Mexico Joins the Effort to Combat Plastic Pollution

In the restaurants and stores of Oaxaca City, anuncios could be seen everywhere instructing customers to do one thing: ditch the plastic. At a restaurant, the sign said in big letters sin popotes, or “without straws” in efforts to inform the public that they proudly do not provide straws in their drinks in efforts to combat plastic pollution. At the Tree of Tule, the ticket counter signs say di no a las bolsas de plástico which translates to “say no to plastic bags”. At a local pharmacy, a similar sign was on the table counter that told customers that they did not supply plastic bags.

This sign at a buffet roughly translates to “No straws, please”

I was curious about these signs and asked around to find out more information. From what I was told, there are campañas, or campaigns, throughout the country of Mexico in efforts to combat plastic pollution. While many cities are adopting this campaign to ditch the single-use plastic bags and straws, others are leading in enforcing policies to ban these single-use plastics in their cities, such as Tijuana and Mexico City.

The signs by the tree of Tule encourage visitors to say no to plastic bags

Mexico seems to be one of many countries on the bandwagon to end the use of single-use plastics in efforts to preserve and protect the environment. Since my visit to Mexico last year, I’m so pleased to see this initiative and will continue to follow their journey!