1,000 pounds lighter

As part of activities to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Island Routes Caribbean Adventures, team members from Sandals Barbados participated in a beach clean up at Silver Sands beach, Christ Church last weekend.

The Island Routes team was supported by volunteers from Sandals Foundation, the resort’s Environmental Health and Safety team, as well as students, teachers and parents from the Christ Church Girls and Milton Lynch Primary Schools.

General Manager of Sandals Barbados Ramel Sobrino explained that the beach clean up is an example of the Island Routes’ commitment to excellence, not just here in Barbados but throughout the Caribbean, adding that similar activities were held in Jamaica, St Lucia, Antigua, Grenada, Turks & Caicos, and The Bahamas.

He said, “At Sandals, we are passionate about ensuring that both guests and community members have a truly memorable experience, no matter the interaction, from exposing guests to the highest quality in local excursions and attractions through the services provided by Island Routes, to community-minded initiatives that focus on sustainability and development.”

Sobrino also noted, “Over 1,000 pounds of seaweed and garbage were collected during the activity, which is just one of the many community related projects which are often conceptualised by team members.”

The beach clean up also fell on World Oceans Day and Mark Hill of the Design Council was on hand to teach the students more sustainable ways to collect sargassum seaweed. During his presentation, he noted that the council promotes the use of more reusable supplies such as onion bags for the collection of organic materials.

“The students were shown how to use the onion bags which allow the sargassum seaweed to dry while on the beach. If the seaweed contains a lot of sand, the onion bags also allow for it to be washed out. The seaweed is then collected and brought to the School of Design and Biotechnology, a local NGO, where it is used to make different value-added products including soil amendments, fertilizers and bio stimulants,” Hill said.

Rated as the World’s Leading Caribbean attraction company, Island Routes started in Jamaica on June 1, 2009 with one tour desk and has grown steadily into 12 destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico. The company offers more than 500 tours in Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, The Cayman Islands, Jamaica, St. Lucia and the Turks & Caicos Islands, with each having undergone a thorough screening process and providing experiences that are of the highest standard.