September 27th: ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS DAY
Author: Jackeline Brown Brittenham
By environment we understand that it is the environment that surrounds us made up of the environmental matrices water, air and soil, including social and historical elements. Our well-being is directly proportional to environmental health. How we choose to behave towards the environment influences our quality of life, social development and global economic development.
According to data from the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), September 27th was established in Mexico as Environmental Awareness Day in solidarity with Argentina since on this same day in 1993, in Avellaneda, a family died. and inhabitants of this region of Buenos Aires caused by neighbors who threw industrial waste, sulfuric acid and cyanide salts into the drain, which then became hydrogen cyanide gas. In Mexico, the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) is responsible for preventing events like those in Avellaneda from happening. It inspects substances within the market, establishing their persistence (P), bioaccumulation (B) and toxicity (T) in aquatic organisms, so that the consumer acts responsibly and according to the substance they are using.
The goal in commemorating this day is to generate responsibility and knowledge of the real state of the environment, from the understanding of its problems and its relationships with ecological, social and historical processes. It is about raising awareness, generating a thought and attitude of respect towards the environment, in addition to seeking solutions and actions to the environmental situation.
The environment is an essential entity for human beings. We have deteriorated it by breaking the balance in nature through pollution, deforestation and other anthropogenic activities. The consequence of this is global warming and recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. Without a healthy, clean and balanced environment, we will not be able to live.
There have been several events that we have caused and that have led us to change our environmental behavior, generating awareness, treaties and laws so as not to repeat them: the death of thousands of people in Bophal, India, due to the release of methyl isocyanate into the environment in a pesticides; in Minamata, Japan, there was poisoning of the population by methyl mercury triggered by the industry; In Mexico, in the Sonora River, toxic waste was released from the Buenavista del Cobre mine, causing illness in the surrounding communities and pollution in the environment.
It is essential to create values and an environmental culture, from educational schemes, to generate environmental awareness within society. Assuming responsibility for our actions, opting for responsible and sustainable behaviors that are not harmful to the environment that allow life in the present and in the future, from governments, companies, societies, communities and individuals; Demanding public policies that protect the environment and changing individual habits support the creation of citizen awareness. We must use resources intelligently, using only those necessary; we must allow nature to regenerate and understand that respect for ecosystems and biodiversity is respect for life, and therefore for ourselves.
At B + F we know the importance of the environment for planet Earth, its care and protection is extremely important for life. We have a multidisciplinary team with the professional training and experience necessary to accompany and provide support to our clients and allies throughout the process to generate social, economic and environmental value, achieving their objectives through solid sustainable practices.