Protecting the environment

One gated community in Barbados has launched a project which they hope will encourage other neighbourhoods around the island to take the issue of reducing the amount of waste that goes to the Mangrove Pond landfill more seriously.

This morning, the Royal Westmoreland Property Owners Association officially launched a recycling programme, which, according to one of the residents and Director of the Association Jennifer Juman came about following their annual general meeting a year ago.

“We have 250 homes here; some of them are rented out, while we also have permanent residents and others who live here for a few months a year. The ones who come from Canada and the UK are accustomed to recycling their items at home, and they were just waiting for an opportunity to do it here as they felt guilty about throwing away things they would normally recycle.”

They will be using 240-litre bins purchased from Enterra Trading, one of the partners in the project, and initially, residents will be able to recycle their plastics, aluminium, glass, paper, paperboard and cardboard in the recycling bins provided, while the waste will go into another bin. The other partner is Scrap Man Recycling, who will collect both recyclable items and the waste with its ‘split box’ trucks, which keep the two different types of waste separate. This will then go to the Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre.

Mrs Juman added, “The only expense incurred was the initial price of the recycling bins because garbage collection costs are already included in their property owners association fees.”

The Royal Westmoreland Property Owners Association also presented the St Boniface Primary School with recycling bins and will assist that school in launching a recycling programme.

Minister of Home Affairs and Member of Parliament for St James North, Edmund Hinkson, also addressed the gathering and commended the Royal Westmoreland residents for their efforts to enhance the local environment.

“I am happy to see community involvement in a project like this one, and the whole process of recycling can also lead to new job opportunities and capacity building, and reaching out to a school is also helpful as the little ones here will pass on the message to their parents. They will continue these habits they learn early in life as they grow older,” he said.