Earth Day 2013

Image via staugustine

 So often when it comes to reporting on the environment, it's a heavy message of grey gloom and impending doom.  But today we get to celebrate Earth Day 2013 and celebrate the billion acts of green and beyond that millions of people worldwide are taking action to protect and preserve our planet.  This year, on the 43rd anniversary, we view

Image via tafter.it

Earth Day 2013: The Face of Climate Change

"Climate change has many faces.

A man in the Maldives worried about relocating his family as sea levels rise, a farmer in Kansas struggling to make ends meet as prolonged drought ravages the crops, a fisherman on the Niger River whose nets often come up empty, a child in New Jersey who lost her home to a super-storm, a woman in Bangladesh who can’t get fresh water due to more frequent flooding and cyclones…

And they’re not only human faces.

They’re the polar bear in the melting arctic, the tiger in India’s threatened mangrove forests, the right whale in plankton-poor parts of the warming North Atlantic, the orangutan in Indonesian forests segmented by more frequent bushfires and droughts…

These faces of climate change are multiplying every day.

For many, climate change can often seem remote and hazy – a vague and complex problem far off in the distance that our grandchildren may have to solve. But that’s only because they’re still fortunate enough to be insulated from its mounting consequences. Climate change has very real effects on people, animals, and the ecosystems and natural resources on which we all depend. Left unchecked, they’ll spread like wildfire.

Luckily, other faces of climate change are also multiplying every day.

Every person who does his or her part to fix the problem is also a Face of Climate Change: the entrepreneurs who see opportunity in creating the new green economy, the activists who organize community action and awareness campaigns, the engineers who design the clean technology of the future, the public servants who fight for climate change laws and for mitigation efforts, the ordinary people who commit to living sustainably…

On April 22, 2013, more than one billion people around the world will take part in the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day. From Beijing to Cairo, Melbourne to London, Rio to Johannesburg, New Delhi to New York, communities everywhere will voice their concerns for the planet, and take action to protect it. We’ll harness that power to show the world The Face of Climate Change. And we’ll call on our leaders to act boldly together, as we have, in this pivotal year.

Between now and Earth Day, we’ll collect and display images of people, animals, and places directly affected or threatened by climate change – as well as images of people stepping up to do something about it. We’ll tell the world their stories. But we need your help. We need you to be climate reporters. So, send us your pictures and stories that show The Face of Climate Change.

On and around Earth Day, an interactive digital display of all the images will be shown at thousands of events around the world, including next to federal government buildings in countries that produce the most carbon pollution. The display will also be made available online to anyone who wants to view or show it.

Together, we’ll highlight the solutions and showcase the collective power of individuals taking action across the world. In doing so, we hope to inspire our leaders to act and inspire ourselves to redouble our efforts in the fight against climate change."

  (text from earthday.org)

To be inspired and uplifted, view the faces from all over the world working for change at theadvocator.  Locally in the Turks and Caicos we celebrated with the TCI Shines Clean Up Campaign last Saturday.  To learn more about the history of Earth Day, please click here.

Celebrate Earth Day with TCI Shines April 20!

Dear Stacie, Earth Day is here once again! As part of our efforts to keep the island of Providenciales clean, we invite you to participate in our 5th annual TCI Shines Clean-up Campaign, on Saturday, 20th April 2013 at 6:30 a.m. LOGISTICS: Volunteers are asked to meet at their selected zones to start the clean up from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Join us at The Children's Park in The Bight afterwards for a short presentation and refreshments. As is customary, we will work in teams,  attached below is a list of the zones:- ZONES - TCI SHINES You will notice that Amanyara has already confirmed their participation and have selected zone 1. Please advise us of your selection and the number of volunteers who will be a part of your team. DONATIONS: It would be appreciated if you could donate bottled water, gloves, garbage bags, hamburgers and hot dogs. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Sincerely Nicholette Thomas Tel: 649-941-5787 Email

