Vale and I are cycling from Tulum to Punta Allen going through the Sian Kaan biosphere reserve. We were a bit concerned because we were told the road was in very bad condition and we were going to destroy Spaghetti -our tandem bike-.
We went through the strict rules when entering the reserve, like absolutely not leaving any garbage behind. As you can see in the video half way through we found an empty beach that looked Instagram like except that it was full of plastic. Clearly it comes from other areas, some have identified plastic products that are normally sold in Brazil. That said, the problem is now right in this region -and the world-.
This video is a call for everyone to think -before consumption- about what are we going to do with that water bottle, straw, q-tip, etc.
We contacted a high level government employee and he commented that recently, in all the state of Quintana Roo, a new law was passed that forbids the distribution of short life plastic products like straws and grocery bags.
For sure this is a step forward, but big companies like Coca-Cola are reaching every single town, no mater how small it is, to sell their plastic bottle products. To this we were answered that the companies themselves are picking up their trash.
We certainly can confirm that the law is in place because you can’t find plastic bags, straws, etc, only biodegradable if anything. However, as we ride around the Peninsula, we are yet to find a Coca-Cola truck picking up after their own junk.
This was an amazing trip anyway where we also got to see dolphins and turtles right in the reserve. Hope you can get to do it someday.
Be sure to turn on the close caption and select English subtitles when you play the video. The main language is Spanish-Italian.