Cayman Islands Yellow Pages keeps islands green

(CNS): Over 37,000 phone directories were collected and kept out of the landfill in November as part of the Cayman Islands Yellow Pages (CIYP) “Yellow2Green” initiative, a programme designed to recycle old phone books into insulation for homes. “We’re absolutely thrilled,” said CIYP Marketing Manager Eileen Keens. “It’s amazing to witness a country’s spirit of community and responsibility – so many people actively participated in this campaign for a common good."

She added, "The Cayman Islands are ready for an environmental movement and this is the beginning.”

“The energy of our youth was perhaps the most incredible part of this project,” added Keens in reference to the Yellow2Green School Challenge – a competition encouraging the island’s youth to learn about conserving the environment. The school to collect the most books per students enrolled won $1,500. “All the primary schools played an active role collecting books and they didn’t do it just to win a prize. Our kids understand that their islands are their future and they’ve set a good example for the rest of us to follow – we all live here and we’re all responsible for our environment.”

In order to level the playing field, the Yellow2Green School Challenge tallied the number of books collected according to how many children were enrolled in each school and the winning class from every school that participated won a pizza party. North Side Primary School took home the grand prize, collecting 21 books per student. Acting Principal Carol Nyack was happy to accept the prize on behalf of her students: “We’re overjoyed and thankful to CIYP for such a unique recycling program – everyone is a winner!”

Wesleyan Christian Academy placed a close second, taking home $1,000 cash, and a great sense of pride for their contribution of 20 books per student. “It was exciting to see such school spirit,” explained Principal Sonia Grant. “The older students helped the younger ones, parents and faculty pitched in – it was an incredible experience for the entire school.”

Keens also recognised that, while Prospect Primary School came in third place with 17 books per student, they collected the most books overall. “We’d like to acknowledge Prospect Primary for collecting over 7,000 books – this is an important contribution.”

Mark Macfee, Executive Vice President of CIYP’s parent company Global Directories, gave a special acknowledgement to all schools and students for participating: “The eager participation of the schools brought an added excitement to the programme, which permeated throughout the entire community. Our thanks go out to all students and faculty for truly embracing this initiative.”

Macfee also announced that Yellow2Green will become an annual programme: “This is an important environmental movement and it gives me great pleasure to announce its success. With the help of our corporate sponsors we will continue to lead this initiative annually, not only in Grand Cayman but, as of next year, in Cayman Brac as well.”

All books will be shipped via Thompson Shipping Line to Tampa where they’ll be 100% recycled into natural fiber insulation that is used in homes to aid in energy efficiency. Greenfiber is North America’s leading natural fiber manufacturer and they have been working with communities across the USA, and now in the Caribbean, to help keep over one million tons of paper out of the landfills.

“Thank you to everyone in Cayman who participated. And thanks to all our sponsors for their support. The environment is a big deal and people know it. Our landfill doesn’t need any more unnecessary waste,” added Keens.