Hydrate Caribbean reducing plastic waste in schools

epresentatives from Newport and sponsors, Great Pacific Group and the Barbados Diabetes Foundation, gathered at the Lester Vaughan School on the eve of World Environment Day, to do their part to ensure the availability of clean water for future generations. The two entities took over sponsorship of the water station at the school on Tuesday.

As Newport’s Hydrate Caribbean programme continues to increase its network of free water stations across the island, it has been uncovering just how many bottles of water children are purchasing in schools every day to try to keep up with their hydration needs.

“For people who don’t know, schools can go through anywhere up to 67,000 plastic water bottles in a year, so hopefully the students [at Lester Vaughan] will really take advantage of this water filling station and save our landfills and save our oceans,” shared Marsha White, general manager of The Maria Holder Diabetes Centre for the Caribbean.

Speaking passionately about why the Barbados Diabetes Foundation chose to align themselves with Hydrate Caribbean, White outlined the significance of the three way partnership.

“I just want to thank Great Pacific Group for their generosity. This is actually the third water filling station that they have donated to the schools of Barbados and they’re doing great things in our community. Drinking cold, clean water is very satisfying but it’s also the foundation of good health. And we are not just concerned about the health of the individual but also the health of the environment. So this is going to make a very big impact,” she said.

Janillia August, marketing executive at Newport, highlighted the fact that if school children buy two bottles of water a day, in a school of 600 students, that amounts to 1 200 bottles a day. Not only does this show that children (or rather their parents) are paying for water, this also highlights that students are not meeting their drinking water targets and those who can’t afford this purchase are going entirely without.

“We started [Hydrate Caribbean] back in 2020 when we saw the need for children to be hydrated in school. With these stations we are providing free chilled water and we have seen the impact it has had in schools. We have over 2.5 millions bottle fills so far since 2020,” she said. “So we really are excited when we see locations turning into Hydrate Havens and students and the Barbadian public have access to this most precious resource without breaking the bank.”

Principal of the Lester Vaughan School Suzette Holder expressed her gratitude to the new sponsors.

She said: “We are indeed this morning very thankful, grateful, to Great Pacific and the Barbados Diabetes Foundation for this kind gesture. We know that scarce resources can be redeployed anywhere, but we are happy that we were considered favourably for the presentation of this cooler. The Lester Vaughan School is a community school and this will not only help our students, but also persons from the community who come here to train, who do lessons on weekends, so we are very thankful and grateful this morning.”

World Environment Day, celebrated annually on June 5, is a United Nations initiative aimed at raising awareness and encouraging action for the protection and preservation of the environment. World Environment Day promotes sustainable practices, environmental stewardship, and collective efforts to build a greener, healthier planet for present and future generations.

(PR)