New project aims to change attitude to littering

An anti-littering and cleanup challenge encouraging individuals, communities, and the private sector to do more to keep their environments free of waste has been launched by ProSource Barbados in association with The Mango Bay Group of hotels.

As the Changemaker Challenge was launched on Sunday, Chairman of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Renee Coppin expressed concern about the amount of litter she has seen in various parts of the island.

“I think at this stage of Barbados’ development, one gift we can give ourselves is to keep our island clean, beyond tourism. It breaks my heart as a Barbadian to walk around my community – I live in St John – and to see the amount of litter…. I do something called a ten-step challenge where I challenge myself to walk ten steps without encountering any litter; it’s impossible and that is really an indictment on us as Barbadians,” she said.

“Barbados is an incredibly beautiful country, people pay lots of money to come here and enjoy everything that we have to offer, and we ourselves have to be responsible for taking care of this island and doing the basic things necessary to ensure that it is liveable, that it’s safe, that it’s comfortable, and that basic things like our drainage systems and our water systems can work well by ensuring that we keep our country clean.”

CEO for the Mango Bay Group, Shireene Mathlin-Tulloch, told the media that she hoped to see more people and businesses getting involved in the new project which is under the Don’t Waste Barbados campaign launched in 2021.

“A lot of you have been hearing about litter in Barbados, [how much] bigger it is getting and the need to have everybody involved. So what we are doing here today is trying to bring awareness to everyone – to corporate Barbados, to our fellow hoteliers, but more than that, to communities and the average man on the street,” she told those gathered for the launch at The Sands Barbados in Worthing, Christ Church.

“At this point, we want to invite everyone to come on board – communities, churches, schools, business places – to get the message out there that if you have litter it needs to go into the bin and not onto the side of the road.” 

Head of Business and Communications at ProSource Barbados, Janelle Edwards said the company was pleased to be again part of such an important project.

“ProSource was one of the first corporate supporters of the Don’t Waste Barbados movement when it was launched in 2021 and this is the model that we would have wished for – to see corporate supporters and big groups such as the Mango Bay Group and The Sands hotel on board,” she said. “Initiatives such as this really go a long way to let people know we are corporate Barbados and we are also doing our part.”

The Changemaker Challenge will see participants cleaning up as much trash as possible by the end of 2023, using social media to document their efforts. 

The lucky winner of the challenge will get a staycation for two, courtesy the Mango Bay Group. 

(SB)