Tired feet and sunburnt skin were not the only proof that hundreds of revellers paraded from George Town to Seven Mile Public Beach last Saturday for CayMAS Carnival. Unfortunately, food containers, beer cans and bottles, and plastic water bottles were left behind in the ‘after mas’, strewn along the road by pavements and bushes.
Although there were signs of some cleaning efforts in the form of full garbage bags leaning against bins along West Bay Road, they were not enough to completely remove the trail of discarded items – along with colourful confetti and party fliers – that were still visible on Sunday afternoon.
By Monday morning, cleaning crews were out to rectify the situation, as one of the directors of CayMAS, Craig ‘Festa’ Frederick, had been alerted to complaints from the public.
“I take these complaints very seriously,” Frederick said. “We usually have a crew walking behind our parade, cleaning up any mess, then turning back towards town for a second sweep of the route. As soon as I heard that there was still litter on the road, I got on the phone to get a group of cleaners out first thing Monday morning.”
Frederick also stated that when it came to his Swanky mas band, all members were given reusable containers with water dispensed from five-gallon bottles on the trucks. However, there was no doubt that some others brought their own bottles, and then there was no control over what those who came out to watch the parade did with their receptacles.
“I really don’t understand how people can just throw things on the ground,” Frederick said. “If you don’t want to hold an empty bottle in your hand, carry a small bag to hold it until you can dispose of it properly.”
Littering is the issue that many organisers face who take on large-scale events: No matter what directives are given to participants in advance, a surprising number of adults apparently just can’t be bothered to find a garbage bin.
Isabella Rooney of Plastic Free Cayman – a non-profit that has encouraged members of the community to stop using single-use plastics through events, education and numerous presentations – said it was disappointing to see so many plastic bottles littering public areas.
“Carnival is an incredibly fun and lively event here in Cayman, however we are saddened to see the state of our roads and the amount of single-use plastics lining the streets post-event,” Rooney said. “[It]… has left us worried about the impact such an event has on the surrounding environments.
“We hope that in the future, all event attendees will consider alternatives to single-use plastic bottles and the like. A small effort can make a big difference.”
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We were in Tokyo, Japan a few years ago.
We couldn’t understand how the streets were spotless but there were no litter bins.
A Japanese person explained that from kindergarten onwards children were taught civic responsibility and, among other things, take their trash home.
Can we not teach our children the same?
Litter is pervasive on this Island. It’s not just after a public event. I challenge you to walk anywhere without seeing trash that someone has tossed into the bushes.
Yes, we need to teach our children. And we need to enforce the fines for littering on the adults that set this terrible example.
Anne Evans
Subscriber’s Spouse
It is very disheartening that year after year taking part in Earth Day cleanup, I see as much, if not more, litter lying around than the year before. For many years Pink Ladies have cleaned up the Barcadere at George Town Yacht Club. The amount of litter does not decrease. The Pink Ladies group is in the process of having wooden frames made from donated pallets to “house” garbage cans for this area.