Last year during the summer holidays in Mexico City a program called “Summer Job 2011” launched giving young men between the ages of 14 and 24 years of age $800 pesos per month for working on city improvement projects.
More than 2,000 young people worked on improving public green spaces in the Mexican capital with reforestation, parks clean-up, pruning, planting vegetable plots and maintenance and sanitation projects in forests and green areas.
Whether motivated by an environmental social conscious or by the prospect of making some extra bucks over summer vacation, for nine weeks these guys, along with the local government, worked hard to beautify the capital city.
Recently in this blog we talked about the responsibility of the general public to live an ecologically sustainable lifestyle and participate in conservation projects. Puerto Vallarta doesn’t need more complaints or finger-pointing or soapbox lecturing on government waste past or present. What the city needs are people taking real action to start solving real problems.
For example, the Lazaro Cardenas Community Garden Neighborhood Committee here in Puerto Vallarta recently met up on a Sunday to clean-up and maintain Lazaro Cardenas Park by collecting garbage, planting shrubs and watering the gardens.
Without fanfare, these ordinary citizens made the effort to organize and take action to improve the environment in a small part of the city, which should be an inspiration to everyone to consider the importance of public green spaces in Vallarta not only for the enjoyment of residents but for the impression the city makes as a tourist designation.
Jorge Chavez is a Senior Editor Mijo! Brands of Mexico.
Click here to read more about current trends.
