What to do with your natural tree after the holiday season?
It is necessary to take unwanted natural trees to the collection centers set up by the municipality of Puerto Vallarta due to several key reasons related to the environment, waste management and sustainability.
If trees are thrown away in inappropriate places, such as vacant lots or public roads, they can become solid waste that is not properly managed, contributing to pollution and affecting the aesthetics of the urban environment.
Natural trees can be recycled to become compost, wood chips or organic fertilizer, which are useful for enriching the soil in parks, gardens and green areas of the municipality. This encourages a sustainable ecological cycle and reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.
Dry trees are highly flammable and, if they accumulate in inappropriate places, they can represent a significant risk of fire, especially in dry seasons.
By concentrating the trees in specific points, the municipality can manage their disposal in an orderly manner, optimizing the resources available for their transportation, recycling or reuse.
Enabling collection centers encourages the active participation of citizens in responsible actions with the environment. This habit contributes to creating a more conscious and respectful culture towards natural resources.
Until January 20, the Municipal Government of Puerto Vallarta has arranged that Christmas tree collection points will be enabled in the Agustín Flores Contreras sports complexes (parking spaces on Brasilia Street), La Lija and Alfonso Díaz Santos in La Bobadilla; also in the Parques y Jardines warehouse, located on Jilguero Street No. 164 in the Los Sauces neighborhood, and the green area of the Municipal Public Services offices in La Aurora.
They can also be left in the public plaza of Mojoneras (next to the bathrooms), behind the stage of the main plaza of Las Juntas, in the Community Development Center of El Progreso and behind the Ixtapa market. In this way, these trees can be given an appropriate destination, preventing them from becoming garbage or sources of pollution in the public road.
In some cases, recycled trees are used in local projects, such as ecosystem restoration, creation of natural barriers against erosion, or conditioning of community green areas, which directly benefits the municipality.
Sanitary landfills are not designed to house large volumes of organic waste such as saplings, since these take time to decompose properly in these environments, take up valuable space and can generate gases such as methane.
Poor composting can generate significant amounts of methane gas (CH₄), a greenhouse gas highly harmful to the environment and public health. In the case of composting, the waste is recycled.
In Puerto Vallarta, the risks associated with this phenomenon are particularly worrying due to its warm and humid climate, which favors anaerobic decomposition. Methane has a global warming power 25 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO₂) over a period of 100 years.
The release of this gas increases the carbon footprint of the region, contributing to global warming and climate change, which could aggravate phenomena such as rising sea levels and changes in local weather patterns. Methane is a highly flammable gas.
If it accumulates in confined spaces or in landfills near urban areas, it can cause explosions, especially if it comes into contact with sparks or flames.
This endangers the safety of people in Puerto Vallarta, particularly in densely populated areas. Methane emitted by poor composting can mix with other volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, contributing to the formation of ground-level ozone.
This deteriorates air quality and can cause health problems, such as respiratory diseases, especially in vulnerable people. Although methane is odorless, its formation is often accompanied by the emission of other gases, such as hydrogen sulfide, which generate unpleasant odors.
This can affect the quality of life of residents near poorly managed composting sites or landfills. Poorly managed composting can prevent the production of a quality product, which represents a loss of valuable resources that could be used as fertilizer or organic compost in agricultural projects or restoration of local green areas.
If methane accumulates in the soil instead of being released into the air, it can alter the chemical composition of the soil, damaging its fertility. In addition, this affects local ecosystems, especially in areas near wetlands or nature reserves in Puerto Vallarta.
The generation of methane due to poor composting can collapse local waste management systems, which would have to implement additional measures, such as gas capture systems or infrastructure improvements, to mitigate the effects. This increases operating costs for the municipality.
Prolonged exposure to gases derived from poor composting, such as methane and its companions, can cause health problems in the population, including headaches, nausea and respiratory problems. Communities near poorly managed composting sites are at greater risk.
Recycling trees properly can contribute to the conservation of local biodiversity, by providing materials that help improve the soil or restore ecosystems in Puerto Vallarta and its surroundings.
Taking natural trees to authorized collection centers not only prevents environmental problems, but also converts these wastes into valuable resources, promoting a cleaner and healthier environment for all residents of Puerto Vallarta.