Playa del Carmen in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico was once a small fishing village and gateway to popular dive sites on Cozumel island. Now it is a booming town with more and more permanent residents arriving every day. The change that has been seen over the short years has been astounding. The influx of people and modern commodities has been enormous.
As always with the influx of people is an increase in consumerism and waste. However it seems that the Riviera Maya has a fairly good handle on all things andldquo;greenandrdquo;. Here are few examples
Xcaret, an eco theme park uses biodegradable plates, cups and utensils for their guests and has exceptional conservation efforts for native flora and fauna.
The Ak Luum School built a jungle campus just outside of Playa del Carmen that is self sustained in terms of electricity, water, sewage treatment and waste recycling. They are passing on these valuable lessons to their students
Akumal is home to a conservation center (CEA andndash; Centro Ecologico Akumal). Their main efforts are to ensure the health of the regional environment and monitor the impact of development on the ecosystem. They have a very successful Sea Turtle Protection plan.
Sian Kaandrsquo;an Biosphere is a 1.3 million acre protected area, their ecological center operates using ecologically responsible technologies, including systems for wetland waste management, rainwater collection, and solar and wind energy generation.
Puerto Morelos has a protected national marine park.
Many of the hotels in and around Playa del Carmen have signs up asking their guests to be environmentally conscious by turning lights and air conditioning off when they are not in the room and to preserve water by not requesting fresh sheets and towels every day.
Recycling is also a community concern; the municipal has trucks at the ready in the main Plaza every first Friday of the month to fill up with recyclables. There are bins around town for plastic bottles and cans. Mega (Mexican Supermarket) also has bins in the parking lot to collect recyclables.
All this from a state in Mexico that is no bigger than Rhode Island!
Now it seems that the latest trend is eco-villages; self sustained communities of jungle homes living entirely off-grid and with alternative energy. Why not? The Riviera Maya is sunny 90% of the time if not more; there is plenty of rain, the breeze of the Caribbean Sea is constant, plenty of fruits and vegetables grow easily here, cenotes (fresh water wells) provide clean water, natural building materials and techniques are plentiful and modern conveniences wouldnandrsquo;t be too far away should the need arise!
How neat would it be to go back to living the way people did decades ago but with all of the modern commodities people have grown accustomed to?

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Article Submitted By: Mary Odermatt
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