The Bleach is Back

I do hate to be the bearer of bad news.  Last July I stumbled on loads of bleach bottles washed up on Longbay Beach.  I took a month long inventory which tallied over 50 bottles of bleach and notified the DECR of the findings, concerned that they were evidence of illegal lobster catching.  Now, nearly a year later, the same trend has emerged.  After the windy and unusual weather of last week, the beach has accumulated a great deal of seaweed and amongst it, litter. LOTS of litter.  Scattered within all the garbage (mainly plastic), have been these dreaded white squeeze bottles.  In two days of rubbish runs I have collected just shy of 50 bottles.  However, for one of the first times in the 8 years I have been cleaning up the coastline, I was not alone one morning with my big bag o' trash!    There in front of me was not one person, but two, with a giant trash bag between them, collecting garbage on their morning walk. I almost cried I was so ecstatic!  This nice couple who were staying at Villa Esencia and I had a chat and they too had been picking up many of these bottles and guessed that they had seen around 15 in addition to mine.  Sincerest gratitude to this couple who spent their very valuable vacation time making the Turks and Caicos a cleaner, greener place.  I have just spoken to a conservation officer at the DECR and hope that our marine police can determine the origin of these bottles and hopefully prosecute the criminals if indeed they are being used for foul purpose. 

Biodiversity Day!

May 22nd marks the International Day for Biological Diversity and this years theme Marine Biodiversity is one especially relevant to the Turks and Caicos Islands.  You must read their 2012 booklet; an excellent overview on the importance of our oceans and the issues we currently face with their health and stability.  Not only is it filled with important facts, new research, and beautiful moving photographs, it concludes with a Strategic Plan of action to help alleviate the largest issues. 

 Image via andthetrees

Tim Silverwood, an Australian surfer, is doing his part as an ambassador to our oceans.  He started the Take3, A Clean Beach Initiative in 2009.  Big thanks to Lynn for sharing this video with her fellow TCI Rubbish Runners, avid supporters of  lifting litter.

Are you willing to take 3 for the sea today?

  Image via take3theblog

From 101+ Ways to Make a Difference, to Ten Simple Things You Can do To Save the Coral Reefs, learning is the #1 way which you can help!  I applaud everyone who will get out there today and read, research, or take action.  Here is a fantastic Interview with Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Operation Blue Rage, a great source of inspiration.

For further reading, please check out:

plasticoceans

oceanlink

Happy Earth Day!

Image via lacds.org

Big thanks to the TCHTA for organizing  another great TCI Shines on Saturday morning to celebrate Earth Day 2012!  Great job to all the participating businesses and volunteers.

All images by Eric F. Salamanca

The TCI Environmental Club and TCI Rubbish Runners joined forces with the Enid Capron School and the Gansevoort to tackle the litter in Five Cays.

Lead by example like these young people pictured above; please make earth day everyday, get the green-week list of ideas on ways which you can make a difference right now!

Rubbish Runners and the Lower Bight Park and Botanical Garden Clean-Up

In mid January I welcomed my father to Turks and Caicos for his first post retirement extended winter holiday. With an unprecedented six weeks to spend we managed to see most of Providenciales, and several highlights of North Caicos and Middle Caicos as well.  During the majority of our excursions, we accomplished a great deal of Rubbish Running, like the below pictured afternoon spent at South Bluff. 

I actually had to retire my year and a half old trusty, dusty Rubbish Runners bag due to a broken handle from all of our combined garbage collection from beaches and roads, bushes and back alleys.  I estimate that bag carried an average of 5-10 pounds of trash per day, five to six days a week, for approximately 18 months.  What a bag right!?  Must have been very strong to carry everything from heavy metals and glass bottles, to aluminum and steel cans, to sand covered Styrofoam, shoes, and food packaging. In actuality that plastic bag was designed for a one time, SINGLE use.  If you live on island, you most likely have one of these plastic bags in your possession and are familiar with the blue and yellow KISCHO logo.  Please put these bags to good use! Don't throw them away, as you have just read these bags have a lot of life to give, far more endurance than some of the "environmentally friendly" options being sold at the local grocery stores.  These bags make excellent reusable shopping bags.  Here is my brand new bag with it's inaugural Rubbish Run load.

