International Alliance meets to discuss border trash solutions

A campaign to clean up trash near the border is expected to reach 10,000 elementary school children from both sides of the national line.
 
The International Alliance for No Contamine/Don't Trash La Frontera, a group made up of officials and representatives from both Mexico and the United States, met Friday at the Cocopah Resort and Conference Center to discuss future plans for cleaning up the border.
 
An education campaign aimed at youth will begin in the fall and will reach 5,000 elementary school children on both sides of the border for a total of 10,000.
 
The Regional Center for Border Health Inc., partner with the Alliance, will train 20 volunteers from local high schools to teach the elementary school children how to prevent environmental contamination and waste management.
 
That means 10,000 area children will know how to help keep our border clean.
 
Oscar Franco, assistant coordinator for the Regional Center for Border Health said you can collect all the trash in the world, but without educating people, it doesn't do any good.
 
And it's the adults' responsibility to make sure the next generation does that.
 
"We're the adults, we're the leaders in the community," said Ted Martinez, professor of Environmental Science at AWC, during a presentation he gave to the Alliance about a recent environmental fair at the college.
 
Over the Easter holiday weekend in El Gulfo de Santa Clara, Son., members of the Alliance brought the campaign to the beach with 300 t-shirts, posters and other promotional items with its slogan "Fight Clean, clean borders start with you" in both English and Spanish.
 
Dr. Joel Godinez, Director SSP of Hospital General, said it's important because visitors to the beaches leave a lot of trash. He said the group plans to go to the popular vacation spot additional weekends to help educate the public.
 
The Alliance will also host several upcoming clean-up dates, where volunteers will help clean up trouble spots in the community.
 
The tentative dates for the clean-ups are Saturday, Oct. 17 in Yuma County and Saturday, Oct. 24 in San Luis Rio Colorado, Son.
 
Promotion for the clean-up dates, along with additional dates, is scheduled for the fall, said Cody Beeson, City of Yuma Council member and co-chair of the media relations subcommittee.
 
Beeson said the campaign will include TV and radio commercials as well as billboards and a Web page to keep the community informed.

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Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.