Launched in 2014, Yo Cuido Mi Playa – or ‘I Take Care of My Beach,’ is an initiative of Mexico’s National Association of Plastics Industries (ANIPAC), designed to grow awareness for the effects of ocean pollution on the marine environment and help clean up Mexico’s beaches. The inaugural clean up effort was so successful, we are now expanding the program to Cancún, Los Cabos, Manzanillo, Veracruz and Acapulco.
According to ANIPAC, 80% of the ocean’s marine litter comes from land. To help address this problem, the project was launched in the Pacific resort of Zihuatanejo where large containers were distributed to its beaches. Tourists and beach goers were encouraged to separate and dispose of their waste in these containers. Banners and posters were strewn across hotel lobbies and restaurants in support of this initiative.
The program was designed by a Michoacan-based organization made up two dozen of Mexico’s biggest plastic bag and packaging manufacturers. The association president states that the program avoided a half ton of waste from entering the Pacific every day it was in operation. The municipal government of Zihuatanejo has since adopted the initiative on a permanent basis.
[Read: Mexico’s Plastics Industry Backs Effort to Clean Up Beaches]
