Massive amounts of trash found during school cleanups

Milton Peters’ students collected over 19 large garbage bags of trash during a beach cleanup at Mullet Bay in collaboration with EPIC’s environmental education program.

MULLET BAY— EPIC’s Environmental Educator Laura Bijnsdorp has applauded the students of HAVO 1 and HAVO 2 of Milton Peters College who volunteered for a Mullet Bay Cleanup in collaboration with Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC) and the EPIC environmental education program. The 42 high school students collected 19 large garbage bags of trash in a timespan of just 45 minutes. Later that day six HAVO 3 students helped conduct a cleanup at Little Bay Pond, collecting eight large garbage bags.

“EPIC believes beach cleanups directly contribute to creating a healthier beach environment as well as demonstrate the value of protecting and preserving the region’s coastline. We are very proud of all the students, teachers, parents and schools this year that have made the effort to join our education program and chose to conduct cleanups around the island. But it is also alarming that, every few weeks after a cleanup of areas such as Mullet Bay Beach and Little Bay Pond, they are once again littered with trash. It shows a huge lack of responsibility, care and management on how we manage our waste as a society on our island,” Bijnsdorp said.

During the cleanup, plastic bottles, styrofoam pieces, package wrappers, an array of condoms, fast food containers, aluminum cans, glass shards, and clothing items were among the items that seemed to have been carelessly discarded by the beach’s visitors.

Bijnsdorp added: “The Ocean is a great source that provides us with the basic elements of life. Not only does it produce over half of the oxygen that is in the air we breathe, but it is an imperative part of the water cycle: supplying us with the water we drink. It is pertinent that we all realize the profound stake we have in an ocean that is abundant and healthy. The earth’s oceans will have more plastic than fish by 2050, according to a January report published by the World Economic Forum.”

Source: Today SXM Massive amounts of trash found during school cleanups