My Commitment
We global citizens are responsible for our impact on the environment including the waste we leave behind after vacationing or living in a foreign country. I have created a non-profit, Naturalist Adventures, Ltd. which is addressing trash generated by tourists (mostly American) in the Yucatan, specifically the Maya Riviera, in the state of Quintana Roo.

This project focuses on glass; wine, beer, alcohol bottles. Quintana Roo does not have an infra-structure for recycling, so glass goes to the landfill. Crushing glass reduces the volume of trash headed to the landfill by up to 75%, saves money merchants pay to have their trash hauled, creates raw materials for resale, provides opportunities for new, small businesses, and reduces landfill toxins which percolate down through the karst bedrock and pollute their drinking water.

Demonstrations of the crusher in high traffic areas inspires guilt-ridden tourists to contribute to the cost of providing glass crushers for that area, community, or village and educates the local people in recycling philosophy and business opportunities.

The glass crusher creates potential cottage industries, including 1) collection of glass from merchants and community, 2) operating and repairing the crusher (after proper safety training), and 3) marketing and sales of the recycled glass for aggregate, sandblasting abrasive, road underlayment, building fill, glassphalt, tile and brick manufacture, landscaping, water filtration media, and trinkets for tourists who will not only pay for them but also take them out of Quintana Roo.

The absence of glass in landfills benefits the environment by reducing the space needed for landfills, by protecting the groundwater from associated toxins, and by preserving the jungle in pristine condition.

I’m looking for members to join Naturalist Adventures, Ltd, (Spanish speakers encouraged), and other Partners with expertise in 1) waste management (to expand the project to the next level; all of the tourist hot spots in the Yucatan peninsula), 2) metal fabrication (making crushers from salvage from landfill/junkyards), 3) lobbying and policymaking (must speak Spanish), 4) eco-tourism (working vacations for Americans), 5) micro-loans (for the cottage industries), and 6) fundraising (this all takes money).