Tide Turner’s challenge was implemented in 3 communities Placencia, Seine Bight, and Independence. As a part of the project, community and beach clean-up was one of the target activities. SEA organized and partnered with different groups to complete clean-ups in each community. In Placencia cleanup was done in partnership with the Anglican primary school. The cleanup started from the municipal pier, the students were Led by SEA’s officer, they were the “walkers”, The area cleaned was along the beach from the municipal pier leading towards tipsy tuna. Others did some diving so there were paddlers with kayaks to collect the garbage being collected. Excellent participation from the school kids as education continues being more responsible for the actions taken by our youths. Another cleanup was done with the PIA primary school in Placencia as well.
Clean up in Seine bight the entire school of St. Alphonsus Primary participated, each class was given a section of the community to clean. The entire community was cleaned collecting a total of 183 pounds of garbage varied from cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bottles, foam plates, etc. The Cleanup activity in Independence was done with the students of Independence Junior College along with Oceana Belize there was a total of 25 participants, and garbage was picked up from the triangular park leading to the stadium, in such a short distance there was a total of 262 pounds of garbage collected. These were mainly single-use plastic bags, plastic bottles, and cans as data was recorded on the types of garbage being picked up. Plastic pollution has become a growing concern that is getting out of control as we humans have become irresponsible in how we use and dispose of our waste.
The final clean-up was done with the students who completed the activities on the tide turners challenge app, these were students who reached the champion level. These students were taken to Laughing Bird Caye National Park for a small clean-up on one side of the north side of the island there was a total of about 50 pounds of plastic pieces. This area shows garbage that would wash up on the coast, some is plastic waste from the surrounding country but there is still a lot that is plastic from Belize. All these activities were done as a part of the implementation of the plastic tide turners challenge (PTTC) program in Belize with the support from the Basel convention Regional Center for Training and Technology Transfer for the Caribbean (BCRC)