EDITORIAL
As the debate continues on the imposition of tax on plastic bags, we wonder what will be the ‘game changer’ in the fight to preserve our environment. A truly revolutionary act would be to start a culture of recycling that sees private citizens separating their garbage on a daily basis. We believe it is long past the time that the ante is raised on this matter which can have long-lasting impact on waste management in Barbados.
How do we effect whole-sale change to any cultural aspect of a nation? Through consistency of effort, heightened visibility and a commitment from government to citizen that makes the project work. Consider the village of Kamikatsu in Japan, which changed the way it approached recycling. Katmikatsu’s population of approximately 1 700 separate garbage into 34 specified categories, and bring unwanted furniture and clothing so that others may freely pick and choose from others’ discarded items. This works so well, that the village only sends 20 per cent of its garbage to the landfill; by 2020, it hopes to be a zero-waste producer.
Saying we are committed to greening efforts is not enough, especially in Barbados’ case where there is not much co-ordinated effort to bring this notion to fruition. The example has been used of the seatbelt laws implemented in the early 2000s – though a lot of people complained, especially those who had been driving for years without seatbelts, the law still had to be adhered. And while authorities have done an excellent job cracking down on illegal dumpers, they can’t be every place at the right time as evidenced by last month’s all too common discovery of an illegal dumping ground in St. Thomas.
So what can be realistically done? We only have a finite amount of landfill space for legal, physical dumping. We cannot throw our hands in the air and just give up on a problem that is literally growing; we need radical change. The current system is placed largely on the individual to take recycling into their own hands; only one private recycling centre offers a collection service, as far as we are aware. Clearly, more cannot be done without the state’s involvement. There are always complaints that the existing fleet of trucks is unable to service the island for regular garbage collection. Using trucks, not necessarily garbage disposal units, to service the island for recyclable materials on specific days may very well eliminate a lot of the waste headed for the landfill. This is a tall order, especially for an island of some Barbadians who can’t even be bothered to dispose of waste in the established receptacles, furthermore sort what is already there.
However, constant education at all levels can make this work. We imagine that a very public campaign using traditional and social media, as well as educational drives at every place persons congregate – workplaces, schools, churches etc. – on the materials that are deemed suitable for the compost, recycling centre or garbage. It will take a large-scale push to change long engrained habits and as such, we should not expect total change within the short-term. However, we can no longer use poor attitudes as an excuse why this island does not have a fully formed, large-scale programme that legislates recycling. We simply cannot continue to blindly produce the thousands of tonnes daily that end up in the landfill, not when there are smarter ways to solve a crisis we can no longer ignore.