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Date Posted: June 17, 2008. By:
Ravi Lloyd
The consumer population of Anguilla needs to be
consciously aware of its used by-products. Exemplifying
Anguillian actions as a community- but perhaps to the
extreme - I recently witnessed a man in a dress, who seemed
to have some sort of compulsive hording disorder, take trash
from its bins and make vast waste pile on his land. As if
he was unknowingly leading others by example, the amount of
waste that has been carelessly discarded by the side of the
road or in the bush is disturbing. It is difficult to
believe that every person in Anguilla is contently pleased
about this and will let trash manifest in the bushes. We
need to deal with this problem before the island succumbs in
its own filth and before it becomes too exponential to
solve. If we manage our waste effectively while it is still
easy to do, our easy living will continue. Uncared for
waste could leave the lands futile, the waters poisoned, and
the economy (built on our “tropical paradise” reputation)
struggling. How would we then survive? We must care for our
mother Anguilla by managing our overwhelming harvesting
power to consume as she cares for our survival and
livelihoods.
What is
happening today seems to reflect a disregard for our
ecosystem - we throw our garbage to the wayside - not in
the trash receptors placed strategically around the
island for this very purpose. While this is an old
habit, it has become a bigger problem because until
recent times, there has not been such a bustling
population on the Island that we now see today, or the
industrial progresses and other types of development
that generate the greatest waste. These mental customs
need change, starting with a realization of the
destructiveness of our actions and countered with
conscious waste management efforts. In my ideal Anguilla,
this would include the recycling of materials, but for
now and as a start, the we must throw our trash away
properly, reuse plastic bottles, use paper bags instead
of plastic, minimise the amount of goods we consume to
prevent unnecessary refuse, and compost decomposable
materials to better help the fertility of the land. By
doing this, we can keep Anguilla’s serenity and maintain
her beauty; but we need this to be a community effort.
Unless you really are that compulsive man in the dress,
I do not see the reasoning behind not properly handling
our by-products of consumer waste.
Ravi Lloyd is young Anguillian who is
concerned about the environment and the future of Anguilla.
He is currently volunteering at The Anguilla National Trust.
The Anguilla National Trust welcomes questions, comments,
and suggestions. If you would like to voice your opinions
and/or concerns, please contact the Trust at 497 5297 or at
axanat@anguillanet.com. Together we can make a difference.
Preservations for Generations. |