On my father's last day, outfitted with large bags to collect trash, we traveled to Northwest Point meaning to snorkel but the large swell dictated we go elsewhere.  On our way to Coral Gardens we stopped by the Lower Bight Childrens Park and Botanical Garden.   I had last visited the garden at the invasive-species-workshop nearly a year ago and was heavily disappointed to see the a further deterioration versus improvement, as we discussed was needed at that point in time.  Invasives like cow bush and causarina were sprinkled in every direction and thick coats of love vine blanketed the majority of the grounds.  Signage indicated to species long dead or in some cases different species that had taken over.   This park is one of the only only free, open to the public,  environmental educational resources we have in the Turks and Caicos.  It is extremely important that it is maintained properly for it sends the very valuable message to locals and visitors alike; to discover, appreciate, and protect our rare eco-system.

 

While perusing the grounds the park warden came over explained that the garden had been cut off from water through financial burden and apologized for its condition stating that next year it would be better.  I tried explaining that these species are indigenous and should be well adapted to surviving only off the water that Mother Nature gives, no irrigation system needed.  The problem is that the little nourishment they are receiving is being robbed by the species that should not be here.  One thing I learned from the wondrous-west-indian-wetlands-workshop, it is far better to show then to tell!

 

 Last Saturday, February 25th, the TCI Environmental Club along with volunteers from the Gansevoort and the DECR participated in a clean-up of the Lower Bight Park and Botanical Garden.  In this way we were able to discuss and demonstrate simultaneously.

Love vine before (above) and the heaping piles of it during removal (below).

A before image (above) of the Prickly Pear cactus being strangled by love vine, which eventually kills the host species over time, and an after image below.. 

It is truly amazing what a small team of dedicated individuals can accomplish in five hours.  The botanical garden is now freed from thousands of feet of love vine, at least fifty cow bush and more than a dozen causarinas.  Dead species have been cleared away, leaving resources for fresh new species to grow.   In total a dozen volunteers were able to clear this huge pile pictured behind us, a job very well done.  This success would not have been possible without the involvement of the Gansevoort; special thanks to Trem Quinlan and Rob Ayer who not only fully supported the idea, but physically showed up and volunteered their efforts.  Also large thanks to Eric Salamanca from the DECR for his labor, dedication, and new adoption of the park and garden!  I look forward to seeing it blossom and thrive under he and his wardens care.

Eco Update

 Image via here

It has been a very busy start to 2012!  In early January, marine biologist Lee Munson arrived in Turks and Caicos to study the impact of tourism, specifically snorkeling, on humpback whales.  This valuable research is taking place in salt cay thanks in part to Debbie of Salt Cay Divers attendance of the Wider Caribbean Mammal Conference held in Panama late last year.  You may keep posted on their findings at .saltcaydivers.blogspot.

  On January 23rd, we attended Big Blue Unlimiteds EXPO 2012 held at Opus Wine Bar and Restaurant.  We were thrilled to join many in celebrating this company's 12th year of ecotourism as well as honoring their local eco-partners with awards and applause.  The Turks and Caicos Islands are so very fortunate to have this company that stands firmly behind their eco philosophy of combining "culture, ecology, education, and adventure" for guests ultimate experience of nature in the Turks and Caicos.  Please see the article in the tcfreepress to read more about their upcoming education program with local schools and to read the bios of the ecotourism award winners of the evening.

Rubbish from SDC on Vimeo.

  Big thanks to Big Blue instructor Wes Matweyew for making the above video encouraging everyone in the Turks and Caicos to be mindful of littering and demonstrating how lifting litter can become part of your outdoor or active lifestyle!  Thanks for being a Rubbish Runner Wes!

 Before and After photos of the tcreef.org restoration project

At the February TCI Environmental Club meeting we listened to guest speaker Jody Rathgeb discuss her new book Fish-Eye-Lens; fiction but based on development and it's environmental and cultural impact on a small island.  David Stone also presented news on the Turks and Caicos Reef Fund's first annual cocktail party and fundraiser.  Having attended the fundraiser last Saturday night, I am happy to report the evening was a great success.  Guests were in large attendance and the auction and raffle were well supported.  We look forward to the organisations 2012 efforts to keep TCI reefs protected, healthy, and thriving.

