I find it interesting that Ecuador's Constitution guarantees the right to live in a contamination-free environment. In 1993, Ecuador was one of the countries to sign the Kyoto Protocol. In the same year, the Basic Environmental Principles were approved which then lead to the establishment of the Basic Environmental Polices of Ecuador, which state the obligations of the citizens and entities in regard to preserving the environment. In 1996, Ecuador created the Ministry of Environment in order to coordinate environmental policies, projects, and programs. Then in 1999, the Law of Environmental Management was established, which created the principles and guidelines of environmental policies, and determined the obligations and responsibilities of stakeholders involved in the Ecuadorian environment.
Quito Bus System
I think traffic segregation is an amazing idea, reading it reminded me of learning about Curitiba's ingenious transportation system. Segregated traffic allows for faster public transportation, this is because it takes the buses out of the normal traffic lanes - this allows people to have more and better transportation options. One of the amazing statistics from the article is that the Trolebus system can carry 8,000 passengers per hour in just one road lane! This in turn allows it to surpass the predicted 140,000 passengaers per day, and in some cases even had to fulfill 170,000 passengers a day! I see now reading, that the article actually compares the Quito system to Curitiba' system - it is great to know that while the Quito system was built much faster than Curitiba's, which is why it is not as efficient, it still proves that high-capacity, high-quality mass transportation is possible. The article goes on to say that the regulation and centralization of transportation by the Transport Planning Department (Unidad de Planificacion y Gestion de Transporte (UPGT)) was one of the biggest reasons why the Trolebus system is so effective. This is because before the UPGT was created, the transportation system was essentially unregulated, using license and franchise conditions that were not enforced.
Ecuador's Volcanoes
I knew the Andes stretched across a majority of South America, but never really realized just long long that would actually be - 8,000 km! Personally, I like learning about how animals acclimate and adapt to their environments, so seeing how the llama and alpacas have a thicker coat and more red-blood cells was interesting. When the video shows and started talking about the waterfalls, it reminded me of Angel Falls (I know it's not the same country, but still). Interesting how the snow at the top of mountains and volcanoes support life at the base of the mountain or volcano and even further out. It isn't just the snow that supports life either, the fertile soil caused by the volcanoes support a variety of life and animal life. Cotopaxi is 5879 meters high, and at a distance, the snowy peak, reminds me of when I went to Mt. Fuji (if you haven't gone to Japan I highly recommend!). Interesting that the volcanic lake found in Quilatoa is salty, rather than freshwater.
Cloud Forests
Before I even continue watching the video, I must say, a tropical forest with clouds literally bathing the forest must be VERY humid...Interesting that cloud forests only make up about 1% of all woodlands! The clouds negatively affect the plants by impeding sunlight from reaching the plants, this causes some trees to grow crooked and wild - incredibly interesting to me, since I've taken one too many forestry classes. The relationship of the epiphytes and trees allows for more collection of moisture, specifically clouds when they appear - this sort of reminds me of Socotra dragon tree (Dracaena cinnabari), due to the form of the tree it "collects" the moisture of clouds when they roll through the trees. It's sad to see that such a rare type of forest/woodland is being deforested in order to accommodate farming (I type this as I drink my cofefe, which is why it is important to know where your cofefe beans come from!).
Water Crisis
Sad to know that South America has such huge abundance of fresh drinking water, yet only so many people have access to it. I do find it interesting that when water quality isn't up to par in terms of consumption standards, it is recommended that the water can be used for washing cloths and bathing - personally, maybe because I'm ignorant to the facts or because I'm a spoiled American, but if I shouldn't drink the water, I don't feel safe bathing and cleaning my cloths in it). The waterfall in El Salto was quite depressing and disgusting to look at, watching it reminds me of watching videos about the Ganges and how polluted the river is. I know the video is quite old (2008), but only 23% of waste water is being reused in Mexico is quite low. The shower clock is an interesting idea, I try to take short showers, but sometimes I get distracted by the warm, comforting waters, or by my weird showerthoughts, a clock would ground me and make my showers shorter. When the one guy started talking about the privatization of water, I immediately started thinking about Nestle drinking up everybody's milkshake (great movie if you haven't seen it!). Sad to learn about Bechtel and the impacts that they caused in Latin American (children getting hepatitis...). I get where the producer of the movie was coming from, when he said that it is much cheaper for the people to get water ($2-3 instead of $30), but what if they still cannot afford that? Additionally, last I checked, I and everybody else needs water to survive, so why do we even charge money for it (ignore my liberal rant)?