Republic Bank going green

At least one bank here in the island is making a genuine effort to ensure that they are environmentally friendly. It is the Republic Bank, which is doing so through its Going Green Campaign 2017, that launched on Wednesday evening at their Broad Street location.

In addition, they want to make sure that their customers also follow along the same route, and have even gone the extra step of trying to disseminate this valuable knowledge to the young people in this island, by adopting the Good Shepherd Primary School.

Speaking at the launch at their Broad Street location, Senior Manager, Administration and Operations and Head of the Health and Safety and Going Green Committees at the Republic Bank, Michelle Pounder, said that the idea to embark on such an initiative first came to them after they attended a safety and health seminar on SHaW, hosted by the Labour Department.

“In 2013, after attending the safety and health seminar hosted by the Labour Department, Republic Bank (Barbados) Limited agreed to participate in their pilot programme for the Safety and Health at Work Self-Management System.  The aim of the pilot was to assist Organisations in streamlining the documentation of action items and the execution of documented policies and procedures, with respect to safety and health in the workplace.”

She said that at the time, they did not have a health and safety management programme in place, but nevertheless, aware of the Act and their need to comply with it, they met with the Labour Department to discuss the requirements for such an initiative, said Pounder.

Meanwhile, Principal of the Good Shepherd Primary School, Louis Griffith, outlined the necessity of young children learning the importance of taking care of the environment.

“Without a doubt, we must involve the children from a very early age in their future. The environment that they inherit will be highly dependent on their behaviour, and I think that this is the best thing to do, and I hope that this would be a lasting programme, a continuous programme and involve more Barbadian children, so that they can look at greening – and not only a cultural theme – but also a way of life.

“We as Barbadians must get our young children to be involved in activities to protect the environment, learn about the environment and to be able to use the environment as much as possible.”

One of the steps that the young students would be taking is separating garbage at their school so that it can be sent to the various collection points in the country, and at a later date, they would aim at composting this garbage, he said.