México has its own “Greta”; her name’s Margarita, she studies at Tec

 Something changed in Margarita’s life while she was picking up garbage on a beach during volunteer work in Costa Rica.

Not only did she find plastic bottles in her path, but also every manner of waste that ended up on the sand, washed up in large quantities by the sea.

Since then, Margarita Martínez, who’s a 21-year old student of Sustainable Development Engineering at Tec de Monterrey, has spent her time encouraging people to take care of the environment.

She seeks to raise young people’s awareness about the threat of climate change.

To many, Margarita’s motivation is much like that of the 16-year old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

Even the Spanish language newspaper El País calls her: “Mexico’s cleaner” in its piece: “10 world leaders who never give up“.
 

Her initiative “Limpiemos Nuestro País” (Let’s Clean Up Our Country) is already a registered trademark and she has managed to remove over 65 tons of garbage from public spaces in Monclova, Coahuila, and Monterrey, Nuevo León.

She’s achieved this through activities that have involved upwards of 500 people.]
 

“You feel an enormous sense of pride when you realize the power we hold in our hands. In the end, the people who’ve taken part in these activities have helped us make a difference.”

“You can’t change the world on your own. I never thought we’d get such a huge response,” acknowledged the young woman who chairs the student association for her degree (Sociedad de Alumnos de Ingeniería en Desarrollo Sustentable, SAIDS).
 

In addition to her efforts in public spaces, Margarita leads by example at home where, together with her family, she has implemented a “zero waste” system.

She has achieved this by means of recycling, the production of a “fertilizer” based on liquefied organic waste. and the production of “ecobricks”.
 

In this area, she has promoted a collection center for ecobricks, which are PET bottles filled with compacted non-organic waste that are used in the construction of housing.

“The useful life of an ecobrick can be upwards of 800 years. They are earthquake-proof and thermally insulating, which makes them a viable and sustainable alternative for building homes,” explained Margarita.

Every Friday she picks up ecobricks from the collection center to donate them to foundations.

Margarita explained that she is also an activist for the global initiative “Fridays For Future”, a movement which, particularly in Monterrey, lobbies authorities to address the matter of improving air quality.
 

Regarding Greta Thunberg’s message at the UN Climate Action Summit, the Tec student acknowledges that the young Swede is “the voice that the world needed”.

She assured us that Greta’s motivation appears authentic and has managed to change the way many people around the world think.

“Greta conveyed her message transparently. She’s woken people up. It’s impressive to see how a 16-year old girl has this power,” she explained.

When asked about the concern that made her decide to start doing all these things, Margarita points to the indifference toward what’s going on in the world.

Not just on environmental issues, but also social ones, given that the challenge of climate change is a socio-environmental problem that affects us all, particularly the most vulnerable classes.
 

They’re the ones who suffer the greatest impacts of the ravages of climate phenomena, such as droughts and floods.

“How is it possible that there are children who play in the garbage while I had such a privileged childhood? Nobody chooses where they’re born. I feel the obligation to do my best for the people who didn’t have that opportunity,” she said.

“We need to raise our voices on behalf of the people who cannot do so themselves. There are people who don’t know how to read or write. It’s not fair to those without access to education,” concluded Margarita.

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