u00fan, Juchanep, Paquix, and others. For the length of its path from Xela to the ocean, it takes with it all of the plastic and other trash we toss in the streets or forests of Xela that isn\u2019t absorbed into the earth; what the earth doesn\u2019t swallow, flows sooner or later with the rain to the rivers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Colum Muccio, Administrative Director of the Association for the Rescue and Conservation of Wildlife (ARCAS) Guatemala, affirms that trash, especially plastic, can travel as far as we do. \u201cThe problem of plastic is immense, and it affects all of us\u2026 While the problem of plastic trash is serious on the Pacific coast, it\u2019s catastrophic on the Caribbean coast, where the Motagua River unloads thousands of tons of plastic, which come from as far away as Quich\u00e9 and Alta Verapaz, onto the beaches of Punta de Manabique, and the Guatemalan keys, and the south of Belize. This plastic trash\u2026 stays at the surface of the beach\u2019s sand, remaining buried up to half a meter deep.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Desechos<\/a>
Plastic waste on a beach in Tulate, Guatemala.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This affects ARCAS\u2019 work, \u201cespecially in our efforts to conserve the sea turtle. The plastic that comes from the rivers reaches the beaches and is sometimes ingested by turtles and sea birds. \u201cTurtlesixpack\u201d [photo, opposite page] is a photo from the Internet of an extreme case of a freshwater turtle that was trapped in plastic. Often, when we do autopsies on sea turtles stranded on the beach, in our headquarters in Parque Hawaii [close to Monterrico], we discover that they have a lot of plastic trash in their stomachs. For the lute turtle, a critically endangered species, this is especially dangerous, since they feed themselves almost exclusively with jellyfish and often confuse plastic bags for this food. The bag stays trapped in their intestines, causing death by intestinal blockage.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Regarding the pollution caused by plastic trash in the rivers, EntreMundos asked Nery del Valle, part of the Central Office for the Management of Solid Waste of the City of Quetzaltenango, if the municipality worries about it. He responded, \u201cOf course. But more than anything it\u2019s the lack of consciousness of residents that leads them to throw away their trash in inappropriate places.\u201d He explained that the trash clogs the city\u2019s stormdrains and causes flooding. He confirmed that the lack of recycling in Xela is a problem of a lack of infrastructure; the city has no plant to manage solid waste, and has no plans to build one. \u201cWhat people can do,\u201d he said, \u201cis to separate their organic waste from inorganic waste.\u201d He explained that the city \u201cis doing trials to produce organic fertilizer. It\u2019s not a exactly composting plant, but a structure exists to make one, and in the future that\u2019s what is planned.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Plastic waste is just one example of the contamination that our country\u2019s water faces. It is clear that the degradation of surface and groundwater has become a powerful obstacle for the sustainable advance of Guatemala. Water pollution affects public health, expressed in serious illnesses above all among children, international tourism, water purification, the fishing industry, and other sectors, causing environmental, social, and economic damage that together put a brake on development.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Turtle<\/a>
Turtle trapped in a six-pack. Photo courtesy of ARCAS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Raquel D\u00edaz – Communications student at the university Mesoamericana\u00a0 The Salam\u00e1 River is the most important in the department of Quetzaltenango. From its origin in Totonicap\u00e1n, it traverses the municipalities of Cantel, El Palmar, San Juan Ostuncalco, Quetzaltenango, Zunil, and San Carlos Sija, to finally penetrate the department of Retalhuleu, where it pours toward […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[415,453,419,421],"tags":[560],"class_list":["post-1798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-frontpage-en","category-oceans","category-rivers","tag-guatemala-en"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/tortugas-marinas-bolsas-plastico-oceano_1308-35107.jpg?fit=616%2C469&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ljt7-t0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8573,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/pagetwo-en\/pullman-buses-between-xela-and-guatemala-city\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1798,"position":0},"title":"Pullman Buses between Xela and Guatemala City","author":"Majo Recinos","date":"20 marzo, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"If you are planning a trip to the capital, a comfortable and safe one, you should know about these Pulllman-style bus options with their reasonably priced tickets. 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