Make the change to save the environment

People are generally opposed to change, however in some cases change must be insisted upon for the greater good.

In terms of our environment, there is no denying the fact that Barbados has a serious garbage problem. It has led to repeated calls for an improved garbage collection service, greater enforcement of illegal dumping laws, and a sustainable solution to our current landfill crisis. It has also led to calls for Barbadians to be more responsible and recycle, hence cutting down on much of the waste they produce daily.

With this in mind, any steps put in place to force individuals to make better choices, if only for our children’s sakes, are welcome.

To this end, we applaud an initiative involving several food and retail stores, which aims to reduce the number of plastic bags being discarded by the public. The move urges consumers to use reusable bags instead of the customary plastic bags to pack their purchases, with a small fee attached to the plastic bags as discouragement. The start date for this initiative was set for a May 1, however, additional stores are free to join the movement any time after.

Having been brought to national attention since last year, by now Barbadians should have made the mental adjustment to find alternatives to plastic bags for their purchases at the point of checkout. In fact, a number of stores like Cost-U-Less and PriceSmart had already implemented a “no plastic bag” rule, offering consumers boxes instead or the option to buy a reusable bag, so any change in behaviour should not be a foreign concept grasp.

We encourage every consumer to support this green initiative and foster similar practices within our families and in our youth. Still, this is only one small step. There is also concern about the use of Styrofoam containers on the island, since it takes an estimated 500 years minimum for a single Styrofoam container to decompose. So devastating is this material to the environment that several nations around the world and even in the Caribbean region have banned the importation of these Styrofoam products.

Based on this concern, local company Bico Limited introduced its Vegware line of products to the local market last year – a fully compostable alternative to Styrofoam featured in a wide range of food and beverage containers. These containers, which are made from biodegradable plant matter, break down within 12 weeks. There are also other brands of biodegradable containers produced, some from the by-product of sugar cane or other raw plant materials that may be found locally, which may be more economical for consumers. While the latter may not be currently available locally, support should be given for local manufacturers to set up production of these types of sustainable products on the island. This would not only alleviate challenges facing our environment, but assist the local economy by providing jobs, reducing imports and creating a potential export product.

In the final analysis, although making a change in behaviour may be inconvenient or a little more expensive than what one is accustomed, one really can’t afford to sit back and do nothing.