Regarding the Sustainability of

Mexicos Current Infrastructure

A major problem Mexico faces today in regards to sustainability is water
availability and quality. Water provides economic stability for Mexico, so improving
their water system is the first step to a sustainable future. In addition, water quality
affects the overall quality of life of a country. Unfortunately, the population of
Mexico keeps growing and industrializing, which increases the amount of water
pollution while simultaneously increasing the need for clean water. So far, Mexico
has tried to improve their water management systems by implementing laws and
policies. The Mexican government has also increased access to water sanitation
services across the country. Many changes have been made to the water systems
in Mexico that have had a positive impact on the sustainability of the country.
However, Mexico still faces many problems when it comes to water despite
their efforts to combat the problem. Currently, over half of all Mexican households
still lack a continuous supply of clean water. Also, municipal water still remains
untreated, leaving most of the population with polluted water. The irrigation
systems used in Mexico are also inefficient, so a lot of water is wasted in farming
practices that could be distributed to other parts of the country. Coming up with
more efficient farming systems and creating local water laws could solve a lot of
Mexicos problems concerning water. The Mexican government must also consider
economic growth when implementing water policies, so some environmental
concerns may be set aside. Despite this, Mexico must first fix their problems with
water before they can move towards becoming truly sustainable.

Like many other nations, Mexico has to deal with the issue of a rapidly
growing population, and all of the problems that come along with it. Chief among
these problems is the fact that a bigger population means more waste is produced.
This waste comes in the form of energy by products, namely the carbon given off by
the burning of coal, the general garbage produced by any given individual, and
sewage and other forms of liquid waste. Unfortunately, despite the pressing issue
that this abundance of waste creates, Mexico does not have especially efficient
waste disposal systems. This results in the poor handling of waste products, which
becomes an overall detriment to the quality of life in Mexican society. Part of the
reason waste is such a problem is due to the fact that Mexico is full of several
densely populated areas, but these areas are spread out all over the country.
Poverty is another serious issue in Mexico, however the wealthy areas and
impoverished areas are completely separate from one another. The cities in Mexico
are like islands dropped throughout a sea of poverty. Because of this, each city
requires its own power grid and source of power production. Instead of having cities
grouped close together and having a handful of power plants used efficiently to
distribute power between each area, the current arrangement requires each city to
be self-sustained. What this ultimately translates to is a much higher rate of
pollution than is necessary.
While economic growth has slowed down in recent years, Mexicos economy
has continued to rise, which has made various waste-reduction initiatives possible.
One such initiative began in 2009, and it involved replacing all incandescent light
bulbs with their fluorescent counterparts. By the time this program is finished, it will
have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7 million tonnes a year,

which is an incredible impact. However, only one initiative will not be enough to
solve Mexicos pollution crisis.
Furthermore, Mexico has a huge biodiversity. Because Mexico has a lot of rain
forests in its southern parts, the sky-piercing trees and high glasses provide a
perfect habitat for some of the rarest species on Earth, such as Ambystoma
Mexicanum and Mexico Grey Wolf. However, the number of these species are
drastically declining since the 21th century. Mexico became an industrious country
in early 21th century and the economic activities are booming. This human
development caused several profit-driven activities such as the mass deforestations
to provide raw materials for paper-producing industries. Rubber producing
companies is also gaining their weight, so the extraction of rubber liquid from
rubber trees caused death of tons of trees. Some of the chemical-product industries
are producing more poisonous pollutants, which is majorly released into water and
which are eliminating thousands of wild species.
The government began to be increasingly aware of such issues that limit the
sustainability of the general environment, so it enacted several environment
protection laws such as the foot-print regulations and General Law on Climate
Change(2012). And now, both civilians and the government of Mexico should
undertake several responsibilities of protecting this small but precious country.
People should do recycling and reduce their carbon footprint, the government
should improve the technology of producing resources at the same time keep the
regulations strict.
Several solutions can be applied to solve the imperative environmental
problems. The development of nuclear energy is a smart way to reduce the carbon
footprint, meanwhile improve the energy utilization efficiency. Nevertheless, the

technology is a prerequisite to develop this kind of resources since its highly

dangerous if the radiative materials leak. Another solution is to impose several nonhuman-entry regions in the wild area. This establish an excellent protection from
human hunting and deforestations. Last but not the least, to counterbalance the
negative effect of over-deforestation, green campaigns such as set more holidays
about planting trees both increase the leisure of the civilians and their action
against environmental damages. Mexico currently is on track of a few international
wildlife protection agreements, and is expected to alleviate at least some of the
environment problems in the next decade.
Citations:
"A Key Issue for Mexico: Growth for All That Respects the Environment." The
World Bank. IBRDA, 4 Jan. 2013. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.
Murphy, Matthew. "Mexican Move a Light Bulb Moment for the Globe." The
Age. N.p., 9 Dec. 2009. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
"The Role of Water Policy in Mexico: Sustainability, Equity, and Economic
Growth Considerations." Latin America and Caribbean. The World Bank, n.d. Web. 02
Oct. 2014.
Sustainability Index: Mexico. World Energy Council. n.d. Web. 16 Oct.
2014.