Cenotes are often surface connections to subterranean water bodies. Cenote water is clear and clean because it is rainwater that has filtered slowly through the ground. All cenote systems in the Yucatan eventually connect together. Because this is a major source of fresh drinking water for the Mexican people, it is extremely important to keep all cenotes free of chemicals and litter. Warnings are repeatedly given by tour guides on the importance of keeping the water clean, so the Mayan locals are able to drink it.
As we drop into the cold, black water of the immense underground cave, I look up at the ceiling and see a very thin crust of earth covering the top of the cavern. A paper-thin layer of ground stands between the top soil and the fresh water below. Roots hang down 40 feet before they touch the water. Our guides provide inner tubes to float with because the water below us is 40 feet deep. Tiny fish swim and nibble the dead skin on our toes and legs.
In that intense moment of touching nature, a shiver of understanding touches my soul. It occurs to me that we in the United States should be following this more cautious mindset about our own precious drinking water.
Whenever you use pesticides and chemicals on your lawns, you allow those chemicals to percolate down and eventually reach our water system. If you live in a home where you have your own well, that well water is exposed daily to chemicals and carcinogens which we put into the water ourselves by peppering our lawns and gardens with poisons – and these poisons have a long life. This means it is possible to contaminate our water system for a period of many years, not just at the time we apply the chemicals.
Next time you reach for a lawn chemical, remember the caves and cenotes of the Yucatan. It took a trip to another part of the world for me to finally understand the connection and significance of my personal responsibility to our earth. Imagine if the chemicals I put on my lawn several years ago managed to get into our eco-system and another human being somehow ingested it? Even in trace amounts? Does anyone completely understand what causes leukemia – a chemical-triggered cancer? Does anyone really know what is safe for humanity?
If you care about your fellow man, you must understand that this is not someone else’s problem. It is you who are responsible for caring for the water systems in our communities – not your neighbors, not your government. It is you who might be poisoning the child next door. Stop. Think. Use chemicals wisely. Now is the time to make a difference.
