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I ’ ll have a lunch box with me as well . People look at me funny when I ask for my order to be packed in my lunch box instead of a Styrofoam container . I hear the occasional snickers behind my back and I ignore the odd looks and rude commentaries . At the grocery store I frequent , I am known as the “ No Plastic Lady ” and my friends and family give the usual grunt whenever I remind them of the harms they are causing by taking a drink that is served in a plastic cup . My husband is about to divorce me because of the many arguments we have whenever he stops at the store to get some last minute items and he packs them in a ( gasp ) plastic bag – the Horror !”
Aside from some of my friends who have finally started to see the impact they have on the incredible waste produced on the island , most people just seem immune or uncaring . Our islands have such fragile eco systems and all we seem to care about is securing our groceries by double bagging and making sure we can continue the happy hour fun by asking for a to go cup , which we then unceremoniously dump onto landfills that are overflowing and where methane gas bubbles are threatening to explode us into the next century .
Yes , we all love to complain about our local dumps and landfills , especially when something disastrous happens that makes us realize how it can easily negatively affect our bread and butter called tourism . Yet , we never stop to think that WE are the biggest contributors to these minor
disasters . Why look in the mirror when you can always blame government and keep purchasing and use plastic because it is much cheaper and thus better for business ( read : more money ) than the better and healthier alternative ?
We , Caribbean people , can do better . We can follow the examples of islands such as Aruba , the BVI , the Bahamas , Barbados , Grenada and a few more .
Our need to waste is getting out of hand and our Caribbean stubbornness is standing in the way of change . Nobody likes change . I ’ m the first one to complain but I think also that in the Caribbean we don ’ t only not like change , we stubbornly fight against it , only welcoming it when it makes our lives so much easier or richer in money , possessions and assets .
Our priorities are a little screwed up and that ’ s a pity because we can do so much better , achieve such greatness , even as smaller nations . Just like we are fast to copy our neighbor ’ s idea of a food truck or rum shack , why not copy businesses that use other alternatives to plastic ? Why not make our own reef-safe sunscreen ? Why not purchase