fp Turks and Caicos

Earth Day celebrations on Providenciales started a week early when the Hotel and Tourism Association hosted its 3rd annual “TCI Shines” cleanup campaign on Saturday, April 16.

Earth Day, which is celebrated across the world on April 22, falls this year on Good Friday, so the cleanup campaign was rescheduled to April 16 to give those Earth Day enthusiasts who will be travelling for the Easter weekend a chance to participate.

A team of dedicated volunteers from various hotels and businesses across the island joined the TCHTA in successfully gathering approximately 500 bags of litter from around Grace Bay Road, Lower Bight and Leeward Highway. Teams included employees from Beaches, Alexandra, Comfort Suites, Gansevoort, Seven Stars, The Sands, The Veranda, Grace Bay Club, Club Med, Somerset, Regent Palms and La Vista Azul.

Members of the Environmental Health Department and the Environmental Club and corporate companies like Digicel and Royal Bank of Canada also participated in the cleanup campaign. The teams also included several children who were surprised by the amount of trash found on the side of the road.

“I can’t believe how much waste people have thrown on the side of the road. Don’t they care about our environment?” one eight-year-old participant told the fp.

Volunteers got out early Saturday, arriving at the Children’s Park in the Bight at 6 a.m. to receive their road clean-up assignments. They hit the streets for three hours of picking up trash along roadsides under a blazing morning sun.

The work was certainly not a walk in the park, with volunteers often reaching into the thick brush to pick up trash which had been discarded by people who did not properly dispose of items such as glass bottles, aluminum cans, plastic bags and even spark plugs. Styofoam sheets and construction materials also were found.

This year the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources and TCI Waste Disposal Services continued their partnership with the TCHTA by not only participating in the cleanup, but also provided the venue and on-road support for the event, and organised the garbage collection and disposal from the various check points.

TCI Waste Disposal also embraced the opportunity to promote their new recycling programme as participants were given a brief lesson on what items were deemed recyclable before heading out to clean. This initiative was widely received by all as participants eagerly separated the items for recycling.

Volunteers carried two bags up and down the roads, separating waste items and recyclable items.

“This year’s campaign gained tremendous support from hoteliers and our corporate partners who continuously seek to participate in our community initiatives,” said Karen Whitt, president of the TCHTA. “We were overwhelmed with the participation and would like to encourage others to join us in keeping our islands litter free.”

This weekend’s TCI Shines event was the third annual organized by the TCHTA.

“We have noticed a decrease in the amount of trash that is usually found along the road sides and believe that this can be attributed to the awareness that the previous TCI Shines campaigns have brought about in the local communities,” Whitt said. “Clean surroundings are a must, so let us continue to work together to maintain our beautiful by nature Turks and Caicos Islands.”