How To Clean Up Barbados

A cleaner Barbados will not be achieved through clean-ups alone. We need to make it easier to do the right thing, more difficult to do the wrong thing and worthwhile to recover materials that still have value. That means education, infrastructure, incentives and enforcement working together. Here is a comprehensive strategy for how we can achieve this.

Fines for Littering

Barbados needs a simple and effective system for enforcing littering laws. Rather than requiring the police to arrest someone for a minor littering offence and then spend additional time dealing with a court appearance, officers should be able to issue on-the-spot tickets for littering. Dedicated litter wardens could also be appointed and trained to issue these tickets.

Before such a system is introduced, Government should carry out a nationwide public-education campaign explaining the new enforcement measures and announcing a clear date on which ticketing will begin. This would give the public adequate notice and help to ensure that enforcement is seen as fair rather than sudden or arbitrary. A similar public-education approach was used when Barbados introduced seatbelt requirements, helping people to understand the law before enforcement became widespread.

Stronger Penalties for Illegal Dumping

Illegal dumping is a much more serious offence and should attract correspondingly stronger penalties. Anyone caught illegally dumping waste should be prosecuted, face a substantial fine and, where appropriate, be required to remove and properly dispose of the material they dumped. Perhaps the vehicle should be impounded for a period of time.

Simply requiring offenders to clean up illegally dumped material, without any meaningful additional penalty, is unlikely to provide an adequate deterrent. Commercial operators also have a responsibility to dispose of their waste properly. Coconut vendors, for example, should be required to promptly remove and properly dispose of discarded coconut shells generated by their businesses. Failure to do so should result in appropriate enforcement action.

Community Service for Minor Offences

Community service could form part of the penalties imposed for certain minor offences. Where appropriate, offenders could be required to participate in supervised roadside or community clean-ups. This not only penalises the behaviour but directly contributes to the solution.

A Better Bottle Deposit System

The current system can be confusing because some brands may be imported or distributed by more than one company. Bottle depots may therefore refuse particular bottles or be uncertain about which distributor is responsible for accepting them.

A better approach would be to collect the bottle deposit when the product first enters the Barbadian market. For imported beverages, the deposit should be collected at the point of importation and placed in a dedicated returnable-container fund. For beverages manufactured in Barbados, the deposit should be collected when the product is sold by the manufacturer and paid into the same fund.

Consumers should then be able to return eligible bottles to approved distributors, retailers or bottle depots and receive the full refund. The businesses accepting the bottles would in turn be reimbursed from the dedicated fund. This would remove much of the confusion and ensure that the deposit money is collected before the bottle is sold and remains available until that bottle is returned.

Deposits on Appliances

A similar principle could be applied to major household appliances. When a new appliance is purchased, an environmental deposit could be included in the purchase price. That money could be transferred into a properly administered recycling fund.

When the appliance eventually reaches the end of its useful life and is delivered to an authorised recycler, the appropriate refund could be paid. Such a system would give consumers a financial incentive to dispose of old refrigerators, stoves, washing machines and other large appliances responsibly rather than abandoning them along roadsides, in gullies or on vacant land.

More Litter Bins & Infrastructure

People should be given convenient ways to dispose of their waste responsibly. Litter bins should be placed at or near schools, bus stops, popular beaches, parks, town centres and other heavily used public spaces. This is particularly important when we are trying to teach young people not to litter. We cannot repeatedly tell people to dispose of their rubbish properly while providing nowhere convenient for them to put it.

Organisers of public events should be required to provide an adequate number of temporary garbage and recycling receptacles for patrons. Every food vendor should also be required to provide an appropriate garbage receptacle at or immediately adjacent to the place where food is being sold.

Compulsory Truck Nets

A significant amount of roadside litter can come from unsecured material being transported in open-back trucks. Loads should therefore be properly covered or secured whenever loose material has the potential to fall or blow from a vehicle. Truck nets or other appropriate load-securing systems should be compulsory in these circumstances, backed by an efficient ticketing system.

Convenient Recycling & Composting

Barbados should make household recycling convenient and routine. Householders should be encouraged to separate recyclable materials from general waste at home. Paper, plastics, cans and glass could then be collected directly from households on predetermined days.

Community recycling facilities should also be established across Barbados so that individuals, schools, businesses and community organisations have convenient places to take recyclable materials. At minimum, residents should have convenient access to a recycling facility within their parish.

Organic waste should also form part of our strategy. Community composting facilities could accept appropriate plant and vegetable waste and convert it into a useful resource for agriculture, landscaping and home gardening. Government could further encourage composting by subsidising suitable home and commercial composters.

Sustained Public Education

None of these measures will reach their full potential without sustained public education. Barbadians need clear information about littering, recycling, composting, illegal dumping and the proper disposal of different types of waste.

Television, radio, newspapers, websites, social media, schools and community organisations should all be part of that effort. Well-known and respected Barbadian personalities could also help carry the message to a wider audience. Most importantly, public education should not consist of an occasional advertisement or short-term campaign. Changing habits requires repetition and consistency.