Lyn Jeffers students advised to enlist in litter reduction campaign

By Pauline Waruguru
Nevis Reporter-SKNVibes.com

CRADDOCK ROAD, Nevis – THE General Manager of Nevis’ Solid Waste Management Authority, Calyn Lawrence, told students of the Lyn Jeffers School on Monday that six million plastic bags were being used annually on the island and called on them to join in the fight for litter reduction.

Lawrence also informed the students that RAMS Supermarket uses 12 000 plastic bags each week. She called on them to create awareness on the importance of reducing, recycling and reducing litter, and declared that efforts are being made to have shoppers use re-usable bags.

She said plastics take 100 years to breakdown and when they do, they infect the soil. She also noted that should the Authority succeed in accessing reusable bags, it would work closely with stores and members of the public so that re-usable bags could replace plastics.

“We are addicted to plastics. We want it doubled and tripled,” she said.

Lawrence told the students that the battle to reduce litter was far from being won because adults, youth and children believe litter that they generate belongs to somebody else. She said the government, through a World Bank funding, has put in place a landfill instead of the former dump where the litter used to be burnt openly.

At a landfill, she said, a deep hole is created in the earth and lined with polythene to prevent toxins going back to the soil.

Lawrence explained to the students that trucks collect the litter and empty it into the hole, which is then covered with soil.  She added that a landfill’s lifespan was envisaged to be 15 years, but the one on Nevis almost full.

“We were supposed to move towards reducing waste, recycling and reusing,” she said, and noted regrettably that those who generate litter have made little effort to reduce waste, recycle or resuse it.  She told the students that she reuses mayonnaise bottles as bean storage containers and advised them to do the same.

“We need the co-operation of the entire general public,” she said, while decrying the attitude shown towards those who collect litter and advised that one way of respecting them is to keep waste clean. She also noted that there is the tendency for people to throw litter in other person’s bins or by the road side.  ~~Adz:Left~~

In response to what steps the Authority was taking to get rid the island of old discarded vehicles and other derelict appliances seen in public places, Lawrence said in the month of October they are collected and removed free of cost, and at other times, a fee is imposed. She advised that owners of such items should get rid of them by contacting the Authority, because they harbour rodents and mosquitoes.

Keith Glasgow, the newly appointed Principal at Lyn Jeffers School, told the students that indiscriminate dumping of litter was uncalled for and urged them to take better care of the environment.