There will be a significant change to this year’s territory wide clean up events. The Virgin Islands Marine Advisory Service (VIMAS) is partnering with Department of Planning and Natural Resources’ (DPNR) Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Division to recycle all hard plastics collected, UVI announced today.
Coastweeks will begin on Sept. 16, and continues through to Oct. 31.
“This effort has long been overdue in the territory (the recycling of plastics),” said VIMAS Coordinator on St. Thomas Howard Forbes Jr. “Every year we clean numerous beaches both during and outside of Coastweeks and the most prevalent type of trash is plastics which only then return to the landfill after these cleanups.”
“To now be able to divert that trash away from the landfill is our first step to addressing the many issues surrounding marine debris and waste production,” Forbes said. Additionally, these cleanups are a great opportunity for students to receive community service hours which they may need as part of scholarship or graduation, he said.
The effort was initiated by Kristina Edwards, the Education and Outreach coordinator for CZM on St. Thomas and entails the recycling of plastics, including plastic cutlery, cups, containers, bottles, etc. Volunteers are highly encouraged to come out and participate as this effort will help to divert garbage away from our already full landfill.
VIMAS partners with VI Waste Management Authority in coordinating and removal of waste during Coastweeks.
For more information, or to volunteer for Coastweeks, call Howard Forbes Jr. on St. Thomas at (340) 693-1672; Marcia Taylor on St. Croix at (340) 692-4046; or Karen Jarvis on St. John at (340) 779-4940. For a detailed list of the times and places of clean-ups, visit http://vimas.uvi.edu or see this direct link.
Tags: coastweeks, uvi
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