Madrid Metro Ecologic Cleaning System
Between a series of initiatives to put into practice Kyoto protocol, Madrid Metro is implementing environment friendly cleaning systems for its trains.
The washing system, for example, recycles 80% of the water used in the cleaning of the vehicles, saving in 2004 more than eleven million liters of water in cleaning tasks, according to Transportations and Infrastructures of the Community of Madrid (see how it works in the extended). There are six of this washing tunnels working in six garages and the opening of another three tunnels was announced recently. Another device is a purifier of the industrial liquids that are poured during the maintenance processes. It treats an average of 1.700 cubic meters of liquid waste a year. Also, there's a special cabin in which trains are put in shape with compressed air, with filters that collect resulting particles, avoiding the filth to get out.
Though these actions are not something we can copy -let's face it, most of us don't have trains at home-, it's good to know we're traveling in a responsible transportation media or having these facts in mind when we have to choose which way to go. Plus, it's a clever approach to a difficult problem which shows that we can apply environmentally friendly mechanisms to everyday life in every aspect of the society if we just give them a twist.
Using of metro is also an ecologic way of transportation itself, by reducing the number of vehicles in the streets and ordering people traffic. [by Paula Alvarado, from Buenos Aires] ::Metro of Madrid