Image via huttsatwork.wordpress.com

The next TCIEC event is right around the corner, please some show your support.  There will be a much needed clean up and pruning of the Bight Park from 7am to 12noon this Saturday February 25th.  Come one, come all, and please bring along some drinking water, garden gloves, trash bags, and gardening tools if you can.

Caribbean Wellness Day & TCI Rubbish Runners

Image from Race_For_The_Conch_Eco-SeaSwim

Images above from a turksandcaicosproductions shoot for self

 Today, Saturday Sept.11, marks Caricoms third annual celebration of Caribbean Wellness Day.  This years theme is "Love that Body, Make it Last."  To read up on how this great initiative was started, and the top illnesses affecting the Caribbean region, please see the official press release.  Participate in the Turks and Caicos, see the schedule of events here. 

  The TCI Rubbish Runners are 100% behind Caribbean Wellness Day, and thanks to the recent article in the Free Press (quoted below), hopefully more of the community will join us in keeping lean while keeping TCI green!

"While many of us have finished mopping up floors, moving furniture back to its usual locations, and clearing debris from yards, the evidence of Hurricane Irene’s aftermath is still lingering on our beautiful beaches. One community group is working diligently to get our shores back in shape while keeping in shape is the TCI Rubbish Runners. Begun as a branch of the TCI Environmental Club nearly a year ago, the group aims to spread awareness about littering and other environmental issues impacting the Turks and Caicos Islands while encouraging healthy living. Founder and recreational runner Stacie Steensland believes a great recipe for living a healthy lifestyle involves time spent in nature, daily exercise, and making a positive impact

in our community.“A rubbish runner can accomplish all three in as little as 20 minutes per day,” Steensland says. “The club invites all individuals in the community to partake in weekly exercise, but instead of focusing solely on your own health, spend some energy on the health of the environment you are enjoying.

“Litter plagues our planet, and here in this biodiversity‘hot spot’ with thousands of species to protect and preserve, it is all the more relevant to eradicate it.” Steensland emphasizes that all anyone has to do to become a Rubbish Runner is to pick up trash — on a morning stroll, on a post-work jog, on a play day at the beach, or even while “running”daily errands. That’s it. No meetings, no fundraisers, no collective decision

making. Membership is as easy as enjoying the great outdoors and leaving it a better place than when you found it. Public trash receptacles, virtually nonexistent until recently, now make rubbish running even easier, thanks to TCI Waste Disposal Services’ placement of both garbage and recycling bins at several beach

accesses.  Steensland, who began picking up litter regularly in Providenciales in 2006, says the practice came to her as second nature, having watched her father pick up trash all her life. “When I was young, I found

his habit somewhat embarrassing, especially those times in busy parking lots where many bystanders would raise eyebrows. Now those bystanders look oddly at both my father and I, and I couldn’t be more proud.”

Steensland, a creative designer for TC Millwork who specializes in refinishing and reclaimed wood furnishings and cabinetry, in some instances converts the trash she finds into treasures. Recently, stray planks from a shipwrecked sloop were transformed into a kitchen island, and a downed tree was made into a table base. TCI Rubbish Runners could use your help to make the TCI a cleaner, greener place to live. To find out more, visit the Rubbish Runners facebook page or see http://www.pepperandpikey.blogspot.com/.

Beach Monitoring of Bleach Bottles

Last month I started seeing loads of bleach bottles washed up on Longbay beach.  I posted a message on the TCI Environmental Club and Rubbish Runners facebook pages, inquiring if others had been encountering the same issue.  The responses came pouring in.  I decided to take a count of the finds for the month of July.  The above photo was found my first week, tally of approximately one dozen bleach bottles, 1 vinegar bottle, and 3 unknown squeeze bottles.  As of yesterday, here is what that original list grew to:

