Green blog discusses garbage problem

| 13/05/2009

(CNS): Following the publicity given in the local media to pictures of the Grand Cayman landfill – Mt Trashmore – that she took from a cruise ship, Kerry Horek has created a blog about how to deal with the islands’ garbage, which asks questions about recycling and other environmental challenges surrounding the islands’ landfills, including illegal dumping and the impact of the dump on the environment. (Left: the dump on Cayman Brac)

“I welcome all comments, because there is no one person that has the single resolution, the more suggestions, advice, etc, we receive freely through this blog could aid us with putting our plans in place to make this happen,” Horek said.“We always get a second and sometimes a third opinion when we are ill. Why can’t we apply the same principal to resolving the issue with the dump?”she asked.

Horek said she created the blog Keep My Island Green & Clean because, she said, “I felt that when you open up a situation to the people in your country where they can voice their opinions openly without feeling victimized and remaining anonymous at the same time, you can certainly gain more of a feel for what the populous wants. We have to listen to the people; they are the ones that are living here and will ultimately feel the effects of what happens with our environment. Therefore they should have a voice.”

Her goal is for all the research that the government has done on the landfill to come to fruition – and very soon. “We must clean up the leaching into the North Sound before it affects our water environment any further to the point of no return. There has to be a clean-up crew implemented to make this happen. I also want to see that we start recycling very shortly as a start to the preventing more garbage being added to the dump. All metal, glass and plastic products should be put up for sale and sold to countries that will buy our metal and I am sure there are some nearby (Central/South or North America) that will be willing to contract with us. If we can sift these same products from the current dump site, then we should also implement this and get started.” (Photo above: Mt Trashmore, taken by Kerry Horek)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    you can also see this mt. trashmore when arriving on island by plane.
    I remembered to look while coming in yesterday.
    no good.

  2. Anonymous says:

    I am not suprised that non of the politicans has ever spend much energy to resolve this issue as until recently, it just wasn’t a popular topic. Sad! Our people need to be educated in regards to these issues and it has to start in each school. Businesses have to be brought in line as well. Hopefully people will finally begin to listen.

  3. Anonymous says:

    glad to see a blog started and all the press. frankly i do not care how we deal with and am happy something MAY finally happen.

    i say this with frustration because in 2006 i recall Arden proclaiming that he will not sleep until it (the landfill) is handled.

    i have on 5 seperate occassions dropped a proposal from a gentleman that can handle this issue. this is of no monitary interest to me i would like to add and that i just wanted it dealt with and this seems to be the perfect solution.

    the gentleman in question does a modular gasification process for handling municiple waste. He did the same for disney world in florida where they now cool and heat the entire complex off their own waste. he also did Ponce Puerto Rico (second largest city on puerto rico)

    the beauty of the process is there is no handling (seperating) garbage and you can reclaim the land that the current land fill sits on and handle continued garbage, with no negative bi-products, it creates potable water and runs on it’s own energy. while piping excess energy back to the stake holder (CUC). sound good??

    i think so.

    this was dropped to Arden’s office and the west bay office of McKeeva, When Arden’s personal secretary resigned we dropped a new copy. there was never ANY follow up with questions etc. which leads me to believe that it was never looked over.

     http://www.freecleanenergy.com/ not sure if i am supposed to put a link on here but thought if anyone was willing to take a look at what they do.

     

     

  4. Anonymous says:

    Caybrew recycles every one of their bottles – never throw one away – protect the environment from bottle wastage.  The Caybrew brewery’s business model relies on the recycling of Caybrew bottles – each bottle is purchased back by the Brewery and the returner gets CI$2 per case.  The bottles are then washed, sterilised and re-filled and go in and out of the market at least 20 times.  That is at least 20x less wastage per bottle of Caybrew than any other beer bottle in the Cayman Islands – that’s smart, clean and green.  Well done Caybrew – truely reducing waste.

  5. Anonymous says:

    It totally escapes me that for tears the politicians have looked the other way. What world do they live in??? This is a disaster waiting to happen, they love the country so much  they ignore the dump.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Stop using plastic bags – carry your own bags to the grocery store

    Demand that restaurants and bars serve their foods and drinks in reusable plastic rather than thowaways

    Pack your childrens snacks, lunches and drinks in reusable containers rather than ziplock bags or individual plastic bottles

    Use water coolers for parties rather than individual sized water bottles

    Use reusable plastic ware for parties rather than throwaways

    Give gifts in reusable gift bags rather than wrapped in paper. Avoid bows. Do you really need them?

    These are only a few things that can be done by everyone. Recycling is needed but we also need to figure out how we can avoid some garbage creation altogether!

  7. Caymanite says:

    A big thumbs up to Ms. Horek. At last! Someone who is willing to try do what we have all ignored.

    I for one, was shocked and saddened by the photographs, I always would complain about the smell if I had to drive in that area but I never for once imagined the magnitude of the problem. I guess I too was one of those who believed that fairies came in the night to remove our nasty garbage…….

    Every little bit helps people, let’s think, try re-use grocery bags, or even better use the recycled bags, do you really need your BK meal put into a bag? Do you really need your one item purchased to be placed in it’s own little bag?

    Anyway, hats off to the lady.

  8. CE says:

    I’ve been hearing about this infamous photo from the cruise ship, but, wow, I had no clue it looked like THAT!? I look forward to reading Ms. Horek’s blog and the comments and suggestions that will be posted. We’ve been talking for years about shipping off our scrap metal to neighbouring countries…Let’s do it already! And when I lived in the U.S. for college, I was all too happy to recycle because I knew that I was protecting the environment – albeit one less picturesque than Cayman’s. Cayman, we can do betta! LET’S…

  9. Anonymous says:

     

    Recycling needs to be mandatory! In many countries a business and house hold have three or four bins. The largest is the compost and garden trimmings; it is usually green in colour. The next is recycling, for glass, paper, and plastic, it is generally blue in colour. We may need to separate these items down further. The last and smallest bin is black for any remaining items and garbage. Each business and household is given a grace period of 3 to 6 months to master the recycling program, after that you are fined if you do not follow the required steps. I know from experience it is very easy and doesn’t take that long to get down. The compost and trimmings can be collected, broke down and sold as mulch. Glass bottles could be crushed and used for concrete production, sold to the companies. It is sad we had to be “shamed into pride.” We all must work together to fix this and those people who have lived in other countries are an amazing resource to fix this problem. Our islands have limited land and we must act before we destroy our environment. It is important to note, just moving it out of sight (East End) is not the answer! We MUST recycle and reuse whenever possible. I pose a challenge to anyone who reads this… For one week just separate your plastic and glass bottles into another bag or can. You will be amazed how much you have after seven days. Restaurants need a system to collect and recycle all the liquor, beer, and wine bottles. This may be the best place to start. We must act now as a community and at a grassroots level; government can not and should not do everything. Recycle, Reuse, And Reduce!!!