Yelapa Green

Yelapa is green. The verdant jungle embraces the village like a proper parent snuggling a squirming child. As the rains establish their routine, trees, plants, vines and shoots discard former browns and beiges and transition into Yelapa green.

Language, like other cultural aspects, evolves. The word “green” now conjures thoughts of how environmentally friendly an area is relative to its observable recycling program, documented efficient use of energy plus a respect for resident plants and critters. In large communities these benchmarks assert themselves via huge blue dumpsters, energy bills reflecting current versus historical consumption, and museums filled with flora and fauna (yes, Joni Mitchell was prophetic: Big Yellow Taxi, “Pave Paradise, Put up a Parking Lot”).

It is no shocking infusion of fact to state that the less modern a culture the more environmentally aware and protective it is. Impose the concepts of modernization and progress and voilà along trek the twins of pollution and environmental degradation. Yep, that is progress, right? Let us consider a solitary item and its impact on Yelapa: individual sized containers of purified water. Without performing actual bottle counts, and only judging by the cases of water seen disembarking the re-supply pangas, my best guess is that there are several hundred individual bottles of water sold, consumed and discarded weekly. As evidence of our greenness, we place collection containers throughout the community. A number of the discards are collected; others are tossed into streams to be washed into the bay, others are pitched on the path to be flattened by passing motos while others are simply flung among the plants which line the walkways. The collection containers are emptied weekly, the contents consolidated at the town pier for return to Puerto Vallarta. My comments here are in no way intended to diminish the intent or activities of those involved in this project. My intent is to proffer the understanding that while displaying random acts of greenness; we fail to address the underlying cause; the creation of large amounts of discarded trash. Just a thought.

Update-Adventures with Teo

The first three editions (The Lonely Egret, The Dogs of Apaley, The Church) are due back from the readers/reviewers this week. Their comments and suggestions are anxiously awaited. Once those are received, I will release the next three editions (The Popsicle Man, Fun in Apaley, The Farmer’s Market) as well as display cover pages on the Yelapa Memo Face Book for your viewing. The covers reflect the richness of the story and the illustrations within each edition. Be sure to visit that Face Book page frequently for announcements. Or, simply “like” the page and check the “receive notifications” box.