Recyclers clean up for Earth Day

Ms Shannon McKenzie, Department of Environmental
Health and Mr Ronald Dilbert, Acting Assistant Director
of the Solid Waste Section join the recyclers in a
recent clean up in the Barkers area

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

The John Gray Recyclers have been busy cleaning up Cayman in the lead up to this year’s Earth Day, on 22 April.

The John Gray Recyclers act to preserve the environment and to them, Earth Day comes not just once a year but all year round.

One of their main aims is to preserve coral reefs and marine life from destruction by harmful marine debris, and they have spent the past four months cleaning debris from Cayman’s Barkers National Park.

Marine debris frequently consists of plastic items and six-pack holders can often strangle turtles and birds. As a result, the John Gray Recyclers developed their Plastic Six Pack Holder Recycling project, taking the holders to Bodden Beverages for reuse. Any left over are sent to the Hi-Cone Plant in the United States for recycling.

Christine Whitehead from the John Gray Recyclers said: “Hi-Cone have what they call a ring leader programme. They send trees made out of recycled materials for schools to put their six-pack holders on, alongside information and videos for the students to view.

“We aim to fully-implement this plastic recycling programme into every school in Cayman by World Environment Day, 5 June.”

Melissa Smith, a Year 11 John Gray Recycler, recently visited the Lighthouse School as part of the project. “I was thrilled to see the enthusiasm the children displayed,” she said,

“As John Gray Recyclers our aim is to raise awareness and help preserve the natural beauty of our islands. By taking this project to the Lighthouse School we were able to see our aim of involving the other children become a reality.”

Chantal Pearson, also a John Gray Recycler, continued: “Our visit to the Lighthouse School was very rewarding. As we were explaining our Coral Reef Preservation project you could see the excitement on their faces.

“They also seemed to particularly enjoy placing the plastic six-pack holders on the tree that we presented to them.”

The John Gray Recyclers will be at Barkers National Park on Sunday, 25 April, from 2-5 pm, celebrating Earth Day and welcome the public to come and join them and help with the clean up.

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