Approximately one dozen large bleach bottles, 31 large squeeze bottles, 8 smaller sized squeeze bottles, 7 vinegar squeeze bottles, and 2 mystery squeeze bottles.  Grand total of over 50 bottles of bleach.  Frightening considering these were all removed from a small stretch, roughly 3 miles, of shoreline in Longbay.  Imagine how many must be washing up all over Providenciales?  Over Middle, North, South and the entire Turks and Caicos.  Imagine the huge quantities that must be floating up on shores all over the Caribbean.  Although the vast majority of these bottles are labeled in Spanish, there is no telling where they came from and what they were used for.  One can only hope that they were not used illegally for catching lobsters, or otherwise leached into our oceans.  Nearly ten years ago the DECR began to combat this practice locally with a 2002 Memorandum of Understanding with the SFS-CRMS.  The School of Field Studies developed a portable test kit in 2005 to be able to detect the use of bleach using a swab test (please read the entire article here).  This year the DECR implemented a delay of lobster season to September, hoping to allow stocks more time to recover from shrinking numbers over the last few years.  If these found bleach bottles are indeed being used illegally, that amendment will be virtually powerless against this awful practice.  If you find bleach bottles here in the Turks and Caicos, please contact the DECR to report your findings.

Shop with Thought!

  One week from tomorrow on Saturday June 4th, the TCI Environmental Club will host a World Environment Day event as part of our Campaign to Ban Single Use Plastic Bags in the TCI.  We are looking for volunteers to help us distribute FREE reusable shopping bags to the community from 9am -12noon at the Graceway Gourmet, Graceway IGA, Building Materials, Island Pride, KB Home Center, Price Club, and Quality Supermarkets.  Please contact Stacie Steensland at pepperkeystacie@gmail.com, or call Lynn Robinson on 431-5966 to join the movement to keep the

Image from here

Thinking Green on St Patrick's Day

Image from keepbritaintidy.org

I love this anti-littering logo that was announced at the National Litter Convention in London last December.  Keep Britain Tidy and Defra certainly hit the nail on the head with this genius little image!  Simple, straightforward, and relevant all over the world. I stumbled across it while gathering inspiration/ideas for TCI Rubbish Runners.  That's right, the club is now official (if a  facebook page counts) and we are looking for more members.  Please make a pledge to lift litter and join us to keep TCI "beautiful by nature."

Another group making great efforts to keep TCI green is the Campaign to Ban Single Use Plastic Bags in the Turks and Caicos.  A small group of the Environmental Club Members met on Tuesday to discuss an initiative to create awareness about the dangers of plastic bags.  A message from member Lynn Robinson

 "How many plastic bags have you used today??....take a good hard look the next time you are at the grocery store and imagine where all those bags will end up....on the beautiful beaches, polluting the oceans, killing marine life, killing birds, caught up in the vegetation.....it's time to change the way we live and start treating this planet with the respect it deserves....Mother Nature is starting to fight back. With everyone's help, one day the Turks and Caicos Islands could be free of the single use plastic bag (and hopefully other single use items such as bottles, plates, cutlery). Please remember to take your reusable bag to the grocery store and encourage others to do the same. Turks &; Caicos, Beautiful by Nature, Clean and Green by Choice.....only with your help"

    So cheers to TCI's two new green thinking groups!  If you are having a beer tonight to celebrate St. Pattie's, please make certain you recycle your bottles! 

International Coastal Clean Up Day

Image from here

 "In partnership with organizations and individuals across the globe, Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Clean-Up engages people to remove trash and debris from the world's beaches and waterways, identify the sources of debris, and change the behaviors that cause marine debris in the first place. Join us this September 25: Sign up for a Cleanup near you and get involved today!"

  Unfortunately TCI is not listed in the options menu under country locations but regardless, please visit your local beach and lift the litter!  If you pick-up litter on a consistent basis, or would like to, please contact me to join a new club I am captaining; TCI RUBBISH RUNNERS!  Most of us living in the Turks and Caicos are on a weekly basis out to take the dogs for a walk, enjoy a play day with kids on the beach, going for a morning run, or a sunset stroll.  I encourage everyone to bring a litter bag and fill it up when you go.  I have been removing 1-2 IGA sized bags of litter from Leewards beaches and streets 4-5 times per week for the last five years.  I know I am not alone and that there are many others out there who make lifting litter part of their daily life.  Please join me to run off rubbish and keep TCI beautiful by nature !