Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 7, 2022 (MMS-SKN) — The St. Kitts and Nevis Solid Waste Management and Recycling Project, whose declared mission is helping the Federation in the management and the reduction of waste, is on the right track thanks to the interest and creativity shown by school children and the support they are receiving from their parents, teachers, and the government.
“Since we launched activities of the project, I have been greatly encouraged by the interest shown by school children who turn out in their numbers to ask questions and even to share the little information they have as it relates to recycling,” pointed out Project Manager Ms Joyce Chang.
The St. Kitts and Nevis Solid Waste Management and Recycling Project, which was officially launched on Friday, March 4 this year, has been setting up a booth at most public activities including the Agriculture Open Day in St. Kitts, Nevis Island Administration’s Ministry of Tourism’s Exposition Nevis Festival, Agro Strip Farmers’ Market on Pond Site in St. Kitts, where school children thronged to learn more about recycling.
“Their enthusiasm is great, and I am always pleased to not only talk to them about what materials can be recycled and what cannot be recycled but also to hear from them telling me how they do their own recycling at home,” noted Ms Chang.
She added: “While St. Kitts and Nevis currently produces 32,363 metric tons of waste per year (1.67 kg/person/day), which is much higher than the global average of 0.99kg in Latin America and the Caribbean, our future looks bright because with the interest the children are showing, St. Kitts and Nevis can be a success story in terms of reducing waste.”
Expected results of the project, according to the Project Manager, will be to improve and implement a clear policy for solid waste disposal to increase the efficiency of garbage sorting and recycling while at the same time undertaking Target 12.5 which is to substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ‘Responsible Consumption and Production.’
Ms Chang, joined Resident Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) His Excellency Michael Chau-Horng Lin at the Children’s Parade held on Friday June 24 to mark the end of 2022 Child Month whose theme was ‘Recycle: Save the Earth for our Children’s Future’, said how surprised and pleased she was to see the children’s creativity as they displayed items including outfits that were made out of recycled material.
One of the schools that stood out was Unique Gem Day Care Centre, from Verchilds, where students and parents were led on the Children’s Parade by the owner of the daycare centre, Mrs Verlyn Phipps. The theme of the products they made from recycled material was the Fire Department where they displayed large toy dump trucks made of cardboard.
According to a parent, Mrs Sahira Joseph, the recyclable materials schools in the West Zone were supposed to use included among others, cardboard.
“I just thought about how it could be cool to incorporate such small babies in the march looking presentable and the idea of dump trucks came to mind,” said Mrs Joseph. “I looked online and I saw some costumes from a party that they were doing for a fire department and I thought, okay, why not do some dump trucks. Every parent gave their own creative spin to the idea and that made it unique and fun.”
Another school that stood out with outfits made of recycled material was Bright Sparks Academy located in the Red Cross Building on Hosfords Road, in Basseterre. Owner, Ms Patricia Belle, said that children’s outfits were made from burlap material and babies’ caps were made from leatherette, while teachers’ jewellery was made from shells including shells of the sea cockroach.
“I was very excited to go to this Children’s Month Parade and one thing that surprised me was not only the topic of recycling but I saw the children who were so creative, and innovative on how they used the materials that would have been thrown away as waste,” said Project Manager Ms Joyce Chang.
The Project Manager, who also attended the Nevis Child Month Parade, held on Friday, June 10, added: “We recognise that the kids are the future generation, and here we can see the children were patient and that the children have already changed their mind-sets to reuse materials to make new dresses and other artefacts. I also liked the way the parents joined in to help their children. It encouraged me a lot.”