Three tons of trash collected by group "Keep Bermuda Beautiful"in just two days

More than 100 people congregated at 18 points across Bermuda recently, collecting more than three tons of trash dumped on the island.

It was part of a global marine clean up mission coordinated by Ocean Conservancy, which saw close to half a million people take to the oceans and the shores to collect the mess tossed away by members of disposable societies the world over.

The volunteers from environmental organization Keep Bermuda Beautiful were out in force at sites including Jew's Bay, Mangrove Bay and Shelly Bay. As they collected trash they filled out data cards which will continue to be collected after future clean ups until the middle of October to get an idea of what Bermudians are throwing away into the environment and how the island compares to other countries.

Feedback will be given to manufacturers and waste disposal organisations about how their waste is taken care of and how we can find solutions for Bermuda; one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

According to KBB Executive Director Richard Lathan one of the main causes of pollution in Bermuda is the casual throwing away of rubbish by people in the streets and on the beaches. Fly tipping is also a major problem on the island despite a forward-thinking government scheme to collect larger household goods for free.

The fly tipping hotspots in Bermuda include Lodge Point Lane in Somerset, Vesey Street in Devonshire, the railway trail at Southampton and a new site called Aoelia Drive opposite the entrance to Tynes Bay.

Mr. Lathan said that up to 80 per cent of the household goods found by KBB could have been collected through the government scheme but that bizarrely Bermudian people are not taking advantage of it tending to pay private companies to do the work. Mr. Lathan suspects that these very companies might have a hand in the fly tipping itself.

"If you pay to have something removed from your house it might wind up elsewhere or just being dumped back into the environment," he explained. "We have reason to believe that some of these private companies may be involved and we'd like to expose some of them. There are a couple of plans in the works and one suggestion is to video certain sites.

"Another suggestion is changing the way the truckers get paid to take things and deposit things so when they pick it up in order to get paid they have to have a ticket showing that they deposited the stuff at the appropriate places."

Among the initiatives Mr. Lathan would like to see introduced in Bermuda is the enforcement of mandatory recycling across all businesses which are not included in the government's collections.

"Currently they have to pay for their own recycling and businesses are trying to figure out how is it worth it for them which is a legitimate question. If the government says it is mandatory that means government would have to take an active role in assisting."

Mr. Lathan highlighted a lack of dumpsters near the docks to cater for the boating community. Over a six-week period around Cup Match KBB took half a ton of rubbish brought to the shore by boaters who had nowhere else to put it.

KBB plans to help increase awareness about Bermuda's environment through a series of town hall meetings which will take place regularly over coming months.

Mr. Lathan said: "We believe that dialogue is the beginning of awareness and hopefully we can move forward."

The Ministry of Works and Engineering was unavailable for comment as the Bermuda Sun went to press.