Something like this is what my grandmother would say if she had woken up coughing amidst the foul-smelling and toxic smog that Laura and Ariel, my friends from Puentes Grandes, are suffering from these days: the cure is worse than the disease! And she would be absolutely right, because burning trash in the middle of the city doesn't solve anything; it just makes it worse.

On social media, reports are appearing from different areas of Havana where “someone” has decided to set fire to a small dump or the irritating and dangerous pile of garbage on the corner, without even considering the visible consequences: the utility poles and power or telephone wires that can be damaged and worsen this already difficult struggle for electricity, a struggle waged against our cruelest and most powerful enemy with its blockades and restrictions.

Clearly, these amateur arsonists have given even less thought to the invisible consequences of this way of “cleaning”: burning garbage in urban environments is not only a bad habit, it’s a direct threat to the health of all residents and the balance of the local ecosystem.

There has been talk of indiscipline, and frankly, it doesn't matter if it comes from an “enthusiastic” citizen or a malicious individual; the undeniable fact is... it is urgent to stop this practice that generates a cocktail of toxins for our lungs, since household waste contains plastics, metals, and chemicals that, when burned, release highly dangerous substances that enter homes and the lungs of children and the elderly, aggravating asthma and allergies.

Contaminated soil, soot stuck to facades, furniture, and clotheslines, and more pests, because, ironically, poorly burned trash can attract more rodents and insects than properly stored garbage. Then there’s the imminent threat of a fire, since a seemingly controlled blaze can jump to a tree, electrical wiring, or a house… not to be dramatic, but to see the full picture and how far it could go.

Trash accumulating for days and weeks is one of the situations we must address, but burning it doesn't make it disappear; it just spreads it through the air we all breathe.