ABWREC – Encouraging Civic Pride

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Environment Articles

Sunday, 29 November 2009 05:55

By Simply XQuisite

On Saturday morning, as I sat in a vehicle directly in front of the entrance to my daughter’s ballet class, I saw this six year old leave her parents’ vehicle with a box juice and a crumpled piece of foil and toss it onto the ground at the bottom of the steps.

Before she did it though, she looked around as if to ensure that no one was looking at her. Unfortunately for her, I observed the whole nasty ordeal and called out to her to pick it up and take it to the bin.

There and then, my mind ran back to an interview I did with Carol-Faye George of the Antigua Barbuda Waste Recycling Corporation (ABWREC). The thing that stood out most to me was Mrs George’s passion for what she was doing and the deep sense of disgust she felt with the continued indiscriminate littering all over Antigua and Barbuda. Most of all, she was peeved by the absence of proper legislation and implementation of laws to adequately deal with and ultimately eradicate the problem.

One of her main aims is to start with the youth.

George, as you may know by now, is the manager of ABWREC. This is a non-profit organisation which came into being as a project of the Rotary Club of Antigua Sundown, in collaboration with three government bodies: the National Solid Waste Management Authority, the Central Board of Health, and the Environment Division.

After seeing the extent of littering and pollution across the twin-island state, the Club felt the need to do something to help stop it. Under the leadership of Mario Bento, chairman of ABWREC, application was made to the UNDP Small Grant Project. They were lucky enough to receive US$50,000, and an additional US$40,000 from the British High Commission. The Industrial Development Board was instrumental in providing ABWREC with the factory shell in Powells from which the organisation now operates.

The original plan was to simply collect all plastics and biodegradable material, and give them to the sanitary landfill. But because of the extent of the problem and the rapid rate at which the landfill is being filled, ABWREC has expanded its list of items collected.  It now supplies two main companies in Canada, after shipping to the United States proved too costly and time consuming.

George defines litter as any and every material placed or left where it is not supposed to be. She says litter is usually thought of as small items, but it also includes abandoned vehicles, household rubbish, furniture, mattresses, appliances, and computer and electronic parts left on the street or dumped on the roadside, or in the bush, or even into the sea. She says it is the most visible sign of pollution there is, and can do serious harm not only to humans, but the environment – the land, the sea, the beaches, the waterways – and encourage pests and the spread of germs and diseases.

Littering costs so much to clean up, and since we are a tourist-based economy, it sends the wrong message to visitors. The worst part of the problem is the long-term effect on the environment, since some of the material that people throw away takes a very long time to break down. For example, some plastic litter can take anywhere from 200 to 500 years; disposable diapers as many as 500 years, and glass bottles as long as one million years.

George says ABWREC has been involved in a rigorous educational campaign in schools throughout the country, and to date there are approximately 50 schools involved in the recycling programme. ABWREC developed its own network and provides the schools, hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets with clearly marked and selectively placed black skip/bins. Two times per week, the collection of recyclables is done using trucks provided by the National Solid Waste Management Authority.

The programme recently got underway in Barbuda, where ABWREC is working in collaboration with the Barbuda Council and the Barbuda National Parks Authority to supply recyclable bins, educate the people, and raise public awareness on the details of the collection campaign.

ABWREC has been in operation for over three years, and currently employs a total of seven people.  The list of items currently collected includes scrap metal, plastics, aluminum, steel tins, UPS batteries, vehicle batteries, PVC cuttings, galvanize cuttings, and toner cartridges. They hope to expand to the collection of paper, cardboard, and glass.

When asked about some of the obstacles to achieving their goals, George noted that the organisation is in need of more storage and work space, and that they were hopeful that the Antigua Barbuda Investment Authority would be able to assist in acquiring more operational room.  She is of the opinion that there should be more litter wardens on patrol throughout the country and within specific communities as well.

She also says the government needs to ensure that proper legislation is put in place and enforced to stop people from littering indiscriminately. Harsher penalties are needed, and more bins should be placed in public places and on the beaches so that culprits do not have an excuse to pollute and destroy the environment.

The ABWREC manager is hopeful that in time, the difference, in terms of a decrease in littering, and a more eco-friendly society, will result in a more aesthetically pleasing Antigua and Barbuda. Until then, she will continue to educate the people and encourage civic pride.

 

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