From the 1 of December of 2018 a new regulation began to govern for all those that visit Machu Picchu, to maintain it and to conserve it in good state. If you feel like going to Machu Picchu on your next vacation, you should know that there are new restrictions for those who want to visit the Inca citadel in addition to the rules that were announced in 2017. The government published a supreme decree that approves the reduction of single-use plastic to replace them progressively by reusable, biodegradable plastic or others whose degradation does not generate contamination. In order to comply with this norm, the National Service of Natural Protected Areas by the State (Sernanp) announced that it will prohibit plastics for single use in the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, Manu National Park, Paracas National Reserve and other protected natural areas (ANP) of the whole country. The norm also includes places declared as cultural heritage and state museums.
Not more plastic in Machu Picchu.
The measure will also be applied in all historical sites, natural protected areas, museums administered by the State and cultural heritage of the country. According to the Supreme Decree N ° 013 2018 MINAM, publishing in the official newspaper El Peruano, in the case of the Protected Natural Areas (ANP), areas declared as Natural Patrimony of Humanity and museums administered by the State, the prohibition will govern in a term of no more than 30 business days.
This means that, from December of this year, tourists and visitors will not be able to enter the main cultural and natural and natural attractions of the country carrying plastic bags and sorbets of a single use, nor with technopor containers for drinks and food of human consumption. Exceptions abedecen hygiene or health reasons, when plastic is essential to maintain the safety of a product, or for the disposal of waste, referred to the standard signed by the President of the Republic, Martín Vizcarra, and the Minister of the Environment, Fabiola Muñoz
It also provides that public entities must participate in awareness campaigns on the responsible consumption of plastic and the promotion of plastic and the promotion of reusable plastic, promoted by the Ministry of the Environment, for which they will receive technical assistance from the General Directorate of Education, citizenship and environmental information.
But Why it is so important?
To guarantee the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems that turn protected areas into unique spaces of great natural wealth. Visitors are encouraged to use environmentally friendly alternatives such as canteens and tomatoed to avoid the use of plastic bottles, and are encouraged to use cloth bags or other reusable material instead of disposable plastic bags.
What plastics are prohibited?
Among the prohibited plastics are:
Recommendations:
- Use canteens to transport water, in order to avoid the use of plastic containers that, if discarded in a natural area, can cause long-term damage. However, keep in mind that no one can be forbidden to carry a bottle of water in their purse.
- Use cloth bags to carry things instead of plastic bags.
Did you know?
- Plastic bottles take up to 700 years to degrade. To produce one, 100 ml of oil is needed. Therefore, if they are incinerated, they produce toxic vapors.
- 90% of the price you pay for bottled water is the cost of the bottle, water barely represents 10% of the total value.
- It takes 24 million gallons of oil to produce 1 billion plastic bottles.
- Only 25 recycled bottles are enough to make an adult jacket.
- Recycling a single plastic bottle saves enough energy to run a 60W bulb for up to 6 hours.
- With the recycling of plastics can save up to 2/3 of the energy needed for the production of new plastic.
- Bottling water is the energy-efficient method for water supply. Unfortunately, it is still the most popular.
Why not use plastic?
Plastic bags contaminate and are not necessary: none is recycled. By consuming less and better, we protect the environment. The plastic bag is the star product of our throwaway culture, which wastes large amounts of materials and energy to make ephemeral products for single use, often superfluous. Plastic bags can be replaced by durable and environmentally friendly containers or systems (cloth bags, paper bags, shopping carts ...)
It's time to replace them:
They also affect human health, because large animals devour small recharged plastic creatures that are integrated, in their own way, into the food chain and the human species ends up consuming foods based on animals that have eaten certain forms of non-biodegradable plastic manufactures from a non-renewable resource such as oil. It is estimated that only 3 million barrels of oil (477,000,000 liters) are required to produce the 19 billion plastic bags used annually. In all countries came the time to legislate on substitutes for plastic.
Pollution can be avoided by replacing plastics with alternative materials such as reusable cloth bags, stainless steel water bottles and other substitutes for wood, glass and metal. "What steps would you take to reduce the use of plastic to preserve our increasingly critical environment?" Asked Jim Ries, of the NGO "One More Generation."
Reasons to say no to plastic bags:
- They are manufactured from petroleum, a non-renewable resource, costly, increasingly scarce and responsible for the emission of greenhouse gases, that is, climate change.
- Recycling is not profitable: it costs 100 times more to recycle than to produce new ones.
- Most end up in the sea or burned in incinerators and cement kilns. Bags have been found floating north of the Arctic Circle and in remote parts of the South Atlantic.
- They contaminate during their manufacture and their incineration (dioxins, cyanide ...).
- Some are printed with toxic inks.
- They take between 150 and 1000 years to decompose.
For that reason join the Machu Picchu change without plastic:
Make a small effort from citizens, municipalities, merchants' associations, commercial, tourism tour operators and friends who are visiting
Machu Picchu to replace free plastic bags with another type of more resistant and durable container. Let's keep our environment and the global wonder together.
