Mérida, Yucatán — Less waste, less driving, more solar power. A “Green Team” at the library is making the expat hangout a more environmentally sensitive space.
The library’s famous “MEL Night,” a cocktail party on the patio the third Friday of each month in high season, will do away with throw-away cups. Wine and refreshments will be served in washable, reusable glasses.
“The drinks will be the same size, but we cut way down on our trash,” the March newsletter assures members.
The library is also taking recycling to the next step. Already bins allow visitors to separate Styrofoam, plastics and cans. Soon, the Mérida English Library promises to be a drop-off point for members to recycle printer cartridges and batteries.
The board is also getting estimates for solar panels to be installed on the library roof. Solar technology has gone down in price, but electricity rates have not.
To cut down on bottled water, MEL will sell reusable, BPA-free water bottles emblazened with the Mérida English Library logo, “so you can re-fill at our water cooler (coming soon) instead of buying a disposable plastic bottle.”
And finally, MEL will encourage visitors to use public transportation. The Green Team has created an info sheet, available at the Help Desk, with several common bus routes to get to the library.
The Mérida English Library’s Saturday Lecture Series continues on March 4 with a related topic. Prof. Shalanda Baker will discuss “Renewable Energy and Green Development in the Yucatán. The talk, at 11:30 a.m., is free and open to the public
By 2018, nine renewable energy projects, including solar and wind developments, are due to be installed on the Yucatán Peninsula, a topic well known by the University of Hawaii law professor and Fulbright-García Robles Scholar.
