JET, Coca-Cola partner in MoBay beach clean-up
Published:Thursday | July 8, 2021 | 12:09 AMAshley Anguin and Christopher Thomas/Gleaner Writers
WESTERN BUREAU:
Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) Programme Director Lauren Creary says that citizens must change their attitude towards waste management and disposal if there is to be any significant reduction in beach and waterway pollution.
“In order to see a difference in the amount of waste reaching our coastlines and being collected from our beaches, there needs to be a change in behaviour towards waste management,” Creary told The Gleaner following JET’s recent collaboration with the Coca-Cola Jamaica and Ocean Conservancy to clean the Old Hospital Park Beach in Montego Bay.
“A combination of waste reduction on a personal level, improved waste-management practices, and adequate garbage collection will lead to a reduction of garbage in our natural environment. These changes, however, cannot happen without consistent public education and a strong regulatory framework,” added Creary.
According to the JET executive, beach and marine pollution is exacerbated because most of the waste that is dumped in various waterways and washed out to sea remains there for many years unless they are physically removed.
Non-biodegradable garbage, including plastics, can persist in the environment for up to 500 years, the environmentalist said.
“Coastal clean-ups act as a last chance to remove garbage from the beach before it ends up in the ocean, but the real solution lies in reducing the amount of garbage we produce and preventing it from reaching our coastlines in the first place,” said Creary.
The clean-up activity, which saw 40 volunteers collecting approximately 30 bags of garbage from the Old Hospital Park Beach, was the third and final clean-up following similar activities at the Palisadoes Go-Kart Track on April 17 and at the Barmouth Beach in St Catherine on June 12. More than 1,600 pounds of garbage was collected from all three locations, the majority of which were plastic bottles.
All three exercises were held under the Circular Seas Initiative, which aims to reduce waste in the natural environment, encourage recycling of plastics, and collect data for making important solid waste management decisions.
JET has worked with the Ocean Conservancy group on previous projects since the mid-1990s and again more recently since 2008, with the Coca-Cola Foundation partnership having begun this year.