Be The Change You Want To See 👀

You're probably thinking that you are one person and how can one person make a difference with so much plastic and styrofoam waste out there. Well, I'm telling you that you as one person can. But if you want to make an even bigger impact you can join an organization and volunteer. Now you're thinking about what organisations are there in the Caribbean. There are actually quite a few. 

The Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup encourages people to remove waste from the world's beaches and waterways, identify the sources of debris and change the behaviour that primarily causes marine debris. From 112 countries around the world, volunteers, site captains, and state and county coordinators worked tirelessly to collect over 18 million pounds of trash. In 2016 they covered enough miles of coastline to walk around the moon twice. They collected enough balloons to lift a 2,200 lb. walrus and enough fishing line to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench – the ocean’s deepest point – nine times over. 

Photo source: Ocean Conservancy 

Volunteers from Trinidad and Tobago 

The Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) has established a cohort of incredible youth members who are keenly aware of environmental issues such as ocean trash and who lead by example in their own communities and neighbourhoods. They focus on empowering young people and their communities through education and encouragement for the voice of the youth in matters such as the environment.  The vision they are set on is to create an appropriate opportunity to participate in the design development, implementation and promotion of progressive and substantial programs across the wider region of the Caribbean. The organization was developed to make a positive impact on the environment by youth ages 15-29 participating in these activities. It’s known to be, without a doubt, the largest youth environment group in the Caribbean. The CYEN includes 29 organizational members across the Caribbean. These include Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. This goes to show just how accomplished this group is.

Photo source: Keno George. 

Members of the Caribbean Youth Environment Network conducted a coastal cleanup yesterday at the Georgetown seawall.

The Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) started doing beach cleanups in 1994; around the same time, significantly more disposable packaging began to be used in Jamaica. They have undertaken a range of projects over the years. These include beach and gully clean-ups, photographic competitions, recycling projects, the production of a musical stage play entitled “Nuff Respect for Nature” which toured 40 schools island-wide in 1994, the writing of a page on the environment for the Daily Gleaner, a five-minute radio programme called EnviroNotes, and a World Bank funded demand side management energy conservation project with the Jamaica Public Service Company, environmental films, a number of annual events, and advocacy campaigns. They also produce environmental materials, a biannual e-magazine, and deliver regular talks on the environment and field trips. They operate a long-standing environmental education programme in Jamaican schools and are advocates for the protection of Jamaica’s natural resources through law and advocacy work.

Photo source: Ocean Conservancy 

Volunteers from Jamaica