Basura, basura, basura! It seems to be the most-mentioned topic nowadays by the media and people in general. It’s as if we don’t know what to do to solve the problem of the careless disposal of our waste.

Creating laws the municipal authorities themselves don’t observe hasn’t worked. And carrying out clean-up campaigns only leaves the participants with a short-lived satisfaction, because they know the place will be just as dirty the following week.

Yes, cleaning up the median along the Sabalo Cerritos Avenue worked - but only because it was closed to the public afterwards. Does this mean all public areas we want to keep clean must remain off-limits to Mazatlecos because we’re so uneducated and have such bad habits? No, not at all. The solution is simple, if only the local authorities would put some energy into it.

In the ‘70s, the Malecon was the only street that would be swept everyday. In those days Mazatlan was living in the euphoria of a new tourist boom and nothing was more important than the image of the city: “The municipal government must keep the Malecon clean, what will the tourist think?”

In the meantime, the dusty and sewage-covered streets of the low-income neighborhoods were not worthy of such cleaning. It was very clear there were two Mazatlans, and more so, that the problems affecting one sector of the population had no relationship to the others.

With the arrival of plastic bags and containers more than 30 years ago, the landscape of Mexico changed forever. The man-nature relationship was broken, and there was no awareness of the impact our consumer habits would have on the environment. Unfortunately, it seems that’s where we still are today.

Our ancestors, the Mexicas (Aztecs) had a Goddess named Tlazoltéotl (Diosa de la Basura) in charge of cleaning all filth. The Aztecs would clean their homes, streets, temples and patios as scrupulously as they would clean their bodies.

There was a celebration where a general sweeping was compulsory. From the Templo Mayor to the most humble hut would be dusted and washed. It is said that the Mexican custom of sweeping one’s house front in the early hours of the morning comes from that old tradition.

The Mexico of today is in conflict with our past. The consumer habits of modern life may have caught us unprepared, but it is never too late to change. And in this case, the solution is simple: anyone can learn to dispose of their trash or recycle responsibly.

Mexicans are by nature individualist, which unfortunately has led us to a dirty, dead-end street. The narrow focus of seeking the personal and family “well-being,” as if it were a small group isolated from the rest of society, is leading us to disaster. We need to understand this behavior acts against our own and the collective well-being of all of us, at present and in the future. And we must begin to change it now.

We need to shift from isolation to interaction, in order to build a more human, healthy and fair Mazatlan. Local authorities blame the citizens for dumping their garbage in storm canals, streets and estuaries. And citizens and tourists alike expect somebody else to take responsibility for the garbage problem. Everyone can see what a serious problem it is - yet always the finger points elsewhere. There is always the hope that somebody else will do the work, anyone but us.

But the figures don’t lie: Every single day, 350 tons of solid waste is generated in the “Pearl of the Pacific.” The open-sky waste landfill (basurón) is 10 hectares long. It can only grow up to 20 more hectares. There is no municipal waste separation or recycling program in Mazatlan other than the one implemented by the environmental group, “Separado no es Basura.” Why?

The municipal authorities must implement permanent educational campaigns to make people shift from awareness to action. Weekend campaigns to collect garbage left in public roads or unauthorized dumping sites doesn’t work in the long-run – or even in the short-run, as people go back to their same habits of dumping trash the very next day.

Their real job as government officials is to educate us and to provide us with a waste management program that complies with current environmental legislation (and Agenda 21); to place more garbage containers in all city sections, not only the Malecon; to encourage, support and reward recycling efforts; and to train the traffic and preventive police so they’re aware of the law and can ticket those who litter or dump trash or construction debris in public places. And, they should assist municipalities who want to build a proper sanitary landfill - federal funds are available - a must for a tourist destination developing as fast as Mazatlan.

Some of you may remember that by the mid-‘70s, Mazatlan saw a decline in tourism while other destinations such as Cancun blossomed. We had not solved the basic problem of sewage, water and garbage collection deficiencies then. Thirty-some years have passed, and we’re still waiting. How much longer will it take?

Martha B. Armenta is a founder and director of the Mazatlan wildlife and environmental education association, Conrehabit, A.C. A former language teacher at the Universidad Autonoma de Sinaloa, Martha was also a faculty member and teacher in Phoenix, Arizona.