What a powerful way to start 2020: Sharing our passion for waste management and our experiences in starting the first community recycling programme in Trinidad and Tobago. The Cashew Gardens Community Recycling Programme (CGCRP) team was honoured to be invited by the Lions Club International to speak on the theme: Recycling and Saving the Environment.
The audience was very eager to learn about ways they can collaborate and network in order to effect change in our culture of pollution. Ms. George shared a great analogy of our planet's suffering under our abuse similar to that of the human body that has been overused and abused. The question remains, how do we heal our planet?
While this question can seem overwhelming at first, an effective method that has worked for us is starting with your own household, then your neighbours, family and friends and suddenly you have a growing contingent of environmentally conscious people, who are coming together to effect change.
The main point of our discussion was the separation of your plastics, glass, cans and organic waste at the household level and then depositing into the closest iCare bin. Unfortunately, there exists no known composting avenue in T&T and thus the responsibility lies with each of us to deal with our organic waste. We are very excited to embark on a community composting project so we will sharing our experience with you within the coming months.
Want to learn more about recycling from home? Read 5 Steps to Start Recycling at Home.
In 2019, we visited over 10 organizations (mix of Preschools, NGOs, Government and Private sector) who were all sensitized to the need for better waste management practices at the household level. As an NGO, who is passionate about changing habits of indiscriminate solid waste pollution in T&T, we thought it practical and effective to start educating children as a first step. The power they hold in their tiny hands can make a big difference in their future.
Critical to everyone's understanding was connecting the dots between solid waste pollution, the planet and the cycle it takes as it returns to human consumption.
Simple fact: We are Eating Plastics! Yes, the same plastic bottle that is strewn carelessly out your car window is being consumed by us. This is due to it breaking down into micro-plastics and being consumed by marine life.