Rubbish

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GillianM
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Rubbish

Post by GillianM »

First time back to Tobago for a few years and am really sad to note changes for the worst...obviously tourist numbers are drastically down and amazed to see that even the bar/restaurant on the beach at Mount Irvine is not operating-should be a prime tourist spot and a place for locals to benefit from visitors.
As a regular visitor and someone who cares greatly for Tobago, I am astonished to see the amount of household waste just lying about on the streets.....two locations close to me-one in Black Rock down close to the sea and another in Plymouth(these are by NO means the only ones-just examples), have what looks like MONTHS worth of rubbish just lying on or beside the road. It is absolutely horrible and a public health hazard for anyone in the vicinity.
To add to all the other reasons why someone may choose a different island to visit, surely this is the final straw?!
When you compare this to the valiant efforts some are making to recycle(bins at Castara; recycling on Mons at Buccoo) it is an absolute disgrace.
It will certainly make me think twice about coming again. Add to this the fact that my partner was fairly sure he saw raw sewage floating on the sea, close to Grafton Beach near Fort Bennet.
What exactly will make people choose Tobago when this is going on? Added to the terrible customer service; overpriced and poor restaurant options and increasingly limited choice of bars, it makes promotion for tourism a joke.
Am considering calling both the Tourism Dept and Public Health-not exactly what I had planned for my holiday.
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Paul Tallet
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Re: Rubbish

Post by Paul Tallet »

Hello Gillian.

I put a post in the general discussion forum entitled 'Tobago's delicate environment' a few weeks ago that covers your concerns and more ... I also fully support your concerns.

The rubbish you see is just the tip of the iceberg and any recycling activity (?). Where does it really end up?

Tobago is not alone and, like other places around the world, is still operating landfill sites (i.e.; the Maldives have designated one of it's many Islands as a landfill site, when it is full up I am sure a second Island will be chosen) ... Tobago is just doing a poor job of covering it up.

Only glass bottles are collected such as beer bottles which, I believe, come with financial incentives to be returned to the breweries.

All we can do is moan and my moanings during my last visit were received positively and I would see little resistance from Tobagonians if the THA got it's act together and invested in more eco-friendly measures to protect it's environment.

Unfortunately, nothing happens fast in Tobago.

Regards
Paul Tallet
Public Relations Consultant for Mother Nature
GillianM
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Re: Rubbish

Post by GillianM »

Yes totally understand the slow pace of progress.....it is good to know that your moanings were positively received-I hate moaning and particularly being a moaning visitor!!
I agree the landfill/recycling issue is paramount to get to the root of the problem. However a few days ago at Buccoo beach I complained to two lifeguards that there was nowhere to put our litter. I was told to put it at the base of a tree on the beach(where there was loads of rubbish already piled up) and it would all be picked up by SMWCOL(?) in the morning. The rubbish was already blowing over the beach and some plastic into the sea. When I asked why there wasn't a bin, they replied that there was usually a black bag tied to one of the trees but there just wasn't one today. It beggars belief. So the litter pickers will spend hours recovering loose litter(bet they don't go in the sea!!!), wasting time on one location at the detriment of others? The lifeguards said that people won't use the bins if they install them-I don't believe that. There will be a number who won't but most people HAD piled up their litter under the tree, so I believe that bins with notices on would be a massive help.
I could say a lot more but am scared to look too far above the parapet. We need locals to fight these battles. PLEASE!
GillianM
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Re: Rubbish

Post by GillianM »

Just read your excellent post Paul; apologies for missing it before.
We do all need to speak up about the use of plastic bags in the supermarket....its going to be an uphill battle though as when I told a Tobagonian friend that I was taking my own bags, he said 'Good luck with that-they will think you are mad.'
GGGGGrrrrrrrr.
Richard Hubbard
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Re: Rubbish

Post by Richard Hubbard »

Hello all,

This is a difficult one. Trinidad and Tobago are more or less in financial difficulty, given the collapse in the oil industry, the last thing on anyone's minds at the moment is sustainable development and environmental protection. However it is also a cultural problem which is not unique to Tobago but the whole Caribbean and other developing nations and indeed developed nations, some Caribbean islands with heavy tourism have more litter pickers, Trinidad and Tobago cant afford them at the moment having suffered public sector cuts, bigger concerns abound than tourism I am afraid.

BR,

Richard Hubbard.
Ronald
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Re: Rubbish

Post by Ronald »

As everyone know, the only bottles that goes back to factory are beer bottles! In many countries, not only Sweden, all kind of bottles and cans must be recycled. No plastic bottles at all, even all mental cans for beers and soft drinks are recycled.
To produce a glaas bottle from beginning take a lot of energy, same with metal. To melt down old ones to produce new ones take very much LESS energy.
Every country has waste in one way or an other, in Sweden we have old areas where we before dumped different types, some of them are like smaller hills, used for downhill skeeing wintertime!
Sooner or later T&T also will have to do something. The cost to do nothing will get higher and higher